Tobacco is one of the most addictive substances known to man. Marijuana is not physically addictive and 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, passed in large part due to newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst's yellow journalism. These days, marijuana is confused with '60s counterculture by those who would like to turn the clock back to the '50s. This intergenerational culture war does far more harm than marijuana.
Illegal marijuana provides the black-market contacts that introduce users to hard drugs like meth.
The Netherlands has successfully reduced overall drug use by replacing marijuana prohibition with regulation. Dutch rates of drug use are significantly lower than U.S. rates in every category. Drug-policy reform may send the wrong message to children, but I like to think the children themselves are more important than the message. Congratulations on the commentary about the medical-marijuana question. It's time to push Henry Waxman and Barbara Boxer to introduce bills in Congress legalizing all appropriate medications for palliative use.