>Personally, I think people just like the 'buzz' and are rationalizing their desires into political movements.

The point is, why shoudl the government decide? And since they decided yes on alcohol, which is far more dangerous than Pot, why are they inconsistant? Why did they wage war on their citizens?

I don't ask these questions cause I think every body must get stoned, I ask because everyone shoudl be able to choose without being afraid of thrown in jail.

>Think about it for a moment.. Drinking, smoking pot, snorting (whatever) induces an altered state. Altered from what some ask? Well, the usual response is from pressures, reality (almost always with a snicker) or some other representation of life in a non-induced state.

Not always, it depends on what you take. For those that do escape, whats wrong with that? If you do some hard mental work all day, using a joint to put your mind at rest is like taking a nap after hard physical work all day. Sometimes people need a break.

>Therefore, I think it can be safely asserted that those who drink or smoke dope to reach an altered state are running from reality and I fail to understand why that is beneficial...

Thats fine. Go and think that, and never take drugs. Totally cool, but you should allow everyone else to choose for themselves.

>My advice is that anyone who smokes dope should stop and get reality-based life.

Good advice. My advice for kids everywhere is instead of playing a video game, pick up a book, or learn something on the interenet. THat too is good advice, but I'm not going to support putting those kids in jail that remain in front of their xBox.