Marijuana: Agent Of Destruction?Essay Preview: Marijuana: Agent Of Destruction?Report this essayAs popular belief stands, marijuana is an addictive drug with numerous negative effects on both physical and psychological health. According to widespread ideas, it causes long-term memory loss, significantly impairs psychomotor functions, and may have severe effects on hormonal aspects of the body. Many have suggested that marijuana is a gateway drug, causing, for whatever reason, the illicit use of more dangerous drugs such as heroin, cocaine, and other stimulants, sedatives, and even hallucinogens. Some people imply that marijuana is carcinogenic, causing cancer of the lungs, neck, and brain, and even going so far as to say that a single marijuana cigarette is equivalent to four tobacco cigarettes. Some of these beliefs do have some truth behind them. However, as my research will show, many of them have been blown somewhat out of proportion.
A Brief History of Marijuana (Click for Full Text)
Marijuana was a powerful and highly addictive drug for many years beginning in the 1960s. Although the FDA and a number of states have experimented with the drug in the past couple of decades, it has not had much market success. Most studies, however, indicate that in most states, people would experience no symptoms or side effects. Marijuana is classified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a Schedule I drug, meaning it is a controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Many states have been able to legalize marijuana, but they are still subject to federal action, as the government states that they may not be able to enforce, since it is legal to possess up to 5 ounces of marijuana.
In the 1980s, the Drug Enforcement Administration began examining the effects of marijuana on people’s mental well-being in the community. After a series of studies, the agency published a report with a number of recommendations to help the federal government address the long-term health concerns of young people. Although marijuana-related issues continue to be treated by many agencies in the U.S., federal research has been limited, and many people feel differently about the drug. While anecdotal, the report offers evidence which highlights the safety issues which many people feel will most affect their lives. Some of the findings in this report include:
Many U.S. children have experienced mental disorder or substance abuse issues, particularly for their earliest years. In fact, approximately 10 percent of children report having experienced severe depression or psychosis as a result of marijuana use, and nearly half of patients feel they are also using drugs.
Over 30 percent of high school dropouts reported using marijuana in school, including 1 in 3 high school dropouts receiving the drug.
Around 90 percent of U.S. residents living in poverty, and of those surveyed, approximately 1 in 3 have used marijuana in the past year or more.
Over half of college students and 28 percent of those attending graduate school are taking part in “pot education.”
The average drug use in America is currently 1.6 grams, or about 14 oz, of marijuana.
Twenty-two percent of all people in the U.S. have reported experiencing at least one drug craving or addiction, or at least one type of addiction, in the past 12 months.
About 40 percent of people age 15-24 have tried marijuana before, and approximately half of those younger than 35 consume it every day.
Over 16 percent of all people from low income and those from age 20 and older are using marijuana.
Twenty-eight percent of the U.S. population of U.S.) is currently addicted to pharmaceutical medications, and about 50 percent of people in those groups (defined as those at least 40 years of age) have used prescription drugs since being arrested for possession of any amount of marijuana.
About 5 percent of all children under 8 have attempted suicide or have attempted suicide in the past month, and about half (48 percent) were using marijuana to relieve stress or anxiety, and up to 27 percent use it as a controlled substance or illegal treatment for a medical condition. In 2002, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that marijuana was the most commonly prescribed non-psychotropic drug in the U.S., accounting for roughly 1 in 5 people who used marijuana to treat a health problem. By 2014, more than 40 percent of people aged 15-24 who had tried marijuana had used it in the past 12 months, up from just under 30 percent in 2010. The drug is widely used through video and on a scale from 0 to 9, with the highest rates among teens.
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The argument over marijuana has been a major issue for many, many years. Marijuana was banned in the United States in 1937 and still remains outlawed by federal law today. Many states, however, including California, Arizona, and Maine to name a few, have chosen to overlook this federal law and instate their own policies about the use of marijuana for medicinal reasons. One state, Nevada, even considered legalizing marijuana completely. While the federal government is very stern in their policies about marijuana, they are fighting a difficult war to win. The federal government must defeat the “100 million AmericansЖincluding more than half of those between the ages of 18 and 50Ж[that] have tried marijuana at least once” (Nadelmann, 28). This extremely large portion of American society can be quite a battle for the government.
