Monday, June 18, 2012

The Great Debate: Legalizing Marijuana

When I was 18 years old, I was riding a ski lift with my brother, and I smelled a weird smell.  I asked him what it was and he just looked at me.  He couldn't believe I didn't know that they guys in the lift in front of us were smoking marijuana.  I'm a lot older now, and it is still the only time I have ever smelled it. 

I was with my family when a debate broke out about the legalization of the drug.  Most people were in agreement.  Just make it legal.  Honestly, I was stunned, but couldn't really offer an opinion so I did some research. 

Turns out it can cause mental and physical health problems, affect cognitive abilities, and make you lazy.  The problem with this information is: how many of these people had these problems regardless of their usage?  Plus, how do they know they haven't used other drugs?

Another argument- the use of alcohol is just as dangerous, and it is legal.  Besides people are going to use it anyway, why not tax it and make a profit?

It is said to be a gateway drug and studies show all hard core drug abusers have used marijuana.  Most of them started out with cigarettes and alcohol, so what was the drug that served as the gateway?    So if marijuana is outlawed- shouldn't alcohol be banned as well?  Approximately 16,000 people die in alcohol related accidents each year.  There was no information related to car accidents from marijuana, though hundreds were drug related. 

It is still unclear to me, but it seems that marijuana is no more dangerous than alcohol, but the jury is still out for me. 

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