Where I'm at pot is so widespread that it's practically legal. I mean, there are already conventions and festivals for the stuff and people walk around smoking in public, right in front of the cops, and don't get hassled. I think it's a pretty benign drug.
If anything, I think that large-scale legalization might actually wind up being a good thing in regards to overall health and wellness. Alcohol is a hugely devastating substance that has a long list of social and physical problems. What if people used pot socially instead of getting drunk? I imagine less violence, fewer cases of severe intoxication, decreases in a number of cancers and organ failures, and probably a decrease in DUIs.
How many times have you picked up unresponsive, vomiting patients found laying outside a bar at 2 AM? Or been to a domestic dispute where someone got drunk and beat the heck out of someone else? Or had the jaundiced patient with a belly so full of fluid that it looks like it'll pop, all from years of alcohol abuse?
Now, think of how many times you've had to deal with someone because they're high. Sure, it happens, but not nearly as often as we deal with drunks. And it's almost never anything life threatening. People don't get high and beat their wives. They get high and eat Cheetos.
