[glchen]

I didn't read through all of the posts and I don't want to get into a long discussion on this, but I personally believe that marijuana is worse than alcohol. The reason that people think that alcohol is worse is because it's legal. If you completely legalize pot, can you imagine what could happen if you have one of those mega corps the size of the beer companies commercializing this? If every 15 minutes on TV, you saw a commercial trying to convince you to buy this brand of pot or this other brand?

The other comparison is to cigarettes. I think it'd only be a matter of time before legalized pot goes down the road of smoking where the government puts all of these warning labels on cigarette packs. It'd be the same thing w/ pot.

Finally, I think marijuana would be the first step for many users to the road of harder drugs like cocaine. Pretty soon, you would want a bigger hit.

I'm fine w/ medical use for those who need it for pain relief. However, recreationally, I don't think so.

Edited to add: Alcohol is in another realm because there are thousands of years of Western and Asian history of drinking alcohol. I wouldn't be surprised if cavemen drank regularly. However, the history of different cultures smoking pot is minuscule.