Report to UN: Dudes, Legalize Weed

Drug less harmful than alcohol or smoking, report says
By Ambreen Ali,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 2, 2008 1:08 PM CDT
Report to UN: Dudes, Legalize Weed
Richard van Velthoven uses a vaporizer in Amsterdam, Netherlands, where smoking pot is legal.   (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Slick-suited diplomats are not the likeliest advocates for lifting worldwide marijuana bans, but a British scientific report targets the UN, saying a regulated marijuana market would remove most of the drug's harm, since it comes from prohibition itself, the Guardian reports. Legalizing it would also allow governments to tax the 160 million users, and set a minimum age and potency limits.

"It is considerably less harmful than alcohol or tobacco. Historically, there have only been two deaths worldwide attributed to cannabis," the report says.
(More marijuana stories.)

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