MeekoRaccoon said:
See, this is the problem with modern society. No one is willing to be blunt and say "this is right" and "that is wrong". Everything is defined by moral equivalence. If you want to put your face close to something that is burning and inhale to alter your mental state, there is obviously something wrong with you.
Morals are a slippery subject. Outside of the big ones everyone can agree on, murder, rape, arson, and so on, morals change from one person to the next. They also change over time.
Sex before marriage is considered not a big deal today by over 60% of the population. Yet before the 1960's that number hovered around 20% of people. And even today it depends on what part of the world you live in. Certain countries that can still get you arrested. Being homosexual can get you the death penalty in some of them.
As for the 'alter your mental state' part. Let's go biblical. Remember three wise men offering gold, frankincense, and myrrh? Myrrh is specifically mentioned later at the time of Christ's crucifixion for its mind altering properties. Nothing immoral related to it anywhere in the bible.
If you're just judging the moral character of someone based on them using something that is bad for them, we are all guilty. Studies abound showing the negative effects of television viewing. Watching even a few hours a day has been shown to lower IQ, and have long term effects on health. Obesity, heart disease, verbal competence, aggression, shortened attention span...many factors attributable to TV.
Judging solely on your criteria of right and wrong it's obvious to anyone TV's are wrong. Yet I'm gonna go out on a limb here and guess you own one.
To an Amish person you're immoral for owning a TV.
Basically it all boils down to a simple fact you may not have realized. Your sense of right and wrong differs from everyone else. Much of what we think is wrong, a thousand of our neighbors couldn't care less about. And some of the things we think are right have millions of people in the world willing to stone us to death, set our bodies on fire and hang them from bridges for the world to see because they think it's wrong. It's a personal thing we each come up with based on our own life experiences.
Personally I wouldn't touch the stuff and think people who do are definitely not making the best decision about that. Yet at the same time I've argued for its complete legalization for decades. I tend to think having a war on drugs where millions of people rot in jail and have their lives destroyed for smoking something is way more immoral.