This is my direct experience and observation (I haven't partaken of any illegal substance for some time, but I'm certainly no stranger to the stuff).
Any "spiritual" experiences induced by marijuana may seem amazing at the time, but it's my observation and experience that these things are basically synthetic. (This goes for other hallucinogenic drugs, as well, although the peyote rituals some Native American tribes undertake do seem to have deep spiritual reality for those people; that's done under supervision of a shaman and with years of tradition behind it, so that's certainly a factor.)
The creativity, thought patterns, ideas, spiritual experiences, etc., that are generated by hallucinogens (the way they're taken by most people, anyway), is like the smell and flavour of fake vanilla (vanillin) when compared to the smell and flavour of the real thing. There is a depth of character, a complexity, a breadth of subtlety that the real thing has, which is simply not present in the synthetic. Oh, yes, it's okay for some situations, and if you have never tasted the real thing, you won't know the difference, and there are situations where vanillin is preferable to real vanilla, but the fake is basically cheaper, shallower, much easier to come by, and not all that satisfying in the long run.
As I said, that's just MY observation and experience. I actually don't particularly have an issue with marijuana (I don't use it now, but I wouldn't necessarily turn it down if someone I trusted offered me some and I didn't have to worry about looking after kids or driving under the influence of it!), or with the responsible use of it, and I've long believed it should be made legal and regulated, so, hey, no anti-weed message here. Just some direct experience regarding the "spiritual' (and creative) experienced induced by the stuff.
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