Nowadays, legalizing marijuana is considered a sensitive issue among societies and governments. Marijuana has become one of the most commonly used drugs all over the world. In addition, some people suggest that it should be permissible, while others believe that it is hazardous and it should be prohibited. Marijuana has a few positive effects that contribute in the medical field, but we cannot deny the fact that the majority of its effects are negative. Therefore, marijuana should be prohibited because of its effects on adolescent health, the effects on adults’ health, and its psychological effects on adults.
It is true that some studies suggest that the cannabis, which is the plant from which marijuana derived, has some positive impacts
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The early use of marijuana in adolescence undoubtedly will lead the young user to certain dangerous issues. Furthermore, the considerable prevalence of marijuana among teens in the U.S is an obvious indication of the seriousness of this issue. A 2012 study done by Monitoring the Future (MTF) states that 45.3% of 12th grade students in the U.S declared that they used marijuana at least once in their lifetime, while 22.9% from the 45.3% stated that they used it during the recent 30 days. Moreover, adolescence is a sensitive stage where individuals develop significantly, and many alternations occur in their bodies and lives as well. According to a recent study conducted on over 1000 participants, it found that the chronic use of marijuana was related to particular disorders, including learning and memory. In addition, marijuana use is associated with many mental health problems such as depression and anxiety. For example, the teens who use marijuana will suffer from difficulties in concentrating and learning new information. According to a study that has been conducted in Sweden, found the heavy use of cannabis at age 18 grew the danger of schizophrenia. Finally, marijuana should be prohibited for its impacts on teens life and particularly their …show more content…
Marijuana affects some particular parts of the brain and THC is particularly the chemical which is responsible on many of these negative impacts. For instance, THC affects the hippocampus which is significant for learning and memory, so the person who smokes marijuana will suffer from conditions related to learning new information and remembering previous events. In a survey that one hundred and fifty marijuana using students participated at, 59% said that they sometime forget what a conversation about before it has finished.41% found that if they read and they are under the influence of marijuana their ability to recall the information becomes more difficult. Also, a recent study conducted on people from age 13 to 38 indicated that the excessive early use of marijuana led to significant decline in IQ, even if they stop smoking marijuana in puberty. Furthermore, THC affects the part of the brain which is responsible on controlling equilibrium and coordination and it is called the cerebellum. Moreover, the THC affects basal ganglia which is a part of the brain that regulates and controls the movements in order to be performed regularly. One of the earliest reports about the effects of cannabis portrayed the awkward movements of an experimental animal caused by the drug and it ended up with catalepsy and sleep. Marijuana should not be legal because of its effects on the brain and the harm
Mekdlawit Demissie IGED 130-06 Informative Speech Outline Topic: Marijuana Speech Goal: To inform the audience about the long and short term effects of marijuana usage. Central Idea: Marijuana is the most commonly used drug amongst young people in the United States. Introduction: I. Attention getter:
Marijuana is a drug that is harmful to a person¡¯s health. It has been found to have adverse impacts on one¡¯s mental processes such as memory, attention, judgement, and problem- solving (Butcher, Mineka, Hooley, 2004, p.415). Also, marijuana can interfere with a person¡¯s ability to think rationally and logically. Thus, the lapse in judgement caused by the drug use can lead to risky sexual behaviours and this may result in increasing sexually transmitted disease such as AIDS. Moreover, the long-term use of marijuana may cause chronic breathing problems and cancer ...
About one out of five 10th graders and about 1 out of four high school seniors used marijuana in the past month (Facts for Teens, 1). It is the second most popular drug among teens in the US (Encarta, 1). Teens, ages 12-17, that use marijuana weekly are nine times more likely than non-users to experience with illegal drugs and alcohol (Fed. Study, 1). More 13 & 14 year olds are using drugs, fifteen pe...
