Informative Essay: The Dangerous Effects Of Marijuana

Marijuana, is a drug from the Cannabis plant that is intended for medical or recreational use. The main part of cannabis and what makes it so dangerous is THC one of the many known chemicals in the plant. Cannabis can be used in many ways including smoking, ingestion through food, or as an extract. My name is Timur Krapivin and I was caught being under the influence of drugs on school grounds. The specific drug that I was caught with was marijuana in the form of an edible. A weed brownie is one of the many forms that marijuana comes in. I regret everything that I did and now know that my decision was very wrong and could have harmed the ones I cared about the most. The substance Abuse Intervention Program really helped me realize how dumb I was for taking this drug. I put my friends and family in danger because it was my first time and I didnt know what was going to happen or how my body would react to it. The main reason for why I did this drug is because I was curious and wanted to try something new. I know now that this decisions was very irresponsible and dumb. I will definitely think before I act now and use the problem solving skills that I learned in the class. I will make better decisions in the future because I want to be able to reach my goals and have a successful life. I can't do these things by wasting my life on drugs. Marijuana is a very dangerous drug, it affects our community in many ways, and has a long history behind it.

I believe that weed should not be legalized. The reason for that is because to many people use it for the wrong reason, they make up excuse when they can be doing better than that. Marijuana even mess up with people health and you don’t even know it.

The use of marijuana for medicinal purposes is a long-standing controversy. For centuries marijuana was prescribed to alleviate symptoms associated with a variety of illnesses. Anti-medical marijuana sentiments began with the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. In 1970, the Controlled Substances Act banned the use of marijuana completely, categorizing it as a drug with no medicinal value, high abuse rates, and detrimental health effects (http://www.farmacy.org/prop215/apha.html). Since 1996, numerous states including California, Alaska, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon and Washington have passed medical marijuana initiatives supporting the right to prescribe marijuana for seriously or terminally ill patients (http://www.marihemp.com/marimed.html). The American Public Health Association and the Institute of Medicine represent two organizations that have recently researched and endorsed advancements in the study of medical marijuana. Both groups support the use of marijuana for specific treatments, such as reducing nausea in cancer patients receiving chemotherapy, stimulating the appetites of AIDS victims, and limiting spasticity in MS patients.

In my illustrative essay I’m going to be writing about legalizing marijuana. It doesn’t seem like a good choice for some people but legalizing marijuana would probably change things a lot in our state. Legalizing marijuana would cut down some of the crime rate since people wouldn’t be in trouble for selling or being caught with it. It would also help the people who has to have it for their medical condition. Another thing about legalizing marijuana is that marijuana doesn’t really have long term effects on a person’s health unless they start smoking at a juvenile age.

On the other hand, cannabis has positive effects, especially if you have a severe illness. These illnesses include cancer, multiple sclerosis, insomnia, and much more. Cannabis has been proven to help combat nausea, and many treatments for cancer, including numerous chemotherapy treatments and radiation, has nausea as one of the top side effects. Many patients who have tried pharmaceuticals did not like the effects they had on them, or sometimes it did not help combat the nausea at all. However, patients who have used cannabis have felt almost an immediate relief of nausea, if smoked or vaporized. This is due to a cannabinoid in cannabis. This cannabinoid is called cannabidiol, or more popularly known as CBD. CBD, when ingested or absorbed, activates a unique compound called

People might think smoking marijuana is cool. They might try it without knowing what it is or what affects is has on you. Once someone smokes it for the first time, they might keep doing it again and again and they could get hooked on it for life. People who use marijuana usually never use any other type of illegal drugs, but more than seven thousand five hundred people get arrested for using marijuana every year. There is a wide variety of marijuana, but they are all based off of two marijuana plants, Indica and Sativa. Marijuana is very popular in America, and all over the world. Marijuana affects the body, it can be used as medicine, and marijuana can be addictive.

Marijuana is a drug misunderstood by many nation wide however, most people do not consider it 's legitimate medicinal application. Medical marijuana defined by Drugfacts refers to the use of the whole unprocessed plant to treat a disease or illness. The Drug Enforcement Administration has listed it under the schedule I classification which is the same classification that heroin, LSD, ecstasy and many other drugs are under. The classification identifies the drug as a dangerous substance that has no recognized medicinal use as reported by the DEA. It 's classification as a highly regulated Schedule I drug makes it challenging to study its medical benefits. Due to this classification, marijuana is commonly regarded by the general public as possessing "no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse" (DEA.gov). The DEA has yet to acknowledge many conducted scientific studies that point to the very tangible medical benefits of cannabinoids (Voth and Schwartz 1997). The blockade on marijuana research has caused a severe halt in reaping the benefits of THC. The drug is a better alternative than many drugs given to patients as seen in some cases of neurological disorders such as epilepsy and chronic terminal conditions like cancer, because of its "analgesic, sedative, and anticonvulsant" properties (Abood, Sorensen, and Stella 2012). Marijuana can serve as both a viable treatment option and improves the quality of life through its pain relieving capacities. While

I actually believe that it should be legal. A marijuana overdose has actually resulted in zero deaths compared to deaths caused by opioids, which is 17,465 and the deaths caused by prescription drugs, which is 25,760. However, it is impossible to deny that marijuana isn’t involved when it comes to accidents that results in injury or death.

