If you look at the history of it, cannabis was made illegal to put industrial hemp under the same umbrella thus including it in prohibition. The propaganda used to convince the population called it "marijuana" when at the time in the US it was known as cannabis and hemp. If it weren't for that subterfuge the average citizen would have protested and demanded their congressmen to vote against making it illegal. Cannabis has been used medically for thousands of years. Hemp has many industrial uses. William Randolph Hearst lobbied (and bribed) to make it illegal because it made a less expensive, better quality paper than wood. Hearst was heavily invested in lumber. Chemical companies lobbied to make it illegal because hemp oil could be used to make biodegradable, safer plastics. There was an invention that made getting fiber from hemp cheaper and easier. Clothing from hemp was stronger, comfortable, it wicks away moisture and was inexpensive. Synthetic cloth was being developed at the time. Congress has recently questioned federal agencies about cannabis as it pertains to the [i]Controlled Substances Act[/i]. For a substance to be schedule one it has to be deadly and have no medical uses. They concluded that there was "no empirical evidence" that cannabis should be a schedule one substance: https://youtu.be/v_1VcPt-8y8 Who lobbies to keep it illegal? • lumber companies • chemical companies • pharmaceutical corporations • privately owned prisons Alcohol prohibition was deemed to do more harm than good. It made criminals of otherwise law abiding citizens while making actual criminals more wealthy, powerful and dangerous. Cannabis does the same thing. Here is a video about how cannabis became illegal. It is from a longer documentary. https://youtu.be/0ebz9OuYLL0 My views on cannabis changed after I got cancer. I used it to alleviate the side effects of chemotherapy. There are compounds that not only alleviate nausea, it helps prevent bone loss among other side effects of chemotherapy. I've read a lot of articles and watched many videos of laboratory researchers who have been studying cannabis. THC was [i]proven[/i] to kill cancer cells in a study done in 1974! In an interview 10 years later, one of the researchers said he was surprised it was still illegal and that the study was kept secret from the public. No one should drink and drive. No one should get high and drive. No one under the influence of prescription or over the counter drugs should drive if it impairs your judgment or motor skills. You can get a DUI from cough medicine. There is no empirical evidence that cannabis use is deadly. In cases used to argue otherwise, cannabis was used along with deadly overdose of heroin or other drugs proven to be deadly. A study done decades ago to prove that smoking marijuana did brain damage was laughed at by scientists. Monkeys were forced to inhale smoke with masks covering the nostrils and mouths. There were no air holes to allow fresh air into the lungs and no oxygen added. The damage was from smoke inhalation. The same thing occurs by inhaling burning wood. As a cancer survivor with Lynch Syndrome, where I can live in the states is limited to where medical cannabis is legal. I encourage everyone to educate themselves about the history of cannabis as well as the studies done worldwide about THC, CBD, and the endocannabinoid system before making a decision about where they stand on the issue. Endocannabinoid system: https://www.projectcbd.org/science/endocannabinoid-system/endocannabinoid-system Just a start.