“According to the U.S. center for disease control between 33,000 and 35,000 Americans die annually from effects of alcohol. The comparable number for marijuana is zero” (Merino 156-157). Marijuana is also not an additive suspense, alcohol is. Not only do people die each year because of fatal car crashes do to alcohol, many people also die each year from alcohol overdoes. There has never been a report of a death for marijuana overdose. This mean it is almost impossible, if impossible to get additive to the drug. So why would it be outlawed if it is proven to be less harmful than alcohol?
Not only is marijuana proven to be less harmful than alcohol, it is also an amazing resource and many things can be made from it. “Ben Franklin started one of the first paper mills with cannabis hemp thus freeing us from dependence on paper or books from England” (harbay.net 1). The declaration of independence was written on hemp paper. Marijuana or hemp can be used for many other things including fuel, paper, plastic, and plastic paint. In the early 1900’s Ford built a car made from hemp. This car was much strong than steel and cheaper to make. We could use this as a fuel source. It would be much cheaper than the fuel we have today because we could grow it ourselves. We could use it for plastics and paints. This would be much safer because marijuana is an all-natural plant, so the plastics and paints wouldn’t contain all the harmful chemicals that they do today. If the United States government legalized Marijuana, it would benefit the economy.
“Each year in the United States alone, 783,936 people die from legal prescription drugs, medical errors, and other iatrogenic causes. Illegal drugs kill only 250,000 worldwide (less than 1/3 of legal drug...
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...is terrible drug. It’s proven to be harmless and even beneficial to our health.
Some researchers try to tell the people that marijuana is a gateway drug to the use of harder drugs. It is proven that most people who are addicted to the harder drugs started with marijuana. It is also proven that most people that use marijuana started with tobacco or alcohol before they used marijuana (stopthedrugwar.org 1). So yes, you could say that marijuana is a gateway to the use of harder drugs, but it’s proven that tobacco and alcohol are a gateway to marijuana use.
The definitive study of the long-term health effects of marijuana to date was done by Kaiser Permanente. They surveyed the health records of 65,000 patients over a long period of time. They found no significant differences in the health records of pot smokers versus people who did not smoke pot (druglibrary.org 1).
...are bad short term memory, apathy, lack of motivation and depression. Most findings do conclude after smoking marijuana for periods of time cause them afterwords to be disconnected from social activities and have noticeable differences in memory. But, most surveys or studies don’t usually ask the marijuana smoker to be clean for a year. This would probably prove more of the long term effects. It is somewhat disturbing that with all of the new technology, we cannot exactly prove that marijuana has long term effects. Short term effects have been pretty much proven.
For many years now marijuana has built up its reputations as the gateway drug which destroys youths lives. Not saying this is false “...the majority of people who use marijuana do not go on to use other, "harder" substances” (Is Marijuana a gateway drug?). But what does it do to the body. “How marijuana affects health is determined by how it's consumed. Marijuana is most commonly smoked, such as from pipes, bongs, paper-wrapped joints, blunts and other items including devices that heat or vaporize marijuana...” (Marijuana and Lung Health). Any kind of smoke in general is dangerous to humans so it does not matter if it is firewood smoke or tobacco smoke it is not healthy for the lungs. It is already know that smoke from tobacco is harmful and kills 480,000 people annually. “There are approximately 600 ingredients in cigarettes. When burned, they create more than 7,000 chemicals. At least 69 of these chemicals are known to cause cancer, and many are poisonous” (What is a Cigarette).While marijuana does have some of the same chemicals in tobacco it does not have as much. So why is something that is recorded to kill 480,000 people annually legal but something that is not as harmful illegal.
America is in a war. A drug war with marijuana.Marijuana is a hallucinogen grown naturally as the cannabis plant. Smoking pot clearly has far fewer dangerous and hazardous effects on society than legal drugs such as alcohol, yet it is federally illegal. It is established scientific fact that marijuana is not toxic to humans; marijuana overdoses are nearly impossible, and marijuana is not nearly as addictive as alcohol or tobacco. But, the marijuana prohibition continues to be thriving. Marijuana prohibition causes more problems than it solves. This nation spends too much money where it could be making more money. If America were to legalize marijuana, it would cause a healthier economy, improve health care, and it would be safer than legal drugs like alcohol and cigarettes. The prohibition ruins thousands more lives than it supposedly tries to save and it should stop.
People are always quick to judge the idea of marijuana legalization. Most of the reasons stem from various media sources that promote negative views of the plant. Commercials always try and show that marijuana makes people become lazy and unproductive, but these commercials are completely biased. Marijuana can play a key role in our society and it is a safe natural alternative to modern pharmaceuticals. Marijuana is also related to hemp which is a very versatile material that can be produced cheaply but is outlawed due to its relation with marijuana.
Experiments throughout the years have proven that when people smoke marijuana they are more likely to start using other hard drugs like heroin or cocaine. In an article on drugabuse.gov, they explain results of one of the experiments they did on rodents. “Early exposure to cannabinoids in adolescent rodents decreases the reactivity of brain dopamine reward centers later in adulthood. To the extent that these findings generalize to humans, this could help explain early marijuana initiates’ increased vulnerability for drug abuse and addiction to other substances of abuse later in life that ahs ben reported by most epidemiological studies.” (“Is marijuana a gateway drug?” 1). This article discusses the idea that THC has an ability to lead the brain to achieve enhanced responses to other drugs. In other words, when you smoke marijuana you get a high, but that high also leaves you wanting more. After you feel like you want more and try new drugs, your brain has been enhanced to get a more intense high off the harder stuff so people start using harder drugs. These harder drugs can include anything from cocaine to heroin to ecstasy. All of these are life threating and have had multiple overdoses/deaths across the United States. This is one of the main reasons to keep marijuana illegal. We don’t need all the teenagers in the United States to be trying heroin or
Marijuana has a greater beneficial impact on society then many people realize. Marijuana should be legalized for medical as well as recreational purposes. This is a highly controversial issue that is being debated throughout the country. In essence marijuana is evaluated by the effectiveness of the drug. It is defined as the dried flowered clusters and leaves of a hemp plant smoked for the intoxicating effect. Whether it should be legalized or not is the real question.
