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The study mentioned at the start of this thread refers to subjects who ingest "large amounts of cannabis." What's a large amount? A joint a day? A joint every hour? Search the medical and scientific literature on this topic and you'll find dozens of studies with conflicting results. It is undisputed, though, that tobacco and alcohol are both physically addictive, yet legal in the US.
Weed is not physically addictive, though people with addictive personalities may come to feel psychologically dependent on it after habitual use. I've never heard a health-based argument for treating weed differently from alcohol or tobacco that was even remotely convincing to me. I personally believe it's less harmful than either, and I've been a casual smoker for 20 years so I have some experience in this area. If I smoke for a few days in a row I generally stop for a while because I start to feel burnt. Not mentally, but physically.
I've never been addicted, and smoking weed has never led me to try harder drugs. I made it through college and grad school and more than a decade of my professional career without going psychotic. I pay my taxes, I give to charity, and I go to work every day. Most objective observers would say I'm a productive member of society. If I drink three martinis after work every day to unwind, that's cool, but if I smoke a bowl I'm a criminal and a danger to society? Bullshit.
Those who smoke and drive, or drink and drive, do pose a threat to others and should be punished. Driving while distracted or impaired is illegal, but the fact that people drink and drive isn't used as a justification to ban alcohol. Driving while talking on a cell phone is a huge distraction, and cell phone usage has been a clear contributing factor in hundreds of accidents, but outside of a few jurisdictions it's still legal to drive around with one hand on the wheel and the other on your stupid phone. Hands free makes little difference, because the conversation is the distraction, not the phone.
The bottom line is that responsible adults should be permitted to use alcohol, tobacco, and weed responsibly. I don't smoke cigarettes, and anybody who does these days knows they're increasing their risk of heart disease, lung cancer, and dozens of other life-threatening ailments, but if you want to do that to yourself, it's not my place to stop you. If you want to eat a gallon of ice cream and a 20-oz. steak every day, it's not good for you, but nobody has the right to tell you you can't. If I want to smoke a joint in the privacy of my own home and watch a movie, leave me the fuck alone.
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