It's definitely no worse than alcohol. Some studies have found it to be worse than tobacco on your lungs though. I've been told that only one study was done with driving under the influence of marijuana, and it only used one person, and he did better under the influence. I find that hard to believe.
According to Jenem, Canada backed out on the "legalized" status of marijuana in BC. Most likely because of pressure from my wonderful, god fearing, pot hating government. "Reefer Madness" is probably the main reason it's illegal here in the states. Goebells would've been proud.
As with liquor, let the state sell it. I'm not sure that all drugs shouldn't be legalized to some extent. I know that sounds crazy. Here me out for just a second. If you let the state sell it, then criminals, gangs, and terrorists have nothing to sell. The prices would drop from there formerly profitable to small time dealers price. If a gang doesn't have money, how do they buy weapons? Forget all about how you
feel about drugs and mull it over. Think about how many people die enforcing drug laws, in drive bys, in drug deals gone bad. No more drug dealers. I picture something like a pharmacy selling them. You can limit people's intake, point them to counselling (in the same building maybe) if they're coming by a little too often. It would have to be a very regulated business, and the drug tax would probably be pretty hefty. There would be problems with addiction; I won't deny that. Look at pre-Opium War China's population. A full quarter were addicted to opium.
I think the idea sounds feasible, but I know it's a little naive. I actually trust people to be responsible!
But there are plenty of people like me though who only partake occasionally and responsibly. I know lots of people who smoke a lot more than me (and do a LOT of other things that I don't), and they're all doing really well for themselves. As a matter of fact, out of all the people that I know who use some form of recreational chemical, I only know of one person that's actually had to seek help.