Annual deaths related to firearms in the United States: 29,000. Annual deaths related to prescription drugs: 32,000. Annual deaths related to alcohol: 85,000. Related to tobacco: 435,000. Marijuana? 0. Not a single case of death ever recorded in the United States, or even the world has been attributed to the use of marijuana. But there must be a reason for itâ€™s prohibition and criminalization, correct?One thing that most people believe is that marijuana kills brain cells, which is in fact, a myth. â€œThe original basis of this claim was a report that, upon postmortem examinations, structural changes in several brain regions were found in two rhesus monkeys exposed to THC. Because these changes primarily involved the hippocampus, a cortical brain region known to play an important role in learning and memory, this finding suggested possible negative consequences for human marijuana users.â€ â€œIn the most recently published study, rhesus monkeys were exposed through face-mask inhalation to the smoke equivalent of four to five joints per day for one year. When sacrificed seven months later, there was no observed alteration of hippocampal architecture, cell size, cell number, or synaptic configurationâ€Although it may not have deaths related to it, it must have some unhealthy attributes to it though, right? Again, wrong. â€œTetrahydrocannabinol is a very safe drug. Laboratory animals (rats, mice, dogs, monkeys) can tolerate doses of up to 1,000 mg/kg (milligrams per kilogram). This would be equivalent to a 70 kg person swallowing 70 grams of the drug â€” about 5,000 times more than is required to produce a high. Despite the widespread illicit use of cannabis there are very few if any instances of people dying from an overdose. In Britain, official government statistics listed five deaths from cannabis in the period 1993-1995 but on closer examination these proved to have been deaths due to inhalation of vomit that could not be directly attributed to cannabis (House of Lords Report, 1998). By comparison with other commonly used recreational drugs these statistics are impressive.â€It seems youâ€™re running out of questions. Iâ€™ll help you out though, it isnâ€™t addictive, especially compared to legally distributable drugs such as alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, and other prescription drugs. However, it can be considered habitual, meaning if you smoke everyday for a year and you stop smoking, you will notice a difference. If you smoke a cigarette everyday, though, you will feel an immense amount of withdrawal.Another question to ask is, â€œwhat about the gateway theory?â€. That is to say, once you try marijuana, youâ€™ll want to try other hard drugs as well. The only proof of this is because of the prohibition of marijuana, that crack dealers happen to sell marijuana on the side or vice versa. This exposure makes it seem like itâ€™d be okay to try it as well. However, there is only 1 cocaine user for ever 104 marijuana users and less than 1 heroin user for the same amount of marijuana users which is less than .96%. Not even 1%.However if you compare two cities, such as Amsterdam and San Francisco (one where it is legal and one where it wasnâ€™t at the time of recording) you can see that in Amsterdam it has a prodigious amount less than San Fransisco in the amount of cocaine, crack, amphetamines, ecstasy, and opiate usage.So if this plant is worth more ounce-per-ounce than gold, isnâ€™t addictive, harmful, or a gateway then why is it still illegal? One might claim that it may be because government officials realize if they come out and say that marijuana isnâ€™t harmful for you then they would be considered a liar. This only leaves the average citizen to take their stance on what is right.But why would they? All it does is make you think and cures or stabilizes several illnesses. Oh, I forgot to mention that. Many organizations have favorable positions (e.g., unimpeded research) on medical marijuana. These groups include: The Institute of Medicine, The American Cancer Society; American Medical Association; American Nurses Association; Australian Commonwealth Department of Human Services and Health; California Medical Association; Federation of American Scientists; Florida Medical Association; and the National Academy of Sciences.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------"Build yourselves a wall of ships!" said the Oracle!