First of all, some people feel smoking marijuana can get hyper, which providing them the emotion of happiness, and helping them to see the world from a different perspective. However, marijuana will cause a lot of healthy problems to human’s body. Marijuana has many physical effects on human such as rapid heart rate, red eyes and dry mouth. Because the chemical THC will enter into the body when people are smoking it, THC will enter through the bloodstream to the brain. The chemical affects them to feel ecstasy and unreality; therefore, THC will make them feel more confused if people smoke marijuana for a long time. According to, “ Treat marijuana abuse like a health problem” (McMillan, 2007, July 17), it shows using marijuana can cause more serious health issues on human’s body such as bronchitis, emphysema, and cancer. In addition, using marijuana has also been linked to lung damage and affects the respiratory and cardiovascular systems. For example, if marijuana ...
Marijuana is a relatively harmless drug that governments around the world have made illegal. If legalized, marijuana can be beneficial to society in a number of ways: whether it be for medical, economic, or public safety reasons. Marijuana has been proven to treat several life debilitating, and even life threatening diseases. Although it is not a cure, marijuana can ease the pain and suffering of a dying person. Another benefit of legalization is the financial gains that governments will accomplish through the taxation of marijuana. This is a realistic claim if marijuana sales are compared to that of cigarettes; governments make billions each year from cigarette taxes (Caputo and Ostrom 484). Every year law enforcement spends countless man-hours trying to apprehend marijuana dealers and growers. This time would be better utilized in dealing with more serious crimes. This essay will display some main reasons why marijuana is a substance with beneficial uses and applications. First, marijuana can be used as a treatment for the effects of diseases such as AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, and other terminal diseases. A study carried out in California clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of marijuana as a treatment for cancer: “Over 74 percent of the cancer patients treated in the program have reported that marijuana is more effective in relieving their nausea and vomiting than any other drug they have tried.”(Zeese 1990). Chemotherapy for cancer patients often produces nausea and vomiting. Marijuana has been proven to relieve these symptoms and there have been no known side effects recorded (Ad Hoc Group of Experts part 4).
Marijuana is taken very lightly and is the most highly used illegal drug. In fact, 1 out of 7 high school students smoke marijuana more than once a day. For this reason, society should know its short and long-term effects on the brain. Marijuana can affect these two areas, emotionally or physically. Also, in some cases physical damage causes the emotional response.
Marijuana while illegal on a federal level has been legalized in 18 states and the District of Columbia for medical use and also for personal use for anyone over 21 in Washington and Colorado. 48% of Americans admit to using marijuana according to a 2013 survey conducted by Scientific America. With the change in public opinion concerning marijuana the need to understand the effect and consequences associated with its use are vitally important. What are the effects on the brain and the rest of the body? Does it matter when you start using marijuana? Also what is the effect marijuana use has on a person’s life, to include school, work, family and friends.
... just over half of all drug arrested in the States. The Budgetary Effects of Marijuana Prohibition claim that prison expenses add up to around $14 billion a year for tax payers (Friedman). Marijuana is truly a menace and the high level of police attention required is eating up tax payer’s money. This constant battle known as, “The War on Drugs” has been going on for around 75 years now and has only gotten worse in the recent years. Not only is this drug harmful to society in the sense of money, it can also impair vision and reaction time. Researchers have found that THC activates microglial cells, which are immune cells in the cerebellum. These microglial cells then induced inflammation in the cerebellum, which resulted in the learning and coordination problems (Rettner para.5). Considering it is nearly impossible to test for the drug it poses a control problem.
According to Martin Luther King Jr., “There are two types of laws: there are just and there are unjust laws” (King 293). During his time as civil rights leader, he advocated civil disobedience to fight the unjust laws against African-Americans in America. For instance, there was no punishment for the beatings imposed upon African-Americans or for the burning of their houses despite their blatant violent, criminal, and immoral demeanor. Yet, an African-American could be sentenced to jail for a passive disagreement with a white person such as not wanting to give up their seat to a white passenger on a public bus. Although these unjust laws have been righted, Americans still face other unjust laws in the twenty-first century.
