According to the report, "In terms of [health-related] costs per user: tobacco-related health costs are over $800 per user, alcohol-related health costs are much lower at $165 per user, and cannabis-related health costs are the lowest at $20 per user."

The review, authored by researchers from the Centre for Addictions Research of British Columbia at the University of Victoria and the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse at the University of Ottawa, stated: "Alcohol is used by a very large number of people with the vast majority of these using in low- or moderate-risk ways. Conversely, cannabis and tobacco are used by far fewer people. The majority of cannabis use is low- and moderate-risk, however, while the majority of tobacco is high-risk."

The study reported that "94 percent of social costs for cannabis are linked to [law] enforcement."

The authors concluded: "The harms, risks and social costs of alcohol, cannabis and tobacco vary greatly. A lot has to do with how the substances are handled legally. Alcohol and tobacco are legal substances, which explains their low enforcement costs relative to cannabis. On the other hand, the health costs per user of tobacco and alcohol are much higher than for cannabis. This may indicate that cannabis use involves fewer health risks than alcohol or tobacco.

"These variations in risk, harms and cost need to be taken into account as we think about further efforts to deal with the use of these three substances. ... Efforts to reduce social costs related to cannabis, for example, will likely involve shifting its legal status by decriminalizing casual use, to reduce the high enforcement costs. Such a shift may be warranted given the apparent lower health risk associated with most cannabis use."

Commenting on the study, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano, co-author of the book Marijuana Is Safer: So Why Are We Driving People to Drink? (Chelsea Green, 2009) said, "It makes no sense for our society to condone, if not encourage, the use of alcohol – an intoxicant that directly contributes to tens of thousands of deaths annually and countless social problems – while simultaneously stigmatizing and criminalizing the use of cannabis, a substance that is incapable of causing lethal overdose and is associated with far fewer societal costs."

According to a recent Rasmussen national poll of 1,000 likely voters, Americans believe by more than two to one that alcohol is "more dangerous" than marijuana.

For more information, please contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at: paul@norml.org. Full text of the report, entitled "Cannabis, tobacco, and alcohol use in Canada: Comparing risks of harm and costs to society," appears in the journal Visions: British Columbia's Health and Addictions Journal and is available online at: http://www.heretohelp.bc.ca/publications/visions.