The problem with weed is that when you smoke you do so to get stoned. That's not the same as booze which simply relaxes you in moderation and only gets you stoned if you drink to excess.
That's nice, but we're getting off point, which is that pot is used to get high, unlike booze that is beneficial in moderation.
First, nice generalization on telling people what they do for what reasons.
Second, drinking alcohol to any level where it has an affect on you is in affect becoming intoxicated, be it midly, moderately, greatly, or severely. "Drunk", "Buzzed", "Wasted", etc are terms that have essentially came about to differentiate in the levels of intoxication in common vernacular due to the persistance and exposure of alcohol within the public sphere for so many decades. For example, in the U.S. a person is "Drunk" if they have a BAC of over .08 not because they are "acting like a jackass".
In both cases the drug of choice is typically used to the point of intoxication, at which point the "beneficial" affects start happening. If one is recieving beneficial affects prior to intoxication those are not due to the actual drug but are mental factors of your body reacting to the notion of using said item, and those can exist with both of them. From what research I've done real quick (i'm by no means an expert and I don't smoke) it appears that, much like the alcohol content of liquor, the amount of THC in a particular type of pot and how much of that THC enters your body is what determines whether or not you get high, how strong of a high it is, and how long it will last which is then altered by your own body makeup (Much like with alcohol).
Part of the issue is they are not congruent. For example I don't think you can just take any particular joint and try to go 1 joint = having 1 beer. Trying to pidgeon whole it into such a thing, especially based on current standards for both, would be rather foolish. It also seems that in general weed is more likely to get you to a relatively moderately intoxicated status faster than Alcohol while Alcoholo has the greater potential to go to greater and severe levels of intoxication than Marijuana has.
In both cases, getting intoxicated (Be it "buzzed/drunk" or "high"), have non-health related beneficial affects. For alcohol, it can lower inhibitions (though to what degree is uncertain in low or moderate intoxication levels due to tests with palcebo's). It can also produce feeling sof cheerfulness or relaxiation, though the latter is often at odds with its affect of causing speech and movement to become more animated. These are generally the "positive" social benefits attributed to Alcohol.
However Pot ALSO has positive social aspects. Pot can also aid relaxation and stress reduction. It can also help cause the person to be more jovial. Along with this there are a number of studied subjective benefits that differ per person such as increased appreciation of humor, music, and art. Additionally an enhancement of tastes or aroma's along with an increase in senusality and sensation awareness.
That's probably true, after all it is a safe drug. However the fact remains that when you smoke it you get stoned. Few if any smoke for the taste or to seek a mild sensation. Alcohol in moderation doesn't have the debilitating effect, and folks from most cultures enjoy it for a many reasons. Some even use it in religious ceremony.
The issue with your above statement is its based off the current culture which is in and of itself a black market one; unregulated and illegal. Think back to the days of Prohibition when you had moonshine as your primary liquor of choice. When something is illegal and possibly troublesome for you to indulge in any of it you're less likely to simply indulge in it for a singular reason (such as just taste) nor partake in just a little bit of it (such as just having a few puffs) nor look for a lower potency. If you get caught, you're getting in trouble no matter what, so may as well get the most out of it.
This could very well change if it became legalized, businesses started popping up around it, laws were made reflecting a balance between its legality and public safety, and a market was formed. There's no telling if we'd start seeing much like with Alcohol instances where different brands are made at varying degree's of potency, sizes, and tastes catering to different people and their desires. There's nothing saying that if it was legal that a person who would normally now once every two weeks get a good amount of the stuff and just smoke all night would not instead choose to head out to a lounge a few days a week for an hour to partake in a small relatively mild joint that gives him a short high and relaxes him after a day of work while listening to some music before heading home. To me this would be no different than someon stopping at the neighborhood bar for an hour for a drink after work.
Again, I think you're trying to act like two things are absolutely identical in use and in situation and attempting to compare them in a 1:1 ratio. Have a 8oz glass of Everclear and an 8oz glass of Miller Light and tell me that the affects are the same. I just think you're incorrectly not taking into account history of similar substances, the market, and the current legality of it when determining what it would be like if it was legal.
Getting drunk to get drunk is not socially acceptable, unless society itself is degraded.
You're right, few adults seem to go out to "drink to get drunk". They go out to drink to become more "relaxed" and "open up" and "lower inhibitions" while going to a club or a bar to dance or hit on girls which is essentially a more refined way of "I'm going to go get drunk."
There's not a bar or a club I've ever been too in the evening where the majority of the patrons there were not intoxicated. The difference is once you get out of college most people realize "WOOO Lets go get drunk" sound juvenile so it simply switches to "Woo, lets hit up the bar for some drinks and go find some ladies/go dance" yet the whole reason they're going to go have those drinks is to get intoxicated to get the affects which will they believe aid them in the later desires.
