There are plenty of prescription drugs which are far worse than marijuana – a pretty normal (but hefty) painkiller like Tramal for example is little more than tablet-form opium, and even fairly common medicines like ritalin are a lot more dope-like (ritalin sells well in the circuit!) than marijuana.
Funny thing is that the country which is the most rigid on any sort of (even remotely) entertainment drugs, is also the country which has the right to pursue happiness in it’s constitution. Somehow, i can’t rhyme those two.