[Know your rights]

It's ironic that western societies, which have spent billions trying to control the damage caused by drinking alcohol would be so eager to embrace another chemical habit.

Who's eager to embrace it? We've simply learned from our experience with alcohol that banning a recreational chemical causes more problems than it solves.

[finnigan2]

"We've simply learned from our experience with alcohol that banning a recreational chemical causes more problems than it solves."

- An unproven hypothesis.
I once attended first year university class with an absolutely brilliant classmate who was a spellbinding speaker, natural leader and could talk with intelligence on just about any topic - right up to the first morning cigarette break. From then on he sat in class, a look of amusement on his face from some private jokes he was telling himself. He would nod off by lunch time and seldom came back for afternoon classes. He failed his year and quietly disappeared.
How many more "quiet failures" would occur, especially among young people, were everyone to be passing around legal cannabis during class or office breaks?
Alcohol at least has thousands of years of western experience with it's use so we, as a society, have built a set of rules around it - and even then it's a major damaging factor in many peoples lives. Imagine adding cannabis to that mix. Within a generation most of our population would be content to chill out, collect their welfare benefits and let a small group of less weak willed citizens run their lives.

[robertpaulsen]

"We've simply learned from our experience with alcohol that banning a recreational chemical causes more problems than it solves."

No. We've simply learned from our experience with alcohol that banning alcohol caused more problems than it solved. Alcohol prohibition lasted what, 13 short years?

Marijuana has been illegal for almost 70 years now with no end in sight. Marijuana use dropped over 60% from its high point in 1979.