My two cents (I’m speaking for myself here, no one else)…
Alot of silly things get said whenever the subject of cannabis comes up. Much of this is forgivable, as it is motivated by ignorance wedded to fear. Indeed, a lot of the “drug war” itself is motivated by such confusion, where something as relatively benign as cannabis will be confounded with genuinely harmful and chemically addictive substances like crack-cocaine or heroine.
The marijuanna laws in the United States (in particular) are the result of the same milieu-of-motives which caused alcohol prohibition. Putting aside conspiratorial arguments (which btw., I don’t entirely discount, but they’re too involved to get into on a thread like this; basically, certain commercial interests considered industrial hemp to be a threat to their businesses) for cannabis prohibition, one obvious motive is the same puritanical fear which promoted the extreme arm of the “temperance movement” with regard to alcohol. Basically, the moral scruples of a few (who have an innate distrust of anything indulged in simply because it’s “fun”) were allowed/have-been-allowed to dictate public policy.
Quite unlike alcohol, cannabis consumption of itself cannot kill you. This is even more obviously the case when it is ingested, rather than smoked (removing the argument that it is carcinogenic; though quite frankly, few could possibly smoke enough cannabis so as to develop lung cancer.) Is it an intoxicating substance? Of course. Can it be abused? Very obviously. Can it be used moderately, like alcohol? That is where the debate really lies.
I’d argue it can be, though I’m inclined to believe the current social climate in the United States isn’t condusive to this. It suffers from the same “forbidden fruit” status as alcohol does amongst young people, so the tendency is for people to binge, and not even consider the possibility of “cutting” their cannabis, the way many Europeans do (typically by mixing it with pipe or “fruit” tobbacos.)
As for the drawbacks of cannabis, I’d say from what I’ve read and from my own direct observations, it impairs motor skills (hence making it unsafe to drive, much like with the consumption of alcohol in even moderate amounts). Also (quite unlike alcohol, which can bring out very violent passions in people) it tends to “mellow” people out, though when abused can do this to the point of making people unmotivated (hence the cliched image of the hippie who wants to do nothing but sit on the couch and eat cheetos.) It also generally raises the appetite. While it can make it’s users more thoughtful/introspective, it can also make them paranoid…though much of this has to do with the strain of cannabis in question (since there are many different breeds of plant, both naturally occuring and due to selective breeding, which we refer to when we speak of “cannabis.”)
As for cannabis being a “gateway drug”, alot of this has to do with it’s underground/illegal status. The sad fact is, many of the people selling it (due to it’s prohibited status) are not “nice people” and also subsidize their lifestyles by selling an array of other (without question harmful) substances. Hence, the same “guy in the parking lot” selling marijuanna or hashish, may very well be also selling cocaine, pcp, speed, etc. However, none of this has to do with the nature of the substance itself - if anything, we can thank prohibition for whatever “gateway status” cannabis has.
As an aside, I also think we can “thank” cannabis prohibition in the United States for putting money into the hands of gangs and higher levels of organized crime. The reality is that “hard drugs” like crack or heroine have a very narrow “audience” so to speak. OTOH., most estimates would say that around 30 million Americans could be classified as “recreational”/recurring users of cannabis. And while a lot of the money they’re spending on their indulgence never actually ends up in the hands of dangerous criminals, a very significant part of it does. Without being able to cash in on black market cannabis, many street thugs, biker gangs, etc. would loose a significant part of their income.
What I believe to be truly immoral though, is the existing policy of prohibition by the U.S. Federal government of the medical use of cannabis. It has shown itself to be a relatively safe and cheap way of treating many illnesses, in particular the illnesses commonly brought on as a consequence of using legal prescription drugs to treat various severe ailments like cancer or AIDS. I find it incredibly bizarre that a medical establishment which will peddle poisonous concoctions like prozzac for depression and morphine for extreme pain can have qualms about someone smoking a joint or eating some cannabis blended cookies.
