>>>"In research published Friday in The Lancet magazine, David Nutt of Bristol University and colleagues propose a framework for classifying harmful substances based on the actual risks to society. Their ranking has alcohol and tobacco among the 10 most dangerous. Heroin and cocaine were most dangerous, followed by barbiturates and street methadone. Alcohol was the fifth- most harmful drug and tobacco the ninth. Cannabis came in 11th, and near the bottom of the list was ecstasy."
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>>>http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=17&art_id=40854&sid=12808040&con_type=1
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>>And not just in terms of danger to the "user". We hear all the time of people gettiing into alcohol-fueled street brawls (we see the results of this constantly in British towns, esp. at w/es), and people getting stabbed outside night-clubs, etc., but we never hear of dope heads getting in a fight (meaningless philosophical arguments maybe). Similarly, the loved-up people on E are more likely to be kissing each other.
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>Cannabis use had been cited as a cause of schizophrenia in young people and I have seen several cases where users have committed violent crimes

I heard this recently but I haven't seen any evidence of it. I'd imagine that as the use of alcohol (use!) and Mary Jane aren't mutually exclusive it's likely the alcohol-driven urge prevails when it comes to violence.

>...so that may not be as straightforward as it seems. I agree about alcohol though. I did read somewhere (can't find the figures) that alcohol is cheaper (if you take income into account) now than it ever used to be. The government should raise more revenue against its sale and use that money to treat the effects. UK alchol consumption is going up against a European trend where its going down.