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Ma**
Forum
STUDENTS
Maralize legajuana
Legalizing marijuana would reduce harm
u R yan K rellwitz ____________
Contributing Writer
\J\Jhat did you
th ink o f th
P ru n k ferivi ng
A
ssem b y ?
Kelsey Bradshaw,
freshman
Alex Olivier,
sophomore
" I thought it was
il
It shows how
one second
everything can
be good, and
the next second
your dead."
very mtense.
It was good to
make people
aware of what
they're dealing
with."
James Low,
senior
Adrianna Silva,
junior
"The assembly
was very
interesting. I
found it very
moving. It made
me realize that
it could actually
happen."
"It was
important to get
that information
out in the -
open and let
people see the
consequences of
their actions."
The majority of
information that has been
supplied to teenagers
about marijuana and its
effects on their bodies is
tainted and wrong. The
facts and information I
present in this article about
marijuana were drawn
from three books: Buzzed:
The Straight Facts about the
Most Used and Abused Drugs
from Alcohol to Ecstasy by
Cynthia Kuhn, Illegal Drugs
by Paul Gahlinger, and
From Chocolate to Morphine:
Everything You Need to Know
About Mind-Altering Drugs
by Winifred Rosen and
Andrew T. Weil.
People have been
misinformed and lied
to about the true effects
of marijuana. For this
reason, and various others
concerning its positive
medical effects, marijuana
should not be clumped into
the same category of drugs
as heroin and ecstasy. These
drugs, called "Schedule 1"
drugs, are considered by the
Drug Enforcement Agency
as having a high potential
for abuse and no accepted
medical uses; marijuana
should definitely not be
there. Marijuana should
be legal for the general
public consumption. Before
that can happen though,
the population must be
better informed about this
virtually harmless drug.
Before we start separating
fact from fiction and
understanding marijuana,
we must first understand
from where all of this
misinformation stem. Since
the 1950,s, the government
has invested millions of
dollars into anti-marijuana
propaganda campaigns. The
majority of these campaigns
were in no way based on
factual information, and had
no valid research to back
them. To this day, this trend
o f fabricated "scare tactics"
persists, especially in our
public school systems.
Many websites that contain
useful and straightforward
information on drugs are
blocked by the district web
filter.
These scare tactics cause
the government to lose
most of its credibility when
it comes to drugs. Anti
marijuana ads can be quite
comical. The attempts by
the government in the past
60 years to make drugs less
appealing to young people
has usually had just the
reverse affect.
The most important
thing that people must
know about marijuana
in comparison to legal
recreational drugs is that
alcohol is much, much
worse for you. Alcohol,
the legal drug of choice in
most of the western world,
causes long term addiction,
memory loss and brain
damage. It also damages
every other part of the body.
Marijuana, on the other
hand, has not been proven
to be physically addictive
(it has been shown to
be psychologically and
habitually addictive), does
not cause any long term
memory loss, and is only
about as bad for your
lungs as cigarettes are. Yet,
because a person would
probably not smoke the
same amount of marijuana
cigarettes as regular
cigarettes over the same
period of time, marijuana
smoke may be less harmful.
The withdrawals of alcohol
can last years after a heavy
drinker's last drink, whereas
even the heaviest marijuana
user suffers from the mildest
withdrawal symptoms,
which are reported to only
last about a week.
One of the widest
misconceptions associated
with marijuana is the
"gateway drug" association.
Health teachers may
lead you to believe that
smoking marijuana leads
people to try other, harder
drugs, like heroin. This is
a preposterous idea. Most
people who have smoked
pot and either wasted their
lives away on the couch
or who have become real
criminals in the hard drug
world probably had a
disposition for these things
before they started smoking
pot. All kinds of people
use this drug, and most of
them don't turn to heroin
"after the buzz of marijuana
just doesn't thrill them
anymore."
Is marijuana a bad
thing to mix with school,
though? Studies show
that functioning under
the influence of marijuana
has many negative effects
when it comes to learning
in general. Concentration,
learning, perception and
fine muscle skills are
impaired. Although these
things return to normal
after a person comes down
from the high with no
proven adverse side effects,
someone may have trouble
recalling certain things from
when they were stoned.
This is because marijuana
affects the part of the brain
responsible for creating new
memories. Because of this, it
is probably not a good idea
to try to learn something
while under the influence
of marijuana, and should be
avoided during school for
this reason. Unfortunately,
many people choose to
incorporate this drug into
school life.
"I see marijuana more
than any other type of drug
here at school," Allister
Bunch, School Resource
Officer! said. j p
Those people in our
society who support the
legalization of marijuana
must fii^it take a step in
understanding when it is
appropriate to use it and
when it is not. And the
question of legalization if
not far off, either, as laws
and paradigms continue to
shift in our society daily.
"In your lifetime I am
willing to bet it will be
legalized," Bunch said.
Marijuana prohibition
was started for political and
moral reasons, but truth and
knowledge should prevail.
It is up to the people who
know the facts to stomp
out the ignorance and
inaccuracies that surround
this drug. The real truths
about marijuana should
be taught. People should
be able to make their own
decisions based on correct
information, not scare
tactics.
Although smoking
marijuana, or taking any
drug for that matter, is
harmful in Some way to
your health, there are also
huge economic benefits to
making the drug legal. First,
any product that has as large
of a demand as marijuana
our society will be bought,0'^
no matter what.
Prohibition does little
to stamp out the demand
for marijuana. In fact, it
only creates a black market
for it. The same thing
happened with alcohol
in the beginning of the
century. Because of this
black market, marijuana is
sold with other black market
drugs, and is only regulated
by the people who grow and
deal it.
If the government were
to legalize it and supported
marijuana as a cash crop,
oversaw the sales of it, and
taxed it like they do tobacco,
the unregulated black
market would cease to exist.
The government, and in
turn the country, would then
profit from the $32 billion
that marijuana makes on the
black market every year.
This article contains
information that can be
taken as the truth, or
as a complete slander
to everything you have
ever been taught about
marijuana. Conduct your
own, unbiased research.
Realize that the government
does tell lies. Everything
you learn in school is not
always correct, and adults
don’t always know as much
as they think they do. I urge
you to make up your own
mind and please, live your
life and make your own
decisions.
À