A Dane County referendum April 1 showed strong support for the legalization of cannabis, carrying a solid 64.5 percent of the vote in favor of the little green leaves.

The marijuana legalization movement has been gaining speed and victories in the past few years, most notably with the recreational legalization now in full swing in Colorado and Washington states. The Dane County referendum isn’t a binding measure; it is more of an indicator of the attitudes in the area. Could Wisconsin be on its way to legalization? What would happen if we ditched our beer bong Badger Saturdays for a good old-fashioned tubular water pipe?

Legalization of marijuana would provide a safer, healthier alternative to alcohol, and there are many reasons why continuing the criminalization of this ancient plant needs to stop.

The danger factor is far too low to justify the fear and mistrust of marijuana. These attitudes came about in the past 70 years since it’s criminalization, but cannabis has been by humans across the world for thousands of years.  There is not a single documented case of cannabis-induced fatality. Several bags of Nacho-Blasted Krunchitos may have met a hasty and untimely end, but human life remains undisturbed by marijuana consumption.

Think of the things that kill people every year, yet remain legal for even children to purchase. Acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol, kills more than 300 people a year according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 3,000 people per year succumb to foodborne illness, some coming from tainted meat, peanut butter or vegetables.

Combined, smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol wipe out nearly 500,000 people per year in the United States. That’s the entire population of Milwaukee gone, every single year. Globally, alcohol causes 2.5 million deaths per year. Yet, both cigarettes and alcohol are considered acceptable for public consumption, even encouraged through advertising and media.

Despite the known risks, Wisconsin leads the nation in drunken driving offenses. In 2008, 238 people died in the state from alcohol-related traffic accidents. A disturbing study found that 26 percent of Wisconsin adults have driven under the influence of alcohol. This risky behavior endangers many, while smoking cannabis is not shown to cause an increase in traffic accidents. If legalized, cannabis could lower the amount of dangerously intoxicated individuals on the road.

The legalization of marijuana would also significantly reduce unnecessary and expensive arrests and incarcerations. In 2010, Wisconsin racked up 16,111 arrests for simple marijuana possession. (By contrast, neighboring Minnesota only had 7,453 arrests that year, even though more Minnesotans use cannabis.) Each arrest sucks an estimated $439 from law enforcement resources, which are largely funded by taxpayer dollars. That’s more than $7 million a year, just to put handcuffs on the suspect, and that number doesn’t take into consideration court costs or incarceration expenses.

Even more troubling is the way the arrests are racially distributed. For every one white person arrested for marijuana possession, there are six black people facing the same fines, court costs, legal fees and mental stress of being arrested. However, cannabis usage between white and black communities remains at similar levels.

The health benefits of marijuana hold enormous promise and hope for debilitating disease. Cannabis has a plethora of therapeutic and medicinal properties. Our brains are wired with cannabinoid receptors ready to interact with chemical components in cannabis, mainly tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Our bodies create their own version of cannabinoids, endocannabinoids.

Cannabis offers medicinal benefit to people suffering from Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic pain and nausea from chemotherapy, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Cannabis also holds exciting possibilities in treating cancer. A list of 34 studies documenting medical marijuana cancer-fighting potential is available at http://www.endalldisease.com/34-medical-studies-proving-cannabis-cures-cancer/.  Skin, breast, prostate, brain, blood and colon cancers all have shown improvement in response to cannabis treatment. As research continues on these topics, surely more possibilities will be revealed. As a Schedule I substance marijuana is largely closed off to research. Legalizing cannabis would open more doors to scientists and better treatment of life-threatening diseases.

The economic benefit Wisconsin could garner from legalizing marijuana for recreational use is tremendous. Not only would millions of dollars be saved by not criminalizing otherwise innocent individuals, millions could be made for the state through growing, distribution and tourism projects. Colorado pulled in $2 million in taxes in the first month of recreational sales in January 2014. The legalization legislation Colorado drafted includes a provision that $40 million will go to school construction from these types of taxes. Wisconsin would have similar freedom to regulate how the benefits from legalization are distributed.

The fields around Madison could be filled with acres of hemp, rather than corn. Hemp, cannabis’s cousin, lacks psychoactive properties but is a powerful nutritional seed. Hemp is easy to grow sustainably, requiring less pesticides and fertilizers than some agricultural crops like corn. It can be made into a fantastic variety of materials including plastic, clothing, industrial and construction materials, paper and oil.

The postive benefits of cannabis legalization would affect millions of people. It would open oppertunities for jobs, save money for the government, and keep non-dangerous folks from being wrongly locked up. It would save lives, and provide a safer option than alcohol. As more and more states pass medical and recreational legalization of cannabis, more people will support this movement. When Wisconsin will catch up is harder to say.