Like alcohol, tobacco or any other drug, those chemicals may not respond well with their body. For other people marijuana brings joy, a sense of relief, and takes the edge off of every day stress. For those who are associated with cannabis, purposes usually range from a relaxant, or cash crop, to more permissible uses such as medicine, and ingredient to make so many other materials. We now need to look at what would change if marijuana were legal. Benefits to the economy and agriculture, health issues, and crime rates are three areas worth looking at.
The cannabis plant has been the topic of much debate throughout the history of this country. Many people don't know that it was not the effect of cannabis that originally spurred its banning. It was actually originally the work of the cotton industry who put big money behind illegalization for the plant's mind altering effects. The cotton industry was afraid that hemp, a product of the cannabis plant, would soon overpower the strong hold of cotton since it was a more durable textile that required less work, less ground depletion, and could be grown almost anywhere. Since the time when cannabis first became illegal it has been grouped with other narcotics as a counterpart. The truth is cannabis has many benefits to society and other than the effects of smoke inhalation has very few negatives. Those against legalization try to put cannabis in the same light as other more potent drugs like cocaine and heroin. There are many misconceptions about the substance and it is clear it should be looked at separately.
The legalization of marijuana has the potential to bring our economy back to life if it were to be legalized. There are a number of ways in which legalization could improve the economy. We could use the revenue from taxes on marijuana to provide a better quality of life for Americans in need. Legalizing marijuana would also save us money by cutting the cost of putting someone in jail for harmless marijuana-related charges that waste tax money. Also, it would put more money into circulation by keeping the profits off the black market and into the legal and taxed market.
The rate of death due to prescription drug abuse in the U.S. has escalated 313 percent over the past decade. According to the Congressional Quarterly Transcription’s article "Rep. Joe Pitt Holds a Hearing on Prescription Drug Abuse," opioid prescription drugs were involved in 16,650 overdose-caused deaths in 2010, accounting for more deaths than from overdoses of heroin and cocaine. Prescribed drugs or painkillers sometimes "condemn a patient to lifelong addiction," according to Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This problem not only affects the lives of those who overdose but it affects the communities as well due to the convenience of being able to find these items in drug stores and such. Not to mention the fact that the doctors who prescribe these opioids often tend to misuse them as well. Abusing these prescribed drugs can “destroy dreams and abort great destinies," and end the possibility of the abuser to have a positive impact in the community.
According to teens.drug.addiction.gov Turns out, there’s very little scientific evidence that smoking or eating marijuana is effective and safe for treating any medical issues. Scientific evidence would have to come from carefully controlled research studies. Also people can use it as a gateway drug this means that they use the drug for a non medical reason. Like i said before it Turns out there’s very little scientific evidence that smoking or eating marijuana is effective and safe for treating any medical issues. This means that there is not enough evidence that it can help you survive. I also said that people can use it as a gateway drug. An example of this is someone that wants marijuana to use it as a drug will tell their docter that it is not working and they will get a bigger does of the
People think Marijuana is bad for you and that it is addicting but it actually is not. Marijuana leads to dependence in about 9% of users. Cocaine hooks about 20% and heroin gets about 25% of the users addicted. Above two of the worst drugs, Cocaine and Heroin, Tobacco is the worst. Tobacco makes around 30% of users addicted. Many people also say Marijuana is a gateway drug. This is not true either. One of the biggest arguments is that smoking Marijuana will lead to doing other drugs. As Scientific American points out, the studies that show people who use marijuana first before trying other drugs is just a coincidence. Nearly half the country has tried this drug and it has done no
In the perspective of America's war on drugs, marijuana is one of the biggest enemies. And since alcohol and tobacco, two life threatening substances, are legal it is a relevant question to ask why marijuana is illegal. The taxpayers of America can partly answer this question when they fill out their tax forms and when they hear the hash rhetoric used against marijuana by the government. The fact that marijuana is illegal is sufficiently caused by the amount of money, jobs, and pride invested in the drug war. In other words, the government cannot turn back now.
Alcohol is a very serious and dangerous drug, although it is not treated this way anymore. College students have taken drinking to a new level in which, for many, is very scary. Alcohol is much more dangerous than many would think. Kids see a night of drinking as a great way to have fun and party but do not see the consequences. Getting drunk and even blacking out can lead to many problems. When alcohol is consumed in unhealthy amounts, it can lead to not only short-term effects, but long-term ones as well.
...only could marijuana be utilized to treat a variety of illnesses, but patients would no longer have to take pharmaceuticals with side effects and they could treat their ailments in a pleasurable way. With recreational marijuana legal dispensaries would no longer have to fear raids from the DEA, which would lead to more dispensaries opening and businesses thriving. Instead of having a few dispensaries making millions there would be many dispensaries making a decent profit, so employees can make a decent salary as opposed to six figures which would certainly help lead the state into prosperous times. One might say that drugs are dangerous and they kill people every day; however this is not the case with marijuana. According to drugfacts.org in the five thousand years of marijuana’s documented use there has been zero deaths caused primarily by marijuana. (drugwarfacts)