Oh hasn't it?

... An awful lot of people seem very very damn interested in procuring a sustained supply, even at the cost of violence...

It seems rather clear that there's a double standard. Potheads are every bit as destructive (look at DUIs), violent (guess what fuels the gang wars?), self-indulgent (why not do something healthier or more productive than huff burning plants?) and addictive (why are you so defensive about weed's disposition and why are you trying to frame this conversation around physical dependence when we both know that's not the only form addiction can take?) as the opiates you are so keen on transforming into a scapegoat.

If you think there's an opiate problem, then you automatically admit there is a marijuana problem: their effects are the same, the opiates just kill people more directly through chemical means rather than by social forces, police / gang violence, poverty and traffic collisions. And that's before we discuss the health effects of inhaling smoke.

Let's not pretend that weed has absolutely no downsides. That's so far beyond fucking stupid I simply won't tolerate any such bullshit.