We legislate to the lowest common denominator of behavior. Though not everyone who tries cigarettes will develop an addiction, and not everyone who drinks alcohol will go on to achieve the most-wanted status of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the law must necessarily be broad enough to punish behavior that is borderline as much as it smacks the extremes. Our national drug policy follows the pattern established for our legal killer substances. Marijuana is the ugly step-sister in the Cinderella story we'd like to believe our children's lives follow. They grow up in thrall to our decisions, marry princes or princesses and live better than we could imagine.
Collective horror is experienced when they turn out to have experimented with drugs.
Mary Jane is the gateway to a life of hauling coal to the fireplace, and study after study attempts to establish that young brain development is stunted by cannaboids, not to mention the poisons added to the processing of the wicked green plant. I've had a few dates with Mary Jane in my lifetime. When I was just out of high school, I met her for the first time. I admired her ability to allow me to forget a hostile world. I loved the way she made even Time magazine fascinating.