The Pros And Cons Of Marijuana

According to Jessica Atkins many crimes in several states are increasing due to the “selling and possession” of the substance. Atkins also pointed out that marijuana is a “natural herb” and it is extremely less dangerous than any other illegal substance. With that being said many also worry about parents who also consume this drug and the effects it would have on their children. Dr. Melanie Dreher conducted many experiments and has inferred that children who are born to marijuana consuming parents show no factors of birth defects, also the child tends to be more intelligent than children not born to marijuana consuming parents. There is also a lot of benefits towards consuming medical marijuana also, it can benefit anyone who has a mental illness and could also help a woman's pregnancy with decreasing the sense of nausea and vomiting. Marijuana is a very controversial topic especially legalizing it but people need to realize that there are substances that are killing many people today that are completely legal under the federal law and it is injustice to keep a drug that has many benefits and could help people

According to a 2012 Monitoring the Future study, marijuana is the illicit drug most likely to be used by teens (Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey). Marijuana comes from the plant Cannabis Sativa and appears as a green/brown mix of flowers, stems, and leaves (Teens Health 1). Marijuana is also known as pot, weed, MJ, Mary Jane, reefer, dope, ganja, herb, and grass. Marijuana is most often smoked in cigarettes, hollowed-out cigars, pipes, or water pipes, but is sometimes mixed into food or tea (1). Why are there concerns about teen use of marijuana? During adolescence, many developmental changes are occurring and poor choices could affect a teen’s future

Marijuana is a popular and universal drug. It is easily accessible to most people and is the number one illicit drug used in North America. Although the availability and knowledge of this drug is fairly equal for all people in North America, marijuana tends to be more prevalent in teenagers and young adults. Maisto, Galizio, and Conners (2004) reported that "use of marijuana [in young people] was 8.0% among those aged 12-17; 16% among those aged 18-25," as compared to "6.8% among those aged 26-34; and 2.4% among those 35 and older." People of all ages, races, and religions use marijuana and have their own reasons to use it. Young people first try marijuana because of some common reasons. Some teenagers feel pressured by their peers to

In addition to increase public health problems, legalizing marijuana will lead to increase use of the drug among youngsters. Despite the regulatory approaches, legalizing marijuana has the inevitable effect of increasing the availability and consumption of the drug. Under the current prohibitions, the rate of consumption of marijuana among teenagers is already high; however, the rate of use would greatly increase if the drug was legitimately available to the population. For instance, despite the prohibitions against distribution of alcohol to teenagers, many youngsters who are under the legal age drink alcohol today. Similarly, high percentages of the young population are currently smokers even though the law prohibit them from buying cigarettes. Therefore, it is expected that the usage of marijuana among teenagers would increase if marijuana was legalized. Notably, the marijuana use will impair the development process of teenagers, which will negatively affect their health in later life. Thus, the increased use of marijuana among teenagers is a great concern. It will contribute to great dangers on the health of the youths.

Marijuana is a 'gateway drug'-The addiction rate for marijuana is lower than that of alcohol, and there is little scientific evidence that it acts as a trigger for harder drugs. While teen marijuana use is not to be encouraged, the real "gateway drug" risk might be from abusing prescription opioids and stimulants, like OxyContin, Vicodin and Adderall, or with inhalant drug use. These have strong addictive properties and more accessible to teens.

If the substance was legalized it would give adolescence easier access to the drug. With easier access to marijuana the youth is at risk of health problems especially ones dealing with the brain. Marijuana use in adolescence is connected to anxiety, depression and schizophrenia. Marijuana doesn’t only put the youths health at risk it puts their whole life in danger. Frequent use influences their education negatively. Repeated use has been linked to dropout rates and poor grades. Our youth is our future and legalizing would only put our future in danger. Marijuana is also a significant factor in car accidents, which can lead to injuries and sometimes even death. Although many supporters of cannabis say “marijuana is not bad for you” it significantly increases the chance of many different health risks. Some of the health risk includes memory loss, cancer, immune system deficiencies, heart disease and birth defects. Also if used regularly decision making, memory and decision-making can suffer. Many consumers claim that smoking marijuana does no harm but Rosalie Pacula the co-director of the Rand Drug Policy research center has stated “If pot is relatively harmless, why are we weeing more than 100,000 hospitalizations a year for marijuana use?” also emergency room admissions percentages has increased by 164% from 1995 to 2002 and surely has increased since. These

Scientists are still divided about addiction. Some believe that marijuana is not as addictive, while others claim that two out of every twenty marijuana users develop a dependence of some type to it or a more serious and dangerous illegal drug. Marijuana alters your perception and can lead to multiple problems such as impaired driving, falling, and other numerous injuries. Marijuana also produces what is called a high, which can lead to paranoia, enhanced or intense feelings or emotions that someone is already having. The side effect of marijuana like having the “munchies” can lead to obesity in the long run if marijuana is used long term. There also the downside that more people will have marijuana in their homes around small children, who may be able to get their hands on it, if not stored away properly. Since marijuana is a plant grown from seeds, it would be easy for someone to start growing marijuana and selling it for their own profit to anyone including kids. Some doctors may prescribe marijuana when it may not be medically necessary. Many poor people in need of money who are have prescribed marijuana for medical use may sell it or the seeds for cash, making it easier for drug dealers and kids to get their hands on it. Many others find it offensive to their religion. Marijuana has always been considered a gateway drug that leads to other drugs that are classified as being more hardcore like cocaine.

