Skimmed the thread so I hope I don't repeat anything.
I've smoked weed & cigarettes, as well as drank (haven't done much beyond that other than shrooms & opium, both of which have been years ago and have no interest in doing again).
If cigarettes & alcohol are legal, weed should be as well. However, that's not a very good argument.
There is a definite medicinal benefit to marijuana, so that's one reason it should be legal. It is fairly unhealthy for you (as smoking anything usually isn't), but you can eat it or vaporize it to counter that, and if you do smoke it, it's not as much as tobacco so it isn't as bad.
From a legal perspective (in the US)...why is it illegal anyway? The anti-hemp lobbying definitely was a culprit, but there was also a racial reason for making it illegal. There is a history of racism when it comes to making substances illegal, look at the dates when they were outlawed and what influx of immigrants or a current minority the drugs might apply to that would help the law control those groups. The reasons for marijuana being outlawed have changed from causing insanity & death to being a gateway drug as well. Why aren't alcohol and tobacco considered there too?
IMO, the gateway drug theory is bunk. It's a correlation, but not causation. Most people don't get into drugs with the hardest of substances that are more difficult to find or use. It's the obvious point to make that really has no relevance. It's no different than saying people who play college basketball often move on to the NBA or other pro league. But very few people start off in the pro leagues. Just a bunch of statistical mumbo jumbo.
There is also a point of personal freedom here. I feel that you should be able to ingest and do to yourself whatever you will. I think it's dumb to drink antifreeze or do coke or heroin, but that's your choice. There will be problems, so as a left-leaning US citizen, I think it is upon us to address drug addiction.
It would be far better for the US to decriminalize marijuana, and, perhaps, all drugs, and regulate them. The War on Drugs is just as unwinnable as the War on Terror - you are facing a formless, abstract idea that will never be destroyed. Better to address it proactively and give yourself better vision of what's going on. You will know who is buying what, when, and where. You can tax it to support the costs of the program and others, such as rehab or detox centers. You can educate people about it. But give them to choice to do what they will with themselves.
And finally, just look to Bill Hicks for wisdom on the subject. Two people get in a fight at a party...are they drunk or stoned?
You get in an accident while driving...where you drunk or stoned? If you were stoned, you just open up the garage door and go on your way.
