While there seems to be no amount of evidence that can be presented to those who have been hardcore indoctrinated with the drug war propaganda against cannabis to ever change their minds (even shown before their own eyes the medical efficacy of marijuana for patients in dire need, they claim that “your just dopers, wanting to get high”; yes that 3 year old suffering from 300 seizures a month is just some “doper”), for those sitting on the fence here are 8 reasons that should move you in the direction that puts you on the right side of history.

1.No one has ever died of a marijuana overdose.

You may think having a large amount of THC in your system will kill you, but you are wrong. Ever since marijuana has been known to mankind, not one single account of death from overdose has been recorded. On the other hand, in 2010, 38,329 died from drug overdoses.

2.Around 40% of Americans have already admitted to using marijuana.

Most polls regarding Americans and their pot use hover around the 40% mark for having tried marijuana at least once.

3.Marijuana is much safer than already legalized drugs.

If you are completely fine with alcohol and cigarettes, then there shouldn’t be a reason you aren’t accepting of marijuana as well. As you can see in Lancet’s study right, which was later published by The Economist, alcohol and tobacco are far more dangerous than marijuana.

4.Marijuana has a very low risk of abuse.

Contrary to popular belief, marijuana is not as addicting as one may think. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN’s Chief Medical Correspondent, recently wrote in his essay, “Why I Changed My Mind About Weed,” that we have been “systematically misled” on marijuana. He reports that marijuana leads to dependence in around 9-10 percent of adult users. Cocaine hooks about 20 percent of its users, and heroin gets 25 percent of its users addicted.

5.Cannabis can be a safe and useful sleep aid.

In a blog entry on SFGate, writer David Downs explores the best strains of marijuana to help with insomnia. Downs found a quote from researcher I Feinberg, from “Clinical Pharmacology Therapy” in 1976, that says, “The effect on sleep of THC administration closely resembles those induced by lithium.”

6.Marijuana is used to alleviate a lot of medical ailments.

Medical marijuana is important to a lot of people. According to a Discovery Health article, marijuana has been extremely successful in relieving nausea, which is extremely good news for cancer patients suffering from nausea as a side effect of chemotherapy.

7.So many extremely successful people smoke marijuana.

Maya Angelou, Martha Stewart, Morgan Freeman, Ted Turner, Michael Bloomberg, and even Rush Limbaugh are all high-functioning marijuana users. Stewart, who is 72 years old, gave an interview with Bravo’s Andy Cohen over the summer of 2013 where she talked about “sloppy joints” and flat out said, “Of course I know how to roll a joint.”

8.It’s simply not a gateway drug.

One of the biggest and most widespread arguments from marijuana detractors is that smoking marijuana will lead to using other drugs. As Scientific American points out, the studies that show people who use marijuana first before trying other drugs is correlation and not causation. People who go on to use harder drugs also tend to smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol before trying the other substances. On top of all of this, as mentioned above, nearly half the country has already tried pot which is more than how many Americans know who Jennifer Lawrence is and much much more than the percentage of Americans who are left-handed.