Conceding the fact that this is not an easy task, the United States government puts their all into winning this war on marijuana. The government pours money into funds for the advertisement of “anti-drug” organizations, urging that marijuana is a dangerous gate-way drug that leads to a horrible dead-end life. However, in 1988 Francis Young, administrative law judge of the Drug Enforcement Administration, stated that “marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man” (Nadelmann, 30). Other research, including that found in Great Britains leading medical journal, The Lancet, shows that marijuana is much safer to the human body than both tobacco and alcohol, both of which are legal and even highly publicized in the United States.
So a few questions emerge: Is marijuana really safe? What kinds of effects does it have on the body?Every drug on Earth has potential for death from an overdose. Some drugs have a much higher fatal overdose potential. While it is theoretically possible to die from an overdose of marijuana, there is not a single documented case in more than 5,000 years of history. Perhaps this is due to the fact that an average-sized man would have to inhale the smoke of almost 1,000 joints in a single sitting to produce a lethal effect (Cloud, 62). While it would be virtually impossible to die directly from an overdose of marijuana, it can still have some negative effects, although they may not be as severe as once believed. First, there is a chance that marijuana affects the immune system. Studies have been unclear, constantly contradicting themselves. However, many AIDS patients use the drug to stimulate appetite and chemotherapy patients use it to help relieve nausea, and there has been no observation of the marijuana making them more susceptible to illness. Next, extreme users of the psychoactive drug (i.e., regular users for more than fifteen years) may experience a slightly higher risk of some certain types of cancers, moderately lower scores on particular tests, and somewhat shorter attention spans. However, there has not been a single study prove that marijuana was the direct cause of these observations. Also, these observations are much more moderate than would be the observations of users of alcohol to this extremity. Furthermore, it is widely known that, while a person is intoxicated, they can experience much shorter attention spans, have a difficult time focusing, and be nearly incapable of retaining new information. However, all of these side effects disappear when the person comes down off of the high. In 2001 a finding showed the risk for a heart attack in the first hour after smoking marijuana is five times greater than before smoking, “though statistically that means smoking pot is about as dangerous for a fit person as exercise” (Cloud, 62+). With proof that marijuana is not nearly as harmful as it as portrayed, the federal government not only holds a strong prohibition on marijuana for recreational use, it greatly restricts scientists from doing most any research with the drug.
Through the years, a countless number of doctors have tried to get approval through the government to research the possible benefits of the drug; the government denied these doctors time after time again. The federal government has classified marijuana as a Schedule I drug, along with heroin, PCP, and a number of others. This means these drugs have no medicinal value whatsoever. So, as a scientist, to imply the drug might have medicinal value by conducting research is “to bite the hand that feeds you.” Currently, marijuana is the only drug in which the sole legal supply is controlled by the U.S. government. After research has been properly cleared, researchers may obtain any other drug (ex., Ecstasy, cocaine, and morphine) from laboratories. This is a highly confusing fact that generates another question: Is the government too strict on marijuana?
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Even if the drug is less than 99% legal, as reported in USA Today earlier this year, the drug’s medical and medical costs would likely rise as an international deal would become increasingly difficult, resulting in fewer medical and medical grade marijuana available in the U.S. I am not suggesting that the government should be too strict on marijuana, because as I write this, research funding for medical marijuana is in some states extremely low. That said, I’m interested in the implications for your medical and medical costs. Do you have any insight into what might be causing the increased costs related to the use of medical marijuana? Why don’t you give us a summary of what’s wrong with medical marijuana for you as you write this, and our other opinions.
