Those that smoke marijuana may not be taken all that seriously when they speak of its mellowing effects, but scientists have just vouched for them. The Washington Post reports that a new study published in Scientific Reports compared seven illicit drugs and found that alcohol was the deadliest of them all, requiring the smallest lethal dose, while marijuana fell under the “low risk” category. The other drugs used in the study were cocaine, tobacco, ecstasy, heroin and methamphetamine. Heroin and cocaine were considered the second and third deadliest drugs, after alcohol.
“The results confirm that the risk of cannabis may have been overestimated in the past,” the researchers concluded, noting that marijuana has significantly lower risks of domestic violence, car accidents and crime rates in comparison to alcohol.
The authors of the study have added that legislative classifications of psychoactive drugs often lack a scientific basis, as confirmed by the study, and recommend that legislators “suggest a strict legal regulatory approach rather than the current prohibition approach” when it comes to weed, as they do with alcohol and tobacco. [Washington Post] [Photo: Flickr.com/lesk]