It's a really good question.
But check this out:

You have the ability to attack your own party members.

Now you knew that. And whether or not you know anbout the accidental secret cancellation trick, the fact remains that Square also knew that the game enables you to attack your own characters. Therefore, it isn't cheating. It's a tactic that was built in, and so I have no problem.

I use Sap and Change for the sake of speed, plus it boosts my stats. I don't really care that the mechanics of the game would rather that I waste my time casting one spell against one of 8 snakes while 7 run away in the 1st round, making my have to find another group of them.

No, that's too annoying.