I say this as someone who doesn't have a horse in this race: because pot is demonized as a "drug" and so the health effects are exaggerated. So it's helpful to

I say this as someone who doesn't have a horse in this race: because pot is demonized as a "drug" and so the health effects are exaggerated. So it's helpful to have a constant reminder that a lot of us regularly consume alcohol, which is has high addictive potential and very negative long term effects, and yet is not demonized by society and moderate drinkers are perfectly fine. The basis of comparison to something that we're very familiar with helps put things into perspective. It's not to say that the negative effects don't exist, but that we as a society tolerate something with similarly negative effects all the time and live normal lives.