“Now there are people who abuse (alcohol), no doubt about it, but I think it’s a big jump between someone having a beer and smoking marijuana,” he added.

Walker’s words reflect the conventional wisdom that has guided federal and state drug policy ever since Richard Nixon declared the war on drugs more than 40 years ago. Recent polls, however, indicate that the public is increasingly skeptical of claims that marijuana is a significant threat to public safety, and even President Barack Obama recently said that he did not believe pot was more dangerous than alcohol.

Richard Brown, a UW-Madison medical professor who specializes in substance abuse, does not believe that pot-smoking is more dangerous than drinking and says the theory that weed is a “gateway” to more perilous poison has been discredited.

However, Brown agrees that marijuana should remain illegal. Simply put, he believes legalizing the substance would increase usage, amplifying issues of abuse and addiction.

So why not ban alcohol?

“We know that prohibition did not work and cannot work because of the way our culture has developed (around alcohol),” he said.

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