[bill_joy_fanboy]

This isn't really a good answer.

"Society" isn't really a unit. The decision to "tolerate" alcohol isn't unanimous, I mean.

> If we can tolerate the harms from alcohol, why can't we tolerate the (much lower) harms from cannabis?

Because you're just adding more harm. Those who don't drink but smoke weed are now harmed. Those who drink and add weed are now even worse off.

There is no way to make the logic work.

If someone steals $100, it doesn't make it better for them to say "Yeah, well, that guy stole $1,000". It doesn't make their actions okay.