Are health potions a waste of gold?

I've been playing for about a year and a half now and some of my friends would rather not buy potions saying "it's a waste of money and time".

Well, I disagree with this thinking since you can remake all the gold spent in about 2 minions. My logic is that I would rather spend 70 gold of health pots to stay in lane to farm rather than to recall. I've tried showing my friends on how Health Potions can really become a factor on why you win the lane or not. Is there any truth to my intuition, or are my miserly friends right?

Considering the item options you can get at the start of the game, health pots really aren't a bad choice. Depending on what kind of lane you're going to play, champions often choose if they want boots or a bigger item first. If you go boots, you have that extra gold to spend. Why not spend it in a constructive and inexpensive way such as health pots?

Health pots are particularly effective for junglers. It gives that extra health boost they need in order to clear more camps before going back and buying.

The benefit is definitely worth the cost.

Absolutely not - think of it this way, if the health pot allows you to get 2 additional creep kills, it already pays for itself. If you get 3+ creeps, then you're already making a profit.

Health pots are good until a certain point. After awhile, the amount of health you gain is too minimal to be worth the constant purchase. I'd say as long as you're staying in your lane farming, you should continue to buy a pot or two to lengthen your lane sustain.