I have a very close friends who has been smoking cannabis daily since he was 15 years old. We are both in our 40s now. I have the feeling he is quite fast thinking and that he has better memory than me. That being said, he isn't a happy person, his whole life revolves around cannabis and it seems he missed so many things in his life because of that. It's pretty sad actually. He's aware of it, but it's such a central part of his life that he just can't stop.
It's always difficult to say if the substance ruined his life, or if he uses it because he has other problems. Probably both.
I'm all for legalization, as long as people are well informed of the negative effects of chronic use.
It's a subculture. Being a pothead is culturally very similar to being a gun nut. If you take a restricted or poorly understood item that provides enjoyment but is a bit taboo, and give people space to modify/grow/experiment/etc with it, it's spawns a subculture and people associate their identity with it.
It happens with hackers too, and porn, and weird nicotine vape culture, and I'm sure many other things.
It's always difficult to say if the substance ruined his life, or if he uses it because he has other problems. Probably both.
I'm all for legalization, as long as people are well informed of the negative effects of chronic use.