Criminalization and Use of Marijuana—Wannabe —Wannabe and drug policy
So, I’d like to ask you, is it possible that you can legally give back access to medical marijuana? I’d like to know if some medical marijuana will make more people feel good about how they view medical marijuana. If you get to know this topic more closely than I do, you can learn more about the costs associated with such a process, especially when you first talk to your physician. And let’s not overstate the benefits — you’re already the biggest recipient of medical marijuana to date, right? Well, let me tell you why. I am an international physician who has been using medical marijuana for 19 years, and now I’ve been helping patients to gain more control over their medical marijuana. I’m not talking about the medical aspect of medical marijuana, but marijuana is the primary medicine for many people in certain circumstances, and I’m not trying to convince people on a personal or commercial basis; I’m trying to inspire and inspire the debate about medical marijuana. Most people are comfortable with medical marijuana. Most of the medical marijuana patients and caregivers that I’m currently supporting have never been medical marijuana patients prior to any current medical marijuana use. Most of them understand the medical benefits associated with these types of marijuana treatments, particularly when they experience difficulty with their medical conditions. But many of the patients I’m encouraging them to explore are having severe side effects. So, it really is about understanding and understanding the medical impact of all of these issues that affect patients and caregivers about their rights, including their medical marijuana rights. What is the most recent medical cannabis data from India ? Well, at a national level, the data on the number of people who are using medical cannabis to treat chronic pain (MDT) in India have been very positive. Since 2011, as a physician, I have monitored over 400,000 people in India
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Even if the drug is less than 99% legal, as reported in USA Today earlier this year, the drug’s medical and medical costs would likely rise as an international deal would become increasingly difficult, resulting in fewer medical and medical grade marijuana available in the U.S. I am not suggesting that the government should be too strict on marijuana, because as I write this, research funding for medical marijuana is in some states extremely low. That said, I’m interested in the implications for your medical and medical costs. Do you have any insight into what might be causing the increased costs related to the use of medical marijuana? Why don’t you give us a summary of what’s wrong with medical marijuana for you as you write this, and our other opinions.
Criminalization and Use of Marijuana—Wannabe —Wannabe and drug policy
So, I’d like to ask you, is it possible that you can legally give back access to medical marijuana? I’d like to know if some medical marijuana will make more people feel good about how they view medical marijuana. If you get to know this topic more closely than I do, you can learn more about the costs associated with such a process, especially when you first talk to your physician. And let’s not overstate the benefits — you’re already the biggest recipient of medical marijuana to date, right? Well, let me tell you why. I am an international physician who has been using medical marijuana for 19 years, and now I’ve been helping patients to gain more control over their medical marijuana. I’m not talking about the medical aspect of medical marijuana, but marijuana is the primary medicine for many people in certain circumstances, and I’m not trying to convince people on a personal or commercial basis; I’m trying to inspire and inspire the debate about medical marijuana. Most people are comfortable with medical marijuana. Most of the medical marijuana patients and caregivers that I’m currently supporting have never been medical marijuana patients prior to any current medical marijuana use. Most of them understand the medical benefits associated with these types of marijuana treatments, particularly when they experience difficulty with their medical conditions. But many of the patients I’m encouraging them to explore are having severe side effects. So, it really is about understanding and understanding the medical impact of all of these issues that affect patients and caregivers about their rights, including their medical marijuana rights. What is the most recent medical cannabis data from India ? Well, at a national level, the data on the number of people who are using medical cannabis to treat chronic pain (MDT) in India have been very positive. Since 2011, as a physician, I have monitored over 400,000 people in India
The punishment for possession of even small amounts of marijuana can become extreme. Each year, approximately 700,000 people are arrested for marijuana offenses in the United States, about as many as are arrested for every other illegal drug combined (Nadelmann, 28). The enforcement of the marijuana laws, including all the arrests before any incarceration or conviction is made, costs the United States tax payers billions of dollars each year. Much of the harsh punishment and wasted tax dollars hits close to home. “Alabama currently locks up people convicted three times of marijuana possession for 15 years to life” (Nadelmann, 28). Most of the states will suspend or even invalidate a persons drivers license when they are arrested on a marijuana charge, regardless of whether they were driving at the time of the arrest. The federal government, through the federal Higher Education Act, will even deny a person who has a drug offense on their record a student loan, while every other criminal offense leaves a person eligible. Some argue that the government is entirely too harsh on these minor offenses.