"If it was available at bars then you'd probably instead be saying that you'd prefer to encounter someone high on cocaine on the road rather than a stoner or a drunk."
I base the observation on past experience with college friends who were fairly heavy smokers. A "high" of any kind is going to involve sensory distortion of some sort... if that weren't the case, there would be no reason to seek it out, it would be no different from everyday experience. As far as auditory and/or visual hallucinations are concerned, I don't know what you've smoked in the past, but it sure wasn't straight up marijuana. Based, again, upon personal experience, someone who has consumed large amounts of alcohol has severely impaired reaction times and motor coordination in general, and has greatly reduced inhibitions which leads to very risky behavior, behind the wheel of a car or not. Marijuana is, in my observation, more of an inward thing, yourself and close friends. Little impairment of motor skills, increased inhibitions which would imply a lessened likelihood of risky behavior, behind the wheel or otherwise. Cocaine has its own problems, chiefly among those problems would be that it is highly addictive, unlike marijuana. So, this attempt to create the appearance that I'm just some sort of easily-dismissed drug apologist doesn't hold water. If you're opposed to all mind-altering substances on principle, that's fine by me; I would hope that you could see your way past that opposition to understand that there actually are merits to this discussion.
"As far as auditory and/or visual hallucinations are concerned, I don't know what you've smoked in the past, but it sure wasn't straight up marijuana."
Cannabis may not typically produce the sort of complex thematic hallucinations associated with LSD, etc. but it certainly can and does produce visual and auditory hallucinations.
"Marijuana is, in my observation, more of an inward thing, yourself and close friends."
How much of this is because of the nature of the drug itself and how much is due to social and legal implications of using the drug?
"So, this attempt to create the appearance that I'm just some sort of easily-dismissed drug apologist doesn't hold water."
That wasn't my intent. Don't be paranoid, man! Actually, everything else equal, I personally rather encounter someone high on cocaine on the road rather than a drunk or a stoner.
"If you're opposed to all mind-altering substances on principle, that's fine by me I would hope that you could see your way past that opposition to understand that there actually are merits to this discussion."
Well, if I felt that way then I would not be participating. All I am trying to point out is that any comparision of marijuana and alcohol is very much limited by the current social and legal structures we have surrounding these drugs.