Don't buy the spice, buy the core ingredient.
The answer to your question is yes and no - there are both positive and negative aspects associated with this chemical compound in regards to a direct comparison to marijuana. For example, some positives include the affordability as compared to high end marijuana, the ease of dosage, concealment (ie no marijuana smell, etc etc), and et al.
There are cons associated with it as well. As it is a chemical, some will find that very fact will not sit so well just by nature of preference. I would also suggest that some may be unnerved by the fact it has no long history of human experimentation (though a deal more than some, if indirectly). Many also associate the entire ritual of smoking (rolling, breaking up, packing bowl, passing bong, etc) as a positive for marijuana. J will not quite have the same ritual. It can be viewed as a "negative", if a subjective one.
I would suggest that it is stronger than marijuana as a whole, though the dose is entirely scalable to what you desire. I think that if most people were given a blind "taste test" of the two without having knowledge of the method of ingestion or taste and could purely experience the effects, I believe most people would be hard pressed to identify specific differences as compared to THC.