The Pros And Cons Of Marijuana

The question of whether or not marijuana should be legalized for recreational and medicinal use has been a three decade long conversation. There are many pros and cons to legalizing marijuana. There are many different ideas about the effects of marijuana, but as with any drug answers are going to vary depending on the person you survey. Age, health, and mental stability are all factors to consider how a drug can positively or negatively affect you, and marijuana is no different. To be legal or not to be legal is the million dollar question up for debate.

Although it is a highly common defense that marijuana is not addictive, it in fact is. Many regular smokers find themselves ridden with very similar withdrawal symptoms of a tobacco addict (Marijuana Addiction Symptoms and Effects). Around 9% of people who use find themselves dependent on marijuana (Is Marijuana Addictive?). That may not seem like much, but that is almost 1 in every 10 people hooked on a drug that is supposedly “non-addictive.” Legalizing a drug that causes disorientation, paranoia, depression, anxiety, dizziness, and a slowed reaction time is not safe, not to mention the fact that it is a gateway drug, often leading users to use even more damaging and dangerous drugs (Is Marijuana Addictive?). With the legalization of a drug like marijuana comes increased use and abuse of the drug. Marijuana is unsafe medically for the individual using and for the people around them when the user is under the influence, it will cost the government money and time and it will cost employers tons. Legalizing marijuana would be a huge mistake by our country.

Before 1937, marijuana was freely bought, sold, grown, and smoked in the United States. Since that time, all of these activities have been illegal, but many groups and individuals have fought to decriminalize marijuana. The congressional decision to classify marijuana as a Schedule I drug in 1970 has made the legalization campaign more difficult, since it officially established marijuana as a dangerous, addictive drug with no medicinal benefits.

Marijuana is the most popular illicit drug used among our teenagers in the United States. Research shows that 42% of high school seniors have smoked Cannabis, 18% within the past month and 5% smoked daily and 1 in 6 are addicts. More than 64% of teenagers reported that marijuana is very easily available (Gary). Unfortunately, some parents live in a world of denial and say “It’s not my kid. My child doesn’t smoke.” Unbeknown to us, there are unfavorable concerns for many young marijuana abusers such as the risk of addiction, poor school performances and a “gateway” to other lethal substances. Smoking marijuana increases respiratory diseases, impaired immune function, cognitive problems and motivational impairment. (National Institute on Drug Abuse). It is the leading cause of abnormal cognitive development which persists long after abstinence. Marijuana is the main drug used by children who seek emergency medical treatments and screened following an arrest or autopsies (Dennis et at).

I am very concerned about the legalization of marijuana, since I am a parent of six children, whose ages range from nine to twenty-two. I have made it a point to educate my children on how smoking marijuana can affect their brain development. Just recently my youngest son, has told me that he has learned that middle school and high school kids have been eating marijuana in different forms of baked foods, such as brownies, chocolate truffles and rice crispies. The kids are over eating the marijuana treats because they don’t think it’s getting them “high”. The children are not realizing that it takes time for the body to absorb the THC. They then end up in the hospital for feeling ill because they have eating too much of the drug. The National Families in Action Campaign, reported that pot-related emergency admissions have tripled and expulsion rate has gone up 40% since the legalization of medical marijuana due to pot related incidents (5). Parents will need to be more aware of the potential risks and signs of THC posing due to the high levels of THC found in the marijuana that

Legalizing marijuana has always been an interesting topic for many people to dispute about. Some people say it is good, while others say it is bad. No matter what topic you speak about, it has its pros and cons. For example, marijuana can be used in great ways if legalized. Through money given from dispensaries to the crime rate lowered because of the ability to acquire marijuana in legal ways. Some bad examples are that it can be a gateway drug and can cause one to want a “better high” to people thinking it affects people's lives. Legalizing marijuana (medical and recreational) will help the United States with money, crime, and other numerous ways.

Smoking marijuana is best described as a one-way ticket to negative side-affects. Based on Lifetime Health by Friedman, D. P., Stine, C. C., and Whaten S. “smoked marijuana are felt within minutes and may last for 2 or 3 hours”(2009). Short term effects consist of slowed thinking ability, difficulty paying attention, distorted sense of time, and many more. (Friedman, D. P., Stine, C. C., and Whaten S. (2009). Long term effects include frequent respiratory infection, impaired learning and memory, and even panic attacks (Friedman, D. P., Stine, C. C., and Whaten S. (2009). Thus, the ingestion in smoking marijuana can cause harmful outcomes, which are

In addition, in the article “Marijuana: A Continuing Concern for Pediatricians” the author also discusses the effects that marijuana has on the inside of the human body. The drug takes a huge toll on the heart, lungs, and

The effects of marijuana on the undeveloped minds of teenagers include an impairment in concentration and the ability to retain information. This poses an extreme hindrance to learning and can potentially tarnish the intellectual ability of a promising young man or woman. This has been depicted in studies as students with an average grade of D or below were four times more likely to have used marijuana compared to students with an average grade of A. Another fallacy about marijuana and its perceived “harmlessness” is that it is a non addictive drug. This again, could not be farther from reality. “Of the 7.1 million Americans suffering from illegal drug dependence or abuse, 60 percent abuse or are dependent on marijuana” (The impacts of marijuana use). Although we are led to believe this drug can be used once and forgotten, it is a concrete fact that more than half of all americans addicted to an illegal drug are dependent on marijuana. On top of this “more young people are now in treatment for marijuana dependence than for alcohol or for all other illegal drugs combined” (The impacts of marijuana use). At this point the question shouldn’t be whether or not marijuana is an addictive drug, but rather is there anything more addictive than marijuana. Finally, an old theory that the new pro marijuana culture is trying to dispel is that marijuana is not a gateway drug, or a drug that leads to usage of other drugs. According to a study done by the Journal of the American

Although marijuana legalization isn't all sunshine and rainbows, dispensaries are starting to sell other forms of consumption that could easily be confused for the non-cannabis-infused version of them, these being drinks, edibles and oils, this means a child could mistakenly take one. On the health side of the coin, there's the fact that there's damage to mental health, impairing memory and judgement, and lung damage, because of the inhaled smoke.

More than 20 years ago, a case study about the marijuana effects on human’s health was researched by Wayne Hall, who is also a director of the Centre for Youth Substance Abuse Research at the University Queensland. He wanted to know if smoking marijuana will be good for adolescents since adults can be treated with this drug, or will it negatively impact those

Cannabis is becoming increasingly widespread and increasingly common in modern-day society for both recreational use and for medication. The article by Craig Reinarman, ‘Criminalisation, legalisation and the mixed blessing of medicalisation in the USA’ generates many controversial issues of cannabis.

If you have tried to get out of the habit of smoking weed and just are not in a position to get the required results with the help of conventional methods, do not lose your hope and start believing that you are not alone. There are several other strugglers like you, who are thinking 'how can I stop smoking weed?' and some of them, who were previously thinking of this question discovered their own methods to get out of weed and they have succeeded as well.

Should Marijuana be Legalized? Over half of Americans answer ‘’Yes.’’ Marijuana is greatly frowned upon, not just in America, but all across the globe. But these laws against Marijuana are up for debate in several countries. Especially in the United States. There are sixteen states in this country that allow medical usage of Marijuana.

Is medical marijuana hurting the citizens of the united states. Marijuana was legalized for people that have different type of health problems. Problems that cannot be solved with medicine. Should medical marijuana be legalized in all the 50 states of America, or should it be banned? Marijuana is a good medical plant that helps many people with certain health problems; however, many people hijack the system into using marijuana into recreational purposes.