I've always said we have more in common than not, and I know you mean well. I agree that pleasure is fleeting and true joy comes from a much less superficial place. To me, that's not what the discussion is about. I don't feel you can make laws around that. I just see dangers that seem absent in some of your statements, and benefits that are omitted. 

I think of marijuana like guns. You can find plenty of extremists who want to see guns banned at almost every level. I disagree with this. Guns have practical purposes, they are used for recreation, and they can also be extremely dangerous if put in the wrong hands or abused. I think the vast majority of gun owners are peaceful responsible people. As a society we need to mitigate areas of clear harm and pin point problems where they exist, rather than with broad correlation and prohibition. My well-intentioned opinion is that these compound the issues. Guns don't cause crime, people do. Removing the guns doesn't fix the people.