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Some Truths about Marijuana Essay

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Marijuana, a plant that humans have used for thousands of years, grows ever closer to decriminalization and legalization around the country. Now that states like Washington and Colorado have legalized the recreational use of Marijuana, the opposition proclaims that usage of this plant will lead to harder drugs. This claim simply isn’t true and studies done by numerous organizations discredit the gateway drug theorem. Marijuana affects psychomotor skills because of the chemical tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in marijuana; however, there has been no evidence to say that this plant will cause more accidents. Also, another theory about an individual failing in the cycle of abuse associated with marijuana has no validity …show more content…

Driving under the influence of marijuana would not increase accidents or fatalities since the user compensates for their state of mental being. By knowing that user is impaired, Dr. Andrew Sewell, author of “The Effect of Cannabis Compared with Alcohol on Driving” explains that pot smokers have “ an increased awareness that they are impaired, marijuana smokers tend to compensate effectively while driving by utilizing a variety of behavioral strategies.” Ganja Tokers take preemptive measures to ensure that while driving, accidents are avoided. Most marijuana-intoxicated drivers show only modest impairments of actual road tests.(Robbe) Also, long time pot users who drive under the influence of a daily basis, show almost no functional impairment, only when marijuana is combined with alcohol.(Sutton) However, if the amount of THC in the blood increases, the greater the driving impairment, but a frequent user of marijuana show less impairment because of the tolerance build up to the same amount of an infrequent user. The more frequent a person smokes, the chances of fatal accidents drops. Marijuana’s classification as a Schedule I drug by the justice department means that it has “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. Schedule I drugs are the most dangerous drugs of all drug schedules with potentially severe psychological or

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