My 50-something coworker today was all "you really don't think it rots your brain? Talk to a stoner for ten minutes and tell me it doesn't rot your brain". There's still a huge stigma to it among a good chunk of the population. Gonna be another generation or two before we treat it like alcohol (and probably another generation or two after that before we take a more critical look at alcohol).
Both have pros and cons. Weed led me into a lifestyle as a teen of not caring. It led me into psychadelics, Dust, LSD, Mushrooms, and cocaine. It also made it easier for me to find percocet to oxys and finally H.
Sure weed got me popular and laid but it also destroyed my grades, I barely finished high school. Going from a nerdy straight A student to a rebel who left in the middle of class to go get high.
It made me lazy. Was fun for sure, but you can't say it has no negatives. You also can't say Alcohol has no positives, both can be true. Also some people can use both have zero issues.
I am fine with legalization btw (but they better legalize heroin, pcp, lsd, etc .. too or they are hypocrites! People shouldn't go to jail for possessing a natural substance or ingesting it)... i just don't like open advertising. Meaning having to see pot commercials on tv or having kids look at is as a positive. I get drug tested and assholes will smoke it at places in the open like parks or walking down the street, its frustrating. We used to go deep in the woods, graveyards, traintracks, stay at home, or clam bake in a car, not out in the open in front of people.