Dale S. Mantey (University of Texas School of Public Health), LaTrice Montgomery (University of Cincinnati – College of Medicine), & Steven H. Kelder (University of Texas at Houston – Department of Epidemiology, Human Genetics, and Environment Sciences) have posted Cannabis Prohibition – A Crime against Humanity on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
This commentary examines federal cannabis prohibition and enforcement through a public health lens. In the United States, approximately 47 million adults use cannabis, with federal prohibition resulting in 820,000 arrests per year. In applying social-epidemiological methodology, we examine the Potential Years of Lost Life (PYLL) of federal cannabis prohibition in the US — citing individual examples of realized lost life. We then compare the years of life lost from cannabis prohibition to the PYLL from the most deadly retail, consumer product in the world: combustible cigarettes. Our results state, resoundingly, that the most dangerous thing about cannabis — is being caught with cannabis. We confirm the conclusion reached by Greenstein & DiBianco (1972): cannabis prohibition functions as a crime against humanity.