In terms of the actual danger they cause and are capable of causing, far stronger cases can be made for criminalizing alcohol and tobacco. Hey, waitaminute, didn't we already try that? Yes we did, and look what happened. Prohibition spawned the growth of organized crime in America, and we are still fighting it. And it never stopped people from imbibing. And how many of our musical icons have smoked pot? Would the world be better off if they had gone to jail for it?

Any dangers surrounding the use of pot can much more easily be dealt with with it being legal and not having to complicate the situation with the whole legal machinery issue. I don't mean for a second that overuse is not a potential problem. Overuse of ANYTHING is a problem. You can even overdose on water, but SOME water is necessary for life. And from the "fighting" scenario painted above and growing anecdotal evidence about various medical conditions, we can say that the use of some pot in some cases is actually *beneficial* to some people.

The furor that keeps pot illegal (at least in the US) is totally irrational, and countering it takes measures outside of logical argument and weighing of facts.