Is it time to legalize marijuana? The honest truth on the issue.

Marijuana used to conjure up the image of a strung out, spacey hippy, saying “Wow, man, that’s cool”. But, the times are indeed rapidly changing.

Millions have died from cigarettes, yet they're still freely sold at stores. Alcoholhas been the root cause of countless deaths due to liver disease, diabetes anddementia with almost 10,000 killed from drunk driving alone in 2011, yet it can still be purchased. Every 19 minutes, someone in the US dies from a prescription overdose. Who has died from marijuana? No one. There is not one confirmed case of someone dying strictly from pot.  Twenty states and DC have legalized medicinal marijuana, while Colorado and Washington state have legalized it for recreational use as well. More states are soon expected to follow suit.

Consider that over 100 million Americans have smoked pot once -- that's 41 percent of the population. Twenty six million or 10 percent, claim they've used it during the past year and fifteen million or 6 percent claim to be regular marijuana users.

Here are four popular misperceptions:

Marijuana is addictive: No, it is not for the vast majority of smokers. I discuss that in detail here.

Marijuana causes brain damage: A meta-analysis of 15 studies found that moderate, daily use does not cause brain damage. Heavy long term use does cause a “very small impairment inmemory and learning”. But any drug can be abused with resulting negative sequelae.

Marijuana makes you lazy and unmotivated: If someone is lazy and unmotivated before using weed, they will remain lazy and unmotivated after. The so called “amotivational syndrome” ascribed to pot smoking has never been proven.