I like this point. Marijuana triggered my first series of psychoses, before which point I enjoyed it while listening to music and hanging out with friends like almost everyone else. Unfortunately, there are too many cases like this to classify weed as "not harmful". I also know of at least two people who almost smoked their life away. They'd be smoking ounces a week, or more, just listening to music, eating and sleeping, with no motivation to do anything else. I believe the one guy is still without a job.
Of course these are anecdotes, but the fact that they are true for myself and people in my life leads me to believe it's probably true for some others, which obviously leads me to the conclusion that it isn't some magical cure-all safety good-time fun drug you can use without consequences. Most people who have a good time with it and are smart about how they use it will praise its benefits to the moon, but I don't know if those kind of people are the majority, they are just very vocal.
You could also say a similar situation could happen with alcohol. Note said , I think in the future , 59-70 years from now healthy people will refrain from alcohol, pot knowing they both have negative consequences to themselves and their offspring
I think society understands alcohol more than we understand weed. We know what the signs of alcohol abuse look like, more or less, and we are increasingly becoming uncomfortable with our peers regularly drinking to the point of drunkenness. It's acceptable occasionally, but even in college I see kind of a trend towards people refraining from that kind of behavior.
It's completely different for pot atm. We don't understand it but still many people think it's perfectly safe and without consequence. Now that it's legalized in Canada we can start to get ourselves informed and observe the real consequences, whatever they may be. Perhaps people will choose to refrain in the future, perhaps people will have a couple joints a week similarly to how seemingly most adults partake in alcohol now.
I also want to make it clear that I don't believe pot or alcohol are without their benefits. Alcohol certainly gives me a tangible benefit when enjoyed in small amounts occasionally. I was only trying to make a point that weed is not consequence free, that we shouldn't delude ourselves into thinking it is 100% of the time.
Of course these are anecdotes, but the fact that they are true for myself and people in my life leads me to believe it's probably true for some others, which obviously leads me to the conclusion that it isn't some magical cure-all safety good-time fun drug you can use without consequences. Most people who have a good time with it and are smart about how they use it will praise its benefits to the moon, but I don't know if those kind of people are the majority, they are just very vocal.