Many people want to get high or stoned. They'll do it legally, or illegally. The only current legal option is one of the worst drugs, alcohol. It's addictive, expensive and causes a huge amount of grief to both individuals, families and society as a whole. Cannabis is harmless by comparison. It'd be a positive thing if people had a few alternatives, less harmful options, other than getting hammered on booze. Of course, the drinks industry is terrified of anything that might make their products less popular. A&E on the weekend isn't full of stoners, or people on MDMA. We need to start being adult about drug use, and stop giving alcohol a free pass, whilst coming down hard on other less harmful alternatives. Give one person a bottle of vodka, and another a bag of weed, and see which one gives you the most problems over the evening.