didn't see this until now - it's not THAT old tho....
alcohol/tobacco (and other things) have as many negative side effects as many illegal drugs, so the "it's illegal cos it's bad for you" argument doesn't hold much weight imo - once upon a time Heroin was sold as cough medicine.
I think, if you NEED drugs, any kind (yes caffeine/ciggarettes/asprin too) - every day, just to function normally, that's kinda sad (I used to smoke, and still do drink far to much coffee).
However, in moderation, some things, i believe, are alright.
An occasional joint is probably no more halmful than a few beers.
Part of the problem is the lack of quality control, get some particularly strong Cannabis and it's not too much of a problem (you can normally tell by the look/smell anyway).
Where pills are concerned tho, it's alot different.
Similarly with mushrooms - first time we had about 110 between 4 of us, and that was good - 2nd time we had only 23 between 5 of us, and it was way WAAY too much - i'd never touch them ever again.