Look. I would use it for my back if I was able to do that and not have to worry about drug tests, having it mess with my work, or endangering my driving. I've used it before in legal places when I wasn't working in jobs that required clearances or working with sensitive devices, and while it made my pain go away it slowed my reactions down and made me the slightest bit paranoid.

Unless and until someone figures out how to tell if me or someone else is too impaired to work or drive I will never be for recreational use. Medical use would be fine with the exception that if anyone with a real prescription (not some California special fake one) is pulled over while smoking or impaired that they lose their driver license for some time and go through the same crap people with DUIs go through.

There needs to be a quick test that doesn't show pos/neg but some level of THC that would classify you as impaired. If the pro weed people really wanted to completely legalize it they would work on that to take away any arguments the government might have, and to help users to know when they can't drive.

Weed might be safer pharmaceutically, but not for operating machinery or driving. One off my old friends used to be a Dallas County cop. He had a love/hate relationship with weed. He LOVED it when he had to go break up a party and there was only weed and no alcohol. People were cool, didn't fight, and even offered him food. Alcohol parties always had screaming and fighting. When he pulled over someone he suspected of being high on weed he always told me it was easy to figure out - they were doing 30-40mph LESS than everyone else. That's rear-end territory on an interstate.

Besides - while I don't believe it is a gateway drug in all cases (there are always some people that can't do anything without overdoing it), I do believe extended heavy use just makes you lazy and stupid. I don't care either way if someone does that to themselves though. Same with alcohol - I enjoy a drink every once in a while (a couple times a month or so), but I'll never drink so much as to become an alcoholic - or even get drunk. I haven't done that in over 30 years. I don't care a lick if someone else wants to harm themselves, but if it endangers me I start to care.