Writing in the book Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? (Chelsea Green, 2009), I argue that it is irrational for our society to condone, if not encourage, the use of alcohol -- an intoxicant that directly contributes to tens of thousands of deaths annually and countless social problems -- while simultaneously stigmatizing and criminalizing the use of cannabis, a substance that is incapable of causing lethal overdose and is associated with far fewer societal costs. Well now a new study, authored by researchers from the Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia at the University of Victoria and the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse at the University of Ottawa has directly compared the societal costs of marijuana and alcohol, as well as tobacco, and the final tally isn't pretty.

huffingtonpost.com