Yeah, I was reading about the Controlled Substances Act on Wikipedia before I posted here, and it sounds pretty fucked up. I can't believe it rates weed on par with meth and heroin!
Personally, I think New Zealand's Misuse of Drugs Act is a lot more sensible (although ideally I'd like to see all drugs de-criminalized!). It places the most harmful drugs in the Class A category - LSD, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, etc. Then the slightly less risky drugs in the Class B category - morphine, hydromorphone, amphetamine, MDMA, etc. And finally the least damaging drugs in the Class C category - cannabis, barbiturates, and benzos. I'd argue that benzos and barbiturates are actually more damaging than other Class C drugs, but I suppose their medical purposes justify them being Class C.
Yeah but see, LSD in class A? Seriously, you have a better chance of dying from choking on a cough drop than you do of dying from LSD. You can't even get physically addicted to LSD. It's one of, if not THE least harmful drug in existence today. You take all the cigarettes off the shelves and replace them with LSD tabs, and we will all live in a much healthier society. You do the same with alcohol and get the same results. Even caffeine is worse for you than LSD.
Fine, I suppose you could trip out and do something dangerous, but the drug itself, safe. Definately nowhere near heroin, coke or meth on the "danger" scale.