How long will politicians live in fear of marijuana and throw billions of dollars at eradicating it and jailing thousands of people for possessing it? The overwhelming majority of its users do not develop addictions. It is practically impossible to overdose on. It even has health benefits, like slowing tumor growth and easing glaucoma. And it’s safer than the 25 legal drugs, substances, and even household products we’ve laid out here. By the end, you’ll be ready to say with us: legalize it!

Over-the-counter

With a few restrictions, these products can be obtained without a prescription from everywhere from drug stores to the nearest vending machine.

Alcohol: The phrase “drugs and alcohol” is redundant. People who drink alcohol can impair their faculties, develop a tolerance for it, and become addicted. That’s a drug, and a very dangerous one at that. Brain damage, cancer, and death (37,000 of them in the U.S. each year) are just some of those dangers to alcohol consumers, not to mention the nearly one-third of violent crimes perpetrated in the U.S. each year that are alcohol-related.

Tobacco: Yes, through some fluke in the legal system, cigarettes remain legal while weed is banned. As cigarette smoking claims more than 5 million lives around the world annually, one might rightly wonder why that is the case. Even in a direct comparison, marijuana is demonstrably safer. A 20-year study found smoking as often as a joint a day for seven years does not harm the lungs.

Acetaminophen: The active ingredient in Tylenol and the most commonly used painkiller in America, acetaminophen has caused many cases of liver failure, mainly by overdose but also through users taking the recommended dosage. In fact, about 10% of deaths due to its ingestion are at levels at or below the daily maximum recommended dosage.

Caffeine: The American worker’s favorite substance is dangerous in high enough doses. Since 2005, reports of caffeine overdoses have risen from 1,128 to 16,055 in 2008 and 13,114 in 2009. The dangers short of death include weaker bones, higher blood pressure, and flat-out addiction. But then again, many of us already knew that, didn’t we?

Synthetic drugs: These are the gas station drugs, the ones with names like “Bliss” that are still legal in many states by posing as supplements or vitamins. President Obama has gone so far as to issue a warning about these drugs. The recent case of the Miami zombie was high on bath salts, a synthetic drug.

K2: K2 or “Spice” is also a synthetic drug, but it bears special mention on its own because it’s synthetic weed. It’s perfectly legal, and it also happens to be more dangerous than natural pot. Intense hallucinations, seizures, and rapid heartbeat are the negative effects one can expect when smoking the man-made cannabis.

Bitter orange: Used as a diet pill, bitter orange contains a chemical called synephrine. Synephrine is very similar to ephedra, which is banned in the U.S. because it increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. Bitter orange has been linked to a number of deaths and is not recommended by the Mayo Clinic.

Stamina Rx: Health and fitness website Livestrong.com says the common side effects of this over-the-counter male enhancement supplement “border on dangerous.” They include blurred vision and dizziness (which could also come with smoking marijuana), but also arm, back, and/or jaw pain and chest tightness.

Cough medicine: Teens have no trouble getting their hands on dextromethorphan, or DMX, the chemical found in cough medicine tablets, gels, and syrups. Though drinking too much syrup causes life-preserving vomiting, DMX is extracted out and sold, creating a healthy market for a very dangerous drug that can cause everything from seizures to brain damage and even death.

Salvia: Legal in more than half the states in the U.S., salvia is an herb with leaves users smoke to reach a “high.” Um, that sounds familiar. Many health professionals have drawn comparisons between salvia’s addictive qualities with PCP and cocaine, and some users with histories of mental illness have reported relapses while smoking salvia. In other words, it’s a more addicting and more paranoia-causing form of weed.

Helium: This friendly party gas for filling up balloons is a dangerous drug when used as an inhalant, and it’s totally legal and easy to come by. There are few official statistics on helium huffing deaths, but there have been noted cases of death from air embolism upon inhaling helium.

Paint: The upsides of huffing paint are apparently euphoria and some pretty cool hallucinations. But it’s not worth the downside: vomiting, skyrocketing heart rate, pneumonia, liver damage, cardiac arrest … we could go on. A particularly conscientious store might card for its purchase, but other than that, paint is about as easy to come by as paper towels.