The marijuana affect the brain development, because the teenager are under go development still of age of 25. The effect of marijuana is immediately when is consume as smoke. The marijuana contain some chemical that affect the brain pressure, memory, thinking, concentration, movement, coordination, and sensory a time perception. All this affects the development of the brain and receptor, because is on constant development and every time that the teenager smokes the effect is immediately and this effect can be last for one to three hours. The concern about the use the marijuana is because affect the development of the brain and affect the intellectuality. According to National Institute of Drug Abuse, the overstimulation of these receptors on the brain areas produces the marijuana "high," as well as other effects on mental processes. In facts the used of mariju...
Introduction The legalization of marijuana is considered a controversial issue, something that can benefit people for medical purposes, but what about recreationally? Marijuana has been illegal since 1937, but there’s never been a bigger push for legalization. There are several reasons why it is illegal, because of government propaganda and big industry not wanting to lose money, but this will be discussed later. The purpose of this paper is to educate, theorize, and discuss various aspects of marijuana, such as its history, development, and the advantages and disadvantages of marijuana legalization. Finally, my personal reflection on legalization and marijuana in general will be discussed.
Marijuana has many bad side effects that harm the body. According to Szara Braude, marijuana slows down reactions causing problems with memory and learning, distorted perception, difficulty in thinking, and loss of coordination (Marijuana as a medicine 53). Many people use this drug not knowing wh...
The use of drugs and mind-alternating substances has been a part of society for decades. The ‘high’ that people attain from the use of such substances is very attractive and exciting however, the effects of this use are minimized. Particularly for youth, a group of individuals who are seeking independence and experimentation, drug use represents the balance between taking risks and taking responsibility for one’s actions. However, the developmental processes of adolescents are known to not encompass the maturity required to fully think through such decisions. As such, the use of a ‘smaller-scale’ drug like marijuana is even more minimized. The purpose of this paper is to discuss what the risks of using marijuana are for youths, why they are the most affected, how this problem has progressed over the last three decades, and what preventative measures and treatment options are in place. It will also discuss what schools, parents, and government agencies could be doing to help improve the issue, and the impact that this issue is having on society.
Legalization of Marijuana has quickly become a controversial issue in America. In the United States, legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes is spreading to the state level. For example, in November 1996, the people of California and Arizona voted to legalize marijuana for medicinal reasons. As a result of Proposition 215 in California, patients now smoke marijuana provided their physician recommends its usage. A prescription is not required, and marijuana continues to be illegal to prescribe. The Clinton administration responded that it “would not recognize these decisions, and would prosecute physicians who recommend or provide marijuana to their patients.” Although California and Arizona are the only two states to have already passed laws regulating marijuana usage, twenty-six states and the District of Columbia have laws and resolutions regarding marijuana usage. These laws and resolutions range from establishing therapeutic research programs, to allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana, to asking the federal government to lift the ban. Despite the states’ desires to have marijuana legalized for medicinal purposes, the US National Institutes of Health examined all existing clinical evidence about smoked marijuana and concluded that, “There is no scientifically sound evidence that smoked marijuana is medically superior to currently available therapies.”
In this article, Kristen Weir reviews the effects marijuana has on the developing brain. As more states are now legalizing marijuana for not only medical but recreational use, many medical doctors and psychologist fear the long-term effects. Many of marijuana’s long-term effects are still unknown even though it is one of the most widely used illegal substance in the United States. Recreational use in states that marijuana is legalized in only pertains to citizens 21 or older. Even with the age restrictions, some doctors still fear the legalization of marijuana recreational will allow the drug to become more accessible to younger adults or adolescences. Susan Weiss, the director of the division of extramural research at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), voiced her concerns on the topic stating, “There are a lot of open questions…. But there 's a growing literature, and it 's all pointing in the same direction: Starting young and using frequently may disrupt brain development." (Weiss). As she acknowledges the fact that there is a “growing literature” when it comes to marijuana use and its effects, she also admits the new research is all leading to the same conclusion, frequent use and starting young may disrupt normal brain development. The government and other private institutions are funding and researching these unknown effects.