I agree with everything you said. I just think that we need to error on the side of leaving individuals the right to make choices about how they want to live while of course weighing that against the cost to society as whole. Also, I don't view using alcohol or marijuana in moderation as a totally terrible thing like some of the commentators on this thread seem to (I'm not implying that you are one of those people). I think there are benefits for some people in some situations from using various drugs. I'm wary of extremists of all types: those people you remember making pseudo-scientific statements about marijuana are as off-putting to me as people who disparage marijuana users while drowning an oxycontin with their wine.