well George H I did not really find any of the responses so far "narrow-minded" but you have a point re: classifying all drugs unto a single entity. Ther is no real point in doing so.

Cocaine is every bit as addictive as Demerol; but one is legal. And the use of coca leaves by indigenous peoples in Columbia and other parts of South America, prior to processing, is actually rather healthful (it is used by workers in the fields for alertness, appetite suppression, mental clarity).

Cigarettes, coffee and alcoholic beverages are all quite addictive to certain individuals and just about anyone over 18 can buy them (a school kid can buy coffee).

Marijuana is, as I said, benign and even helpful to many (especially AIDS sufferers, glaucoma patients, and those who cannot eat because of chemotherapy). Yet the American goverment continues to demonize it and will not even approve sales of medical marijuana to those who need it and for whom no other substance will work.

And someone who smokes too much pot one night is not too terribly likely to beat his wife, crash her car, or start a fight at the local tavern...more likely to fall asleep on the sofa eating ice cream and watching Dr. Who or listening to old Elton John records...

I recently temped at the "Pain Management" center of a large and prestigious hospital in Boston. The number of painkiller-addicted people I talked with on the phone was staggering. Some had legitimate pain problems, yes, but most of them had been on various narcotics for YEARS and even when the doctors were refusing to up their prescriptions or give them an extra supply when they had goen through their scrip early, the lies and desperation of these people was beyond belief...everything from "I lost the bottle" to "The doctor said I should take twice as many as it said on the bottle" to "Someone stole it."

But, again, people get addicted to over-the-counter stuff, too: sleep aids, diet pills, laxatives, cold and asthma medication, and even the deceptively-harmful non-aspirin pain relievers (acetaminophen/paracetemol has been linked to kidney and liver disease after prolonged use).

People will take ANYTHING! Instead of making lifestyle changes to improve their health, people wish to rely on a palliative. Taking ibuprofen for back pain masks that pain and could make the condition worse. Taking laxatives for constipation instead of altering diet and lifestyle is very very dangerous and can cause the body to become dependent on them. Cold medicines (especially decongestants) do not allow the body to rid itself of infection in a gradual and natural way and so can suppress the immune system. And let's not even get started on how damaging it is to take antibiotics indiscriminately...

Most of the people I know who smoke marijuana for occasional recreational use (or take psilocybin mushrooms for an occasional mind-expanding experience) are people who are very healthy and do not take any OTC medications...one could argue both types of drugs are unnecessary, but in our society only one type is known as "good".

Peg