My response is that the United States has a history with alcohol that we don't have with marijuana. In my post #4, I pointed out that alcohol plays and has played a significant role in health, religious ceremonies, social customs, and societal acceptance (and, yes, cooking). Marijuana has not.
And that history is one reason why the two are not treated the same.
Yeh, and has nothing to do with the fact that pot smokers are generally passive, peaceful, non-violent people and rabid alcohol addicts are the complete opposite and have a huge, multi-billion dollar industry behind them. Yep, nothing to do with that.......