Even anti-drug program DARE has come out in support of weed legalisation

'Anyone who suggests we outlaw everything dangerous to children would also have to ban stairs'

(D.A.R.E/Getty)

The list of people who think it's sensible to outlaw a drug 114 times less deadly than alcohol is getting shorter and shorter, with even DARE publishing an op-ed calling for marijuana to be legalised.

The staunchly anti-drug organisation, which tried to instil fear of psychoactive substances in the minds of teenagers in the 1990s, was forced to admit that regulating cannabis will "actually make everyone safer".

"People like me, and other advocates of marijuana legalisation, are not totally blind to the harms that drugs pose to children," former deputy sheriff Carlis McDerment wrote in a response to a letter in the Columbus Dispatch.

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"We just happen to know that legalizing and regulating marijuana will actually make everyone safer."

He also likened banning marijuana to banning stairs, and said that he believes proper regulation would make for safer use of the drug.

"Anyone who suggests we outlaw everything dangerous to children would also have to ban stairs, Tylenol, bleach, forks and outlet sockets and definitely alcohol," he continued.

"Those things harm children every day, but anyone championing that we ban them would be laughed at.

"I support legalisation precisely because I want to reduce youths’ drug use. Drug dealers don’t care about a customer’s age.

"The answer isn’t prohibition and incarceration; the answer is regulation and education."

It's a bold move for the organisation, and comes after President Obama said we need to "follow the science not the ideology" on weed legislation.

In the UK, the issue might finally reach Parliament this year, after a petition in support of legalisation attracted nearly 200,000 signatures.