If health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be legal.
Alcohol poisoning kills thousands annually.
Marijuana, on the other hand, has never been shown to cause an overdose death. The first marijuana laws were a racist reaction to Mexican laborers' taking jobs from whites during the early 1900s. These days, marijuana is confused with '60s counterculture by Americans who would like to turn the clock back to the 1950s. This intergenerational culture war does far more harm than marijuana. Drug policies designed to protect children have given rise to a youth-oriented black market.