> The fact that there have been no recorded deaths directly caused by cannabis in all of human history[1] should be enough indication that this is the least harmful substance we enjoy.

Also 0 from LSD:

"LSD at typical recreational doses (~50–250 μg) is considered to be very safe in terms of toxicity, with not a single toxicity-related death having been reported at such doses despite many millions of exposures" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LSD#Overdose

2 from psylocybin which edges on statistical error, but also:

"In reality, the 2016 Global Drug survey found that psilocybin mushrooms are the safest recreational drug. Of 12,000 people who reported using magic mushrooms, just 0.2% sought emergency medical attention, at least five times less than the rate for cocaine, LSD, and MDMA." https://recovered.org/hallucinogens/psilocybin/can-you-overd...

So, even though cannabis does seem to be very safe, it's not necessarily _the least harmful_.

While that's true, I don't consider psychedelics to be within the same realm of safety as cannabis. Cannabis does have psychoactive effects, of course, but it doesn't induce visual and auditory hallucinations with the intensity that LSD, psilocybin, or even MDMA do. I do think that cannabis can make mental disorders such as anxiety worse in people who are already prone to them, but psychedelics are far more dangerous in that sense, especially with higher dosages. These effects can sometimes persist long after the effects of the substance wear off.

Also, synthetic compounds such as LSD and MDMA which have only been around for a ~century don't have the historical record of cannabis, psilocybin, and other substances found in nature, which humans have consumed for thousands of years. So to me those are intuitively less "safe".