My reply taken from Pheonixboi's thread
I have no problem with people smoking pot for medicinal reasons, or even to add a little fun to a party or get-together (though the thought of taking a drag after several someones else have had their lips on the thing is really gross, to me). Pot is the least of the drugs, and wasn't even really illegal here in America until, what, 1970?
It's the losers who sit, stupified on the couch covered in orange Cheetos dust and watching TV all day that bug me. I know a few of them, so don't call that a stereotype.
I know a guy who swore that pot wasn't addictive, but couldn't go eight hours without sparking up; I used to work with him. He'd wait till the security guards had made their rounds, then sneak out back for a little break, several times in a shift. He swore up and down that he worked better when stoned. Of course, the crater he wore in the seat of the chair he always sat in in the shop told a different story.
He'd go and do a little work, then go back down and sit for two or three hours, then go out and toke up again, go do a little work, come back and sit again for an hour or two, then punch out and go home. Seemed like every time you went back down to the shop to get something, he was there. Not a very productive guy.
He wasn't addicted, though, right?
I don't smoke pot, and never have; it's just not for me. I used to drink, well, more than a little, but don't now. One reason for that is that I've since crossed over into diabetes, so alcohol is a no-no (I'll occasionally have a beer or mixed drink or two at a wedding, just to loosen me up and improve my dancing ability, but that's about it). Another reaon is that my dad had a real problem with alcohol, and since that seems to run in the genes, I try to stay away from it (in fact, when I do drink and really let it go, it starts to taste REAL good, so I don't drink hardly at all anymore). That's proof, to me, that addiction isn't necessarily a "disease", and can be controlled by, well, self-control. I enjoy sitting there, stone-sober and watching people stumble around and continuing to make enormous asses out of themselves.