His left hand was pressed firmly into his temple as he leaned in and whispered, “Okay, once I finish this goddamn computer science project I’m going to make some Amsterdam tea.” I muffled my naturally thunderous laughter as we we sat in the center of the Engineering Library. A moment of comfortable silence between friends followed, with only keyboard sounds filling the space. I didn’t resume studying, for I was distracted by his plans, and it wasn’t because of his choice of euphemism.

I began to reflect on his announcement. It would not have been any different had he said he was going to smoke a cigarette or take a shot when his work was complete. Nothing would have changed.

No matter what you refer to this substance as: weed, pot, grass, George Kush or Amsterdam tea, there’s no reason why its use, sale or production should be illegal. The War on Drugs has been a massive systemic failure of policy. Nixon’s 1971 metaphor for violent confrontation has only culminated in an unenforceable legal framework where violence, corruption and other social ills run amok. We’re being soundly defeated in this war by enemies that prohibition itself has created, chiefly a saturated prison system and organized crime.

The body count in this war is continually rising. Every minute, someone is arrested for marijuana possession in the United States. By the time you reach this sentence of my column, at least one life will be altered forever. Seven-hundred thousand of the 1.5 million people detained for drug law violations in 2014 were arrested for marijuana-related offenses. No drug could be more harmful than a prison sentence, where one’s educational and career prospects dwindle in an instant.

A young single mother of four in Oklahoma was arrested for marijuana possession and sentenced for 10 years; most of her career opportunities evaporated. HSBC bank is caught laundering billions in drug money and is imposed a fine. No one is jailed and a hierarchical social structure based on prohibition becomes salient.

Cannabis users are thus the low-hanging fruit of the drug war, as their arrests are relatively easy. It’s a fairly taxing task for law enforcement to pursue cartels and money launderers.

This situation occurs much to the delight of the for-profit prison industry. It is no coincidence that the private prison system lobbies for prohibition. Defying freedom has become profitable. This is antithetical to everything this nation initially stood for. The practice is particularly irresponsible when there are various legal drugs that are far more noxious than marijuana.

Many people do not understand that entirely legal substances such as refined sugars, alcohol and caffeine are highly addictive drugs. This is a notable part of the campaign of misinformation on illicit drug use that has spread throughout the public consciousness like fertilizer. Where’s the war on alcohol? It is the substance most responsible for violent crimes than any other. The idea that legality guarantees safety is a dangerous precedent.

Every 20 minutes, someone dies of a prescription pill overdose. There aren’t any numbers or bodies for marijuana overdoses, none whatsoever. Marijuana is a Schedule 1 drug that is lumped together with heroin and bath salts, yet causes fewer deaths than various prescription Schedule 4 drugs that are regularly advertised on television, such as Ambien.

The sky-will-fall scenario regarding marijuana is becoming a tougher sell when legal items pose greater dangers to our health. I grew up very familiar with the rhetorical demonization of this “gateway drug,” from programs such as D.A.R.E. I even recall a moment when a parent explained to my friends and me that her son got gynecomastia — man breasts — from smoking too much weed.

These assertions are just laughably untrue. There are more people dying as a result of consuming sugar, nicotine and alcohol every day, yet there is no alarm. I would be extremely concerned if I had children taking prescription methamphetamine regularly or drinking soda excessively. I see no nationwide program comparable to D.A.R.E. that is educating kids on how to eat properly. Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move campaign is a nice start, but it is not nearly as comprehensive.

Obesity and poor health are actual epidemics in this country, yet there is no major inflection point toward their resolution. Our priorities appear perverted and it’s costing us gravely.

Proponents of prohibition have blood on their hands. We demonstrate great concern regarding terrorists who reside 3,000 miles away, yet we ignore the kidnappings and beheadings occurring right at our doorstep as a result of the drug war. Not only are we losing people to our prisons, we are losing law enforcement officials, innocent civilians and children to the senseless violence of the drug trade. One trillion dollars later and the War on Drugs has helped establish an elaborate infrastructure where criminal syndicates thrive. It has accomplished little else. Legalizing and regulating marijuana sensibly are our final options.

Prohibition is a dead corpse walking. There is a profusion of process and setbacks, but I firmly view legalization of Amsterdam tea as inevitable, with public opinion evolving each day.

Karina Pauletti writes a column on breaking down quotidian political and social issues. Contact her at [email protected]