THC disrupts the nerve cells in the part of the brain where memories are formed. This makes it hard for the user to recall recent events (such as what happened a few minutes ago), and so it is hard to learn while high. A working short-term memory is required for learning and performing tasks that call for more than one or two steps. Some studies show that when people have smoked large amounts of marijuana for many years, the drug takes its toll on mental functions. Among a group of long-time heavy marijuana users in Costa Rica, researchers found that the people had great trouble when asked to recall a short list of words (a standard test of memory). People in that study group also found it very hard to focus their attention on the tests

In a few states including Maine has passed a law making the use of recreational marijuana acceptable. Although marijuana is legal in Maine the use of marijuana is still federally illegal. There already seems like there could be trouble, right? Well this is only one of many problems resulting from the “Yes” vote for the marijuana referendum. Police are servilely impacted when something is legal from a state law but the federal government say it is still not acceptable.

Marijuana should be a medicinal option because it relieves major chronic pain to many symptoms. According to the Herald Editorial board, Marijuana shows a great impact on pain, “from a widespread number of causes, including cancer, spinal cord injury and disease, severe spasms, post-traumatic stress disorder, nausea, glaucoma, Parkinson’s and other debilitating ailments.” This drug is useful, as patients at times cannot use certain drug due to allergies or other complications. Marijuana helps elevated those who suffer severe pain that other drugs cannot, but doctors still prescribe stronger and more addictive opiates that are legal. If marijuana was a legal drug for the purpose of medication, marijuana can potentially save lives. Marijuana should be prescribed as there are fewer side effects compared to the drugs prescribed by doctors. Why would the government not allow doctors to prescribe patients with extreme health issues that can potentially help elevate their pain. There are individuals who suffer from epilepsy, epilepsy is a condition that causes nerve cell activity to disturb the brain. At times individuals can have up to 10 seizures a day, at any given moment. Having 10 seizures a day at random times makes it difficult for them to go on with their day, but marijuana can decrease the amount seizures into one day. It’s remarkable on how marijuana can reduce the amount of seizures an epileptic person has. Marijuana needs to be an option for medical purposes for the amount of benefits it provides.

Some medical reasons that marijuana shouldn’t be decriminalized are that it has long and short terms effects. Examples of the short term outcomes include memory loss, difficulty with thinking, loss of motor skills and increased heart rate. According to the National Institutes of Health show that someone smoking about five joints per week is taking in as many cancer causing chemicals as someone smoking a pack of cigarettes every day. There is no science proof that smoked marijuana can be used for medication. Since cannabis plants are polluted with a range of fungal spores, smoking marijuana may increase the risk of infectious organisms. Taradiff, J. "Marijuana and the War on Drugs. “Marijuana. Farmington Hills, Michigan: Thomas Gale, 2008. 157. Print.

“Weed is addictive and is gateway drug. You shouldn’t smoke it.” This is a common misconception about Marijuana that a variety of people believe. This is because they do not know the history of it and what is in the Marijuana that makes it, what people say is “addictive.” They also probably do not know that there are disadvantages and advantages of using Marijuana. At the end of the day, it is really the choice of the user. But people should become more aware of where Marijuana originated from, what it is made from and the pros and cons of smoking it if they choose to.

Have you ever thought about drugs like marijuana and the history or impact it can cause on your life? Many people do not think about these things when it comes to taking drugs. They just like to take drugs for fun and usually don’t care what happens. Well many people don’t know a lot about marijuana. There are a lot of things you should know before taking any type of drug like marijuana.

The Government proclaims there is no therapeutic value in the medicinal use of marijuana, but they do not have hard evidence to prove it (Grinspoon 46). Ira Glasser, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, (at a congressional forum) expressed: “the government has demonized all drug use without differentiation and has systematically and hysterically resisted science.”(Koch 714) Possibly if the two “sides” would work together an agreement could be established concerning procedures for further development and treatment. Marijuana has eased the pain of chemotherapy, severe muscle spasms caused by multiple sclerosis, weight-loss due to the AIDS virus, and other problems (www.abcnews.go.com/medmj990317.html).