Want a small example of the mind-boggling hypocrisy of the prohibitionist argument in regards to the harm reduction excuse for our cannabis laws? Just look at the relative LD-50 of various things we have legal access to in comparison to cannabis.
LD-50 is the amount of a substance relative to a normal dose that a testing cohort would have to consume for 50% of them to die. It is a measure of risk. For instance say I have a substance called Foo Juice. Say a normal dose is 1g\hr. Lets say the LD-50 is 1.2g\hr. That is a very dangerous substance. It wouldn’t take exceeding the normal dose by much to hit a lethal dose. That’s how fentanyl kills so many.
“At present it is estimated that marijuana’s LD-50 is around1:20,000 or 1:40,000. In layman terms this means that in order to induce death a marijuana smoker would have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 times as much marijuana as is contained in one marijuana cigarette. NIDA-supplied marijuana cigarettes weigh approximately .9 grams.
A smoker would theoretically have to consume nearly 1,500 pounds of marijuana within about fifteen minutes to induce a lethal response.”
https://www.drugpolicyfacts.org/node/1469
Compare that to alcohol:
“ For a 130 lb. man or woman drinking very quickly, it would only require about 10-14 drinks in an hour to reach the lethal level.”
A “drink” is a shot or 12oz beer. Excessive, but doable at a frat party beer bonging.
https://www.chem.fsu.edu/chemlab/chm1020lmanual/exp20/module20alcohol.htm#:~:text=The%20%22lethal%20dose%22%20(LD)%20of%20alcohol%20is%20clinically,40%25.
Or maybe just 6 liters of water:
https://www.compoundchem.com/2014/07/27/lethaldoses/
Or maybe tobacco:
“More than 480,000 deaths annually (including deaths from secondhand smoke)”
https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/tobacco_related_mortality/index.htm#:~:text=Cigarettes%20and%20Death,-Cigarette%20smoking%20causes&text=More%20than%20480%2C000%20deaths%20annually,including%20deaths%20from%20secondhand%20smoke)
Yet I can get beer and cigarettes at any local grocery store, and water out of my tap.
All that ignores the point that as an adult it is my business to decided the risks I take and what I consume. I don't assign any one else authority to dictate that to me. If you do then you have no excuse to not accept that principle when they outlaw cheeseburgers, pizza, sky diving, motorcycles. All it takes is a nanny-prohibitionist to say they need to make those illegal because they know what's best for you.
(Next the prohibitionist will try and bring up driving while impaired. We already have laws for that. I accept not driving while impaired because that would effect other peoples safety without them making the choice. You are currently not allowed to drive impaired. That covers not only cannabis, but alcohol, cough medicine, anti-depressants or even lack of sleep. It is illegal to drive while impaired by anything. No separate laws are needed for cannabis.)
