In the United States, arguably the most effective cannabis reform slogan of all time is ‘regulate cannabis like alcohol.’ First incorporated as part of the successful recreational cannabis legalization campaign in Colorado in 2012, the slogan has since spread and proven to be effective in many other jurisdictions.

It doesn’t take a seasoned political scientist to figure out why the slogan resonates with society. Alcohol is legal for adults, commonplace, and generally accepted as a regular part of most cultures. Just as an intoxicating substance like alcohol can be properly regulated and consumed responsibly, the same should be true for cannabis.

Several scientific research efforts have found that cannabis is safer than alcohol. Additionally, cannabis has also been determined to be safer than tobacco by many researchers. Cannabis, tobacco, and alcohol were the focus of a recent analysis conducted by researchers affiliated with several health and academic institutions based in Canada. The findings of the analysis were published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.

“A panel composed of 20 experts from six provinces determined 16 drugs to evaluate on 16 dimensions of harm (ten representing harm to people who use the drug; six representing harm to others). At a two-day decision conference, the panel scored each drug on a scale of 0-100 for each harm criterion, then weighted the relative importance of each criterion.” the researchers stated about their methodology.

“This analysis of drug harms in Canada found that alcohol causes the most harm overall, with a cumulative weighted score of 79. It was followed by tobacco (45), nonprescription opioids (33), cocaine (19), methamphetamine (19), and cannabis (15). The finding that alcohol causes the most harm is consistent with the results of previous MCDA drug harm studies.” they determined.

“The high score for alcohol underscores a failure to adopt policies to address alcohol-related harms, despite the known health harms and the existence of proven policy measures. More broadly, when developing drug policies, governments should consider the harm-both individual and societal-caused by drugs and by the laws and regulations that govern them.” they concluded.

It is worth noting that responsible cannabis advocates may point to alcohol and other substances as examples of legal substances that are more harmful than cannabis, but that is not the same as advocating for the prohibition of alcohol, tobacco, or other substances.

Instead, advocates like myself are merely highlighting the hypocrisy of the public policy approaches in jurisdictions that prohibit cannabis while allowing production, commerce, and consumption of objectively more harmful substances.