In places where recreational marijuana is legal, prescriptions for sleeping pills, antidepressants, and opioates and other pain meds drop almost 25%. Drunk driving arrests significantly decrease, crime stays on a decreasing trend. There are trade offs with everything, in this case I think the benefits outweigh the negatives. (Disclamor: I am a daily user myself, have been all my life, now 61 yo. Had to take an IQ test for a job I was applying for 10 years ago and it came up 137, suggesting minimal to no brain damage. It's been only in the last 3 or 4 years I've felt my intellectual ability wane significantly, but I assume thats just age. I never use it in public because it causes social anxiety in me, just in the evenings to relax and help me sleep. Relieves depression, eases pain, and is way healthier than alcohol. Just keep it away from kids whose brains are still developing.
Amen! And the evidence indicates that prohibition for adults is counterproductive on that front: kids have been reporting for years that they can get illegal-for-adults pot more easily than legal-for-adults beer or cigarettes.