Actually, I agree with you on the bolded part. However, an enormous buzz corresponds to THC plasma concentrations of 11ng/dL which is roughly the what at average adult will get smoking one 10mg cannabis joint back in the 1990s. That plasma concentration from 1 joint resulted in a performance deterioration roughly equivalent to being at the legal limit of 0.08% alcohol (Figure 1).
http://casr.adelaide.edu.au/T95/paper/s16p3.html
If we are talking today’s genetically engineered pot that is 2-3X as potent (3.3 vs. 8.8%) as the 90s era stuff, then we are talking about BAC equivalents much HIGHER than 2-3X the legal limit since the performance degradation curve was steeper for THC at higher doses.
https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-m...ma-was-high-s/
So yes, people who smoke pot want an enormous buzz which is the functional equivalent of being between too tipsy to drive and shitfaced drunk in terms of BAC equivalents. That means we need to compare regular pot users, not to guys like me that have 1-2 drinks per day (BAC 0.02-0.05%), but instead to people who routinely get their BAC between 1-3X the legal limit (0.08-0.24%) - we call them alcoholics. From a prevelance perspective, those numbers roughly equate since about 8% of adults have an alcohol use disorder and 14% routinely use pot and there is some comorbid overlap.
Where we really part ways is in this narrative that pot has become some alternative to alcohol for people who want to take the edge off a little. First, a joint does a lot more than take an edge off as previously described. Second, this fallacy that pot is an alcohol alternative for “a lot of people” is pure crap. Only 14% of Americans smoke pot on a regular basis which is even smaller than the number of Americans who think that Bernie Sanders would make a great POTUS. In addition, the evidence is not that these 14% of Americans are using pot as an alcohol alternative. Where are you getting that notion? Quite the contrary, regular users of pot are MORE likely to abuse alcohol (and possibly other drugs) than people who only drink in moderation.
Weinberger AH, Platt J, Goodwin RD. Is cannabis use associated with an increased risk of onset and persistence of alcohol use disorders? A three-year prospective study among adults in the United States. Drug Alcohol Depend. February 2016. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2016.01.014