bbdodger, I love ya for your taste in music but I've got some serious issues with your stance on this subject. Please don't take this as a personal attack.
"It's a stupid thing to do, it sucks the life out of you, you forget how to have fun without it, and it makes you think you're more inspired than you actually are..."
In my opinion this says more about you than the substance. It is what you make of it. If you let pot suck the life out of you, it will. If you depend on a substance to have fun, it's your dependancy that's the issue, not the substance itself. Some people need to "fill the hole" and will do so one way or another, for some it's a drug for others it's a religion. Blaming one's lack of motivation, lack of originality or enjoyment on a substance is dodging personal responsibility.
"Marijuana smokers should be held under the same standards while as drinkers are when caught driving under the influence. AND... don't give me that BS about being a better driver while you're stoned, it simply doesn't fly."
I completely agree with this one, driving under any influence is toying with your own life and the lives of others. No one has the right to toy with another person's life.
"If our jails weren't clogged up with simple drug offenses, and the cops didn't have to waste time dealing with idiot stoners, it would be a better country. It would also be a safer country! The average stoner doesn't think about where his pot comes from, the deals and the dealers. There may have been someone killed for that Guatemalan Red Hair that you scored, but the stoner doesn't see that part of the deal."
I admit being referred to as an idiot makes me prickle a little I do think about where the mj comes from. Why support South America, Canada or other places when you can support your local economy? Generally I make it a point to know where it's from. I make it a point to interact with people I know and trust not just through this mutual interest, but people who share my overall outlook and social beliefs. Just because you personally didn't think about these things doesn't mean everyone who ever smokes mj doesn't.
Marijuana is very SOCIALLY addictive. You gain friends very quickly, and you bond with them very quickly too... but you'll lose them just as fast if you stop smoking pot."
Again, your personal experience does not make this fact. I have near and dear friends that I have had for over 10 years that I met this way. It's just like any other social activity, you meet people you share a common interest with. Some of these people make a brief appearance in your social life, others make a life long impression. If you never made any long term friends, this says more about the quality of people you associated with, not the substance involved.
Basically my issue is this; you are reaching some concrete and uninformed conclusions about a subject you have not truly been involved with for several years. You reaching them based on what it was like for you in your early 20's. To the best of my knowledge, there are very few socially responsible people at that age (there are a few rare exceptions), one cannot judge an entire subculture based on experiences with a population that is notoriously irresponsible.
