Marijuana is literally the least of the nation's drug worries, the police have announced

If you ask a police officer what the biggest threat to local citizens is, you might hear something about car accidents or domestic violence, but their personal experience will never point towards marijuana. The DEA annually polls US law enforcements to find out what drugs they consider to be the biggest threat, and marijuana is at the very bottom of the list. In the last decade of polls, marijuana has consistently been near the least threatening , but since has dropped to the least while most other drugs like meth and heroin have skyrocketed. In 2015, over a third of US law enforcement considers heroin and meth to be their biggest threat, but arrests around the country are still showing marijuana's popularity.

The findings indicate a statement by law enforcement of a fact that drug policy experts and researchers have known for a long time: compared to other recreational substances, including alcohol, marijuana doesn't cause that much harm. It's probably even safer than many people think. And whether you're worried about potential harms to individuals or to communities, marijuana is very low on the list of recreational substances.