The addictive mind-altering legal drug alcohol hasn't ruined us, and anyone who really wants pot can get it already ... the only real issue is whether legal regulated businesses or murderous cartels will reap the profits.
I learned to make alcoholic beverages in college. Most folks I know who use them are not addicted or mind altered.
Can’t say the same for dopers I knew in school.
Research shows that of all those who have used marijuana, 9% were at some point dependent on it - whereas the corresponding figure for alcohol is a substantially higher 15%.
And if it's true that alcohol is more often used in a purely social manner with no mind alteration (for which no evidence is on the table), that can be explained by the differing legal statuses; when alcohol was illegal, tha drug was rarely if ever used in a purely social manner with no mind alteration.
The new, genetic modified dope is much more potent than the ‘70’s stuff.
Which means only that less needs to be smoked to get the same high - as when one switches fromn beer to liquor one reduces one's volume intake.