In late October, Gallup reported that a record 66% of Americans now say marijuana should be legal . The reason is simple: Marijuana should never have been illegal.

Through decades of “reed craze,” Americans have been led to believe that marijuana is far more harmful than it actually is. That doesn’t mean it’s harmless. But it’s certainly less harmful than alcohol , another substance that was once illegal and is now widely accepted in the country.

However, the U.S. federal government and many states still have laws criminalizing marijuana use, and they are enforced far too frequently. According to the FBI, U.S. law enforcement agencies arrested nearly 600,000 people for marijuana possession last year. To make matters worse, these marijuana laws have been disproportionately used against communities of color.

As a nation, America learned during alcohol prohibition that simply banning a substance in high demand doesn’t make it go away. Instead, prohibition creates a criminal market to meet that demand , which brings with it a host of public health and safety problems.

As a result, several states have decided to take a new approach and begin regulating marijuana similarly to alcohol. It is produced and sold by licensed businesses that must follow rules regarding testing, packaging, and labeling. Vendors must check paperwork, and government officials have reported no increase in the rate of teen use.

At the same time, these states have generated tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue, and law enforcement officials appear to be improving their clearance rates for other crimes.

Marijuana legalization is not a panacea, but progress, just as ending Prohibition was 85 years ago. Some states have led the way in developing alternative policies that control alcohol, allowing responsible adult use, and they should continue to do the same with Marijuana.

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