Marijuana Is Illigal And Shoul Essay Research

Paper

Marijuana Is Illegal And Should Stay Illegal.

Marijuana is a green, brown, or gray mixture of dried, shredded flowers and leaves of the hemp plant (Cannabis sativa). You may hear marijuana called by street names such as pot, herb, weed, boom, Mary Jane, gangster, or chronic. Marijuana has not been proven to be of any medical use and is harmful to the body. If the making and selling marijuana was legal, it would do nothing but promote it and advertise it to the people, the government would put heavy tax on it, and the government together with whichever company produced it, would put harmful impurities in it to promote business. These are the main points and reasons why the Drug named marijuana shouldn’t be legalized in the United States of America.

The main reason why the Drug Enforcement Agency doesn’t want marijuana to be legal is because there is no hard-core evidence that proves that marijuana is an effective drug as a medicine. In twenty years of research have produced no reliable scientific proof that marijuana has medical value. The American Cancer Society, American Glaucoma Society, the National Multiple Sclerosis, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, or the American Medical Association, say that there is no evidence that marijuana is a medicine. The agencies also argues that no other drug prescribed is smoked and that knew findings show that marijuana is acutely harmful to AIDS and Cancer patients because the active ingredient in marijuana acutely reduces the bodies white blood cells which fight off infection. The Drug Enforcement Agency along with police departments all over the United States believe, with the legalization of drugs crime will increase due to a higher increase of pot users which will eventually become addicts and will steal 0r kill in order to get their drugs.

Chronic marijuana users may develop an amotivational syndrome characterized by passivity, decreased motivation, and preoccupation with taking drugs. The relationship of this syndrome to marijuana use, however, has not been established. Like alcohol intoxication, marijuana intoxication impairs judgment, comprehension, memory, speech, problem-solving ability, and reaction time. The effects of long-term use on the intellect are unknown. Evidence that marijuana induces or causes brain damage does not exist. Marijuana increases heart rate, causes bloodshot eyes, dry mouth and throat, alters sense of time, and reduced ability to perform tasks requiring concentration and coordination, such as driving a car.

Marijuana is harmful to the body. Someone who smokes marijuana regularly may have many of the same respiratory problems that tobacco smokers have. These individuals may have daily cough and phlegm, symptoms of chronic bronchitis, and more frequent chest colds. Continuing to smoke marijuana can lead to abnormal functioning of lung tissue injured or destroyed by marijuana smoke. Regardless of the THC content, the amount of tar inhaled by marijuana smokers and the level of carbon monoxide absorbed are three to five times greater than among tobacco smokers. Experts say that this may be due to the marijuana users inhaling more deeply and holding the smoke in the lungs. Recent findings indicate that smoking marijuana while shooting up cocaine has the potential to cause severe increases in heart rate and blood pressure. In my high school health book I read that in one study, experienced marijuana and cocaine users were given marijuana alone, cocaine alone, and then a combination of both. Each drug alone produced cardiovascular effects; when they were combined, the effects were greater and lasted longer. The heart rate of the subjects in the study increased 29 beats per minute with marijuana alone and 32 beats per minute with cocaine alone. When the drugs were given together, the heart rate increased by 49 beats per minute, and the increased rate persisted for a longer time. The drugs were given with the subjects sitting quietly. In normal circumstances, an individual may smoke marijuana and inject cocaine and then do something physically stressful that may significantly increase risks of overload on the cardiovascular system.

Lets assume that the government does legalize marijuana. Consequently, there will be advertisement that will put an indirect force on teenagers to use it with the power of propaganda and other advertising methods. It would be like saying marijuana is ok to use. Also, just like with tobacco, the government will put harmful impurities in weed that will make the production of the product cheaper. Also, The government would put heavy tax on it, just like they did with alcohol and tobacco. It is also said that marijuana is a gateway drug to more severe drugs like ecstasy and cocaine. What I mean by a gateway drug is that when people use the drug a lot, they get bored of it and they need more quantity to give the same effect and then proceed to stronger drugs. Long-term studies of high school students and their patterns of drug use show that very few young people use other illegal drugs without first trying marijuana. Using marijuana puts children and teens in contact with people who are users and sellers of other drugs, so there is more of a chance for a marijuana user to be exposed to and urged to try more drugs.

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