Shipps 1 Kristen Shipps Mr.

Vinzant Honors English IV March 26, 2014 Marijuana From a young age, we learn how to resist drugs. The DARE program teaches kids about the dangers of drug and alcohol abuse. According to Sophie Egan, from 1997 to 2012 smoking percentages have dropped around 22%. When our parents were in high school cigarettes were extremely popular. In 1985 a song was made called Smokin in the Boys Room, because smoking in school bathroom was a normal thing these young adults got in trouble for. With marijuana being the new thing thats legal, could this influence young adults to think smoking dope is the cool thing to do? We have done such a good job keeping kids and young adults from smoking; we dont want to newly influence them that marijuana is a positive thing. According the article Drugfacts: Marijuana, marijuana is classified as the dried leaves, flowers, and stems of the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. Marijuana contains a chemical called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, which is a very long word commonly known as THC. When THC enters the body, it connects to the reward system acting like another substance in the body which is needed for brain function. This makes the user feel the high. The reward system is stimulated over and over, which releases dopamine just like chocolate or sexual intercourse would. The difference is the dopamine is trapped inside the reward system and keeps reconnecting making excess dopamine (Drugfacts: Marijuana). When the THC is connecting over and over is messes with brain function, concentration, and ability to think clearly (Moree).

Shipps 2 Marijuana is most commonly smoked. With the smell of marijuana being so rank, smoking this drug will not only put off a bad odor to you, but to everyone around you. Marijuana causes altered perceptions of time. This is not a positive thing, unless everyone had no responsibilities in life. With legalizing this drug, will companies allow employees to smoke before work? This is another thing that would be hard to control because the company could falsely accuse a worker for being under the influence for not working up to the same speed as others. Another side effect is an increased appetite, which in the long run will make the body confused on when it is hungry and when it is not Drugfacts: Marijuana. People often use marijuana to relieve stress, anxiety, and depression. Yes, when on the drug, the user has relief from these things, but whenever off the drug they have an increase of these things. The opposite effect of this drug is known as withdraw (Moree). Medical marijuana is legal in twenty states, but only legal for recreational use in two states, Colorado and Washington. Although marijuana is legal in these states, Jordan Schrader doesnt know if it is really keeping people away from the harmful black market and illegal selling. According to Schrader, one Denver store charged recreational customers $411.81 for one ounce of marijuana. If prices from small businesses stay this high, it will push people back to their old ways of buying illegal marijuana for cheap prices, since it is only being used for recreation. In the first year marijuana was legalized, arrests for distribution of this drug increased. Although there are the more than twenty-eight percent tax benefits for the state to gain money, it could backfire if they allow each household to grow six plants like they do now. Six plants could supply a whole community, which would decrease buying from small markets (Schrader). People not buying from the small markets and getting back into the black market will make the legalization of marijuana pointless.

Shipps 3 When kids grow up, there is mostly black and white scenarios. Children decipher things with what is wrong, or what is right. Some may think that all of the other twenty-eight states have the same laws regarding marijuana, but that is very wrong. In Missouri possessing the drug is a misdemeanor but if that person moves to Arizona, possessing the drug is a felony (Ye Hee Lee). Each state has their own laws regarding marijuana. With marijuana being legal in some states and illegal in others, it doesnt tell parents what to teach their kids. Parents know to tell children that twenty-one is the age it is OK to drink. But right now, parents cant teach the kids black and white about marijuana because there isnt one. Medically, marijuana is known to help with pain in cancer, HIV, AIDS, and some other conditions. According to the article Drugfacts; Marijuana, marijuana is not clarified as a medicine yet because the benefits of the drug are not proved to outweigh the health risks. Marijuana is mostly smoked, so it is hard for the FDA to make a pill or injection with the exact same chemicals every time Drugfacts: Marijuana. With the marijuana plant having tons of chemicals and substances in it, the FDA cannot regulate which pill would have what in it. Even though it might be a small difference, one pill could have a different affect on the patients body than the next one. The FDA is studying what is in marijuana that can be taken out that can also take away pain, just as smoking the plant would do. If this would happen I believe medical marijuana would be much safer than it is now. Marijuana does affect brain growth and if used in large amounts can affect thinking and memory. In the article How Marijuana Affects Your Brain and Body it was proved that if a young adult smoked anywhere from age thirteen to thirty-eight users could decrease in mental capability. The young adults that got tested lost up to eight IQ points over the testing time. The IQ points that these users lost, were not regained after withdrawal from the drug. Older adults

Shipps 4 using the drugs did not have that many changes when it came to IQ How Marijuana Affects Your Brain and Body. Although marijuana doesnt have much effect on adults brains, I believe just like alcohol, it will just be that much easier providing minors. Legalizing marijuana will not eliminate the problem of crime with marijuana. Studies show that marijuana is addictive, especially if you start using it at a young age. Heavy users develop a physical dependence which can cause withdrawal symptoms. The user when off the high, experiences the opposite effect of the drug, which can cause depression, irritability, anxiety, and an impaired appetite How Marijuana Affects Your Brain and Body. Counting Stars is a song by One Republic. Part of the choruss lyrics go, Everything that kills me makes me feel alive. This song is the proof of our generation; we have too many things pulling us in, that make us feel alive but we either dont see the after affects or we dont care. Drugs, alcohol, and fast food are all things that we have in our way that will kill us in the end. An argument Ive heard a lot about marijuana is that there are no reported deaths from an overdose or driving accident from being on the drug. And although that may be true, no one has died from eating a greasy hamburger. But if someone consumes one million greasy hamburgers, overtime, it will slowly kill that person. If marijuana can make a positive medical impact, I believe it is a great idea, but it has not been proved to be a complete benefit. If marijuana is something new to do for young adults, I think it could take a very dangerous route. Although the boost in economy, there might be a decrease in people who care for the economy. Although marijuana makes the user happy at the time, after they use the drug they have the opposite effect weighing them down until they do it again. Legalizing marijuana will influence kids to do drugs that we have worked so hard getting

Shipps 5 them out of. I do not believe marijuanas benefits outweigh the risks and think it should stay illegal.

Shipps 6 Works Cited Drugfacts: Marijuana National Institute on Drug Abuse. July 2012. Web. 17 March 2014. Egan, Sophie. Why Smoking Rates Are at New Lows New York Times. 2014. Web. 26 March 2014. How Marijuana Affects Your Brain and Body National Institute on Drug Abuse. July 2012. Web. 17 March 2014. Schrader, Jordan. Street Sales Have to Contend With Pot-Shop Prices The Bulletin. 23 March 2014. Web. 26 March 2014. Ye Hee Lee, Michelle. Prop. 203 The Arizona Republic. 26 September 2010. Web. 26 March 2014. Moree, Jordan. Psychology Class Lecture. Maryville high school. ND.