The New York Times article speaks to various studies that were performed relating to the adolescence use of marijuana nationwide and how users are getting younger and younger, from 8-12th graders. Poison control center has seen an increase in calls ad younger users are now experiencing marijuana and mixing herbs to create a new drug. Dr. Christian Thurstone, medical director of adolescent substance abuse treatment program at Denver Health and Hospital states “we’re clearly seeing an increase in teenage

The Office of National Drug Control Policy says marijuana plays a bigger role in a serious U.S. drug problem than most people realize. Consider: Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States. About 75 percent -- or 14.6 million of the nearly 20 million illicit drug users -- are using marijuana. Of the 7.1 million Americans dealing with illegal drug dependence or abuse, 60 percent are hooked on marijuana or abuse it. More young people are being treated for marijuana dependency than for booze or for all other illegal drugs combined, the office says marijuana's daily use among eighth, 10th and 12th grade students has increased over the last year, according to recent survey results released by the office. Youths who use marijuana -- particularly those in their later teen years -- are more likely to do poorly in school, stand a better chance of getting into trouble and tend to have more sexual partners. And, while there's no shortage of backers for legalizing marijuana, it has proven to be a psychologically addictive drug with plenty of downside to society, the Office of National Drug Control Policy says

Marijuana use among high school seniors in the United States has been on the rise causing greater concerns for addiction and health concerns among teenagers. According to the CDC, in 2010, marijuana use among high school seniors rose to 21.4%, with 25.2% being male users and 16.9% being female (Health, United States, 2011, 2011). This shows a steady increase every year starting in 2007 where 18.8% of high school seniors were using marijuana, with 22.3% were male and 15.0% were female. Ages as young as 12 years old also showed the same statistical trends, even in Middle Schools.

According to the United Nations , 158.8 million people around the world use Marijuana which is 3.8 of the earth's population (Marijuana Statistics ). Marijuana's impact on users has changed over the years. Back in the 1960s, the potency of marijuana was nowhere near what it is today. Along with that, if users are caught, it affects those convicted more negatively. Additionally, marijuana today is being chemically altered leading to dangerous side effects for users. Therefore, Drugs are worse for teenagers today than in the 1960s due to the prescription pill epidemic,Ease of using drugs in school, and the effects drugs can have on a user's future today.

The article Teen brains aren't adult brains claims that the use of marihuana for teens is unhealthy and can affect motor skills in teens in and out of school, and also can affect decision making. And some studies say that the use in younger people can cause long term damage , the brain is still developing till the age of 20. And the use of marijuana in medication is for those 21 and older with a prescription from doctors . The medicine is used for those who have pain or certain illnesses that the medicine can ease. The article states that 36% of high school students have at least tried marijuana once . And its popularity in students in schools have risen the number of student that do use marijuana . The article thinks that adults are not

Marijuana refers to the dried leaves, stems and flowers from the hemp plant, cannabis sativa. The flowers contain the most part of the drug. Marijuana have over 20 different types of names Weed, Kush, Bud, Green, Dope, broccoli, Grass and Mary Jane. Cannabis is the original name of marijuana that was listed in the United States pharmacopeia from 1850 until 1942 and was prescribed for various condition including labor pains and nausea. (drug-information/cannabis today.html) although, Marijuana is one of the most popular drug used in the United States Today people used it for recreational reason and enjoyment. The most common way people used it today is emptied the cigars out and filled them up with marijuana. When they replace the tobacco with marijuana it’s called a “Blunt”. People have got more advance with marijuana mixing it in brownies or brewed as tea. They also laced the marijuana in the blunt with crack

Many children and teens are very mature to say “no” for using cannabis in the wrong ways, for example in Colorado teenagers stubbornly refuse to smoke cannabis. Jacob Sullum points out “…the percentage of Colorado high schools reporting having consumed marijuana within the past 30 days fell from 22 percent in 2011 to 20 percent in 2013.”(Marijuana Re-Legalization: Its effects on teens) This report shows that not every teenager or child is automatically going to use them for the wrong ways. The study concludes that “legalizing medical marijuana has not increased teen pot

The second reason that the government should not legalize marijuana is that doing so will send the message that is okay to use other psychoactive drugs. Legalizing marijuana could result in advertising of this drug to adolescents. A study was conducted during 2003 showing that roughly 48 percent of twelfth graders reported using alcohol in the past thirty days and 24 percent reported smoking cigarettes in the past thirty days. Household access to illicit substances is coupled with a greater risk of marijuana use among both younger and older adolescents. This is often coupled with parental drug use which sends the message that it is okay to use psychoactive drugs (Joffe & Yancy, 2004, p. e636). The general idea is that we, as people, shouldn’t be making it easier for our children to get drugs. Thus far, it is shown that there is a struggle to educate the youth to avoid the use of psychoactive drugs. However, certain organizations, such as DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education), have made solid efforts to