Bill Maher says states are treating pot like sex: 'You can give it away if you like, but you can’t charge for it'

Though his show is off the air until next week, Bill Maher did criticize the discrepancy between regulations regarding marijuana and alcohol on his Real Time blog on Friday.

"More and more states are treating weed like sex -- you can have it privately and you can give it away if you like, but you can't charge for it," he wrote. "That mindset would be okay I guess if those restrictions were applied evenly across the entire spectrum of mind-altering substances. But they're not."

Maher, who ripped the National Football League last month for its heavy promotion of alcohol during its telecasts, cited a study by food chemist Dirk W. Lachenmeier that was published in Scientific Reports as evidence.

Lachenmeier determined that marijuana has a much lower overdose risk compared to alcohol and harder drugs like heroin and cocaine, arguing that, while the dangers of pot might have been inflated, "the risk of alcohol may have been commonly underestimated."

Maher listed the results of last month's study alongside findings showing that marijuana users are less likely to commit domestic violence and "safer than drunk drivers."

"If marijuana restrictions aren't based on toxicity or the public dangers of impairment, exactly what -- besides bias and tradition – are we hanging our criminalization hat on?" he wrote.