Marijuana

Marijuana

Pot, herb, weed, grass, widow, ganja, and hash are only a few ways that people refer to marijuana. Marijuana is an illegal drug that gives the user a high due to a chemical agent known as THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol)(0NDCP). THC is one of over 400 cannibols present in the cannabis plant. It is usually smoked through the mouth. The drug has many deleterious short and long term effects on ones health. Despite the great health risks the government wants to legalize it. Officials have many reasons for legalizing the substance but most of the reasons, I think, are simply wrong.

Marijuana’s effect on the body is very extensive. When one smokes marijuana, THC rapidly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream, which carries the chemical to organs throughout the body, including the brain. In the brain, THC connects to specific sites called cannabinoid receptors on nerve cells and influences the activity of those cells. Some brain areas have many cannabinoid receptors and others have few. Many cannabinoid receptors are found in the parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thought, concentration, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement. The short term effects of smoking marijuana include memory and learning distortion; perception loss; difficulty in thinking and problem solving; loss of coordination; and increased heart rate. Extended use of marijuana is substantially worse. It causes problems throughout the other major organ systems of the body including the respiratory and circulatory systems. For the circulatory system, in the first hour after smoking marijuana the risk of a heart attack quadruples and greatly reduces the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood. As for the respiratory system users usually suffer the same symptoms as tobacco smokers such as daily cough and phlegm production, more frequent acute chest illness, a heightened risk of lung infections, and a greater tendency to obstructed airways but marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke does so obviously marijuana smokers are more likely to get lung cancer. Even infrequent use can cause burning and stinging of the mouth and throat, often accompanied by a heavy cough (ONDCP). Some of marijuana’s adverse health effects may occur because THC impairs the immune system’s ability to fight off infectious diseases like bacterial infections.

Since the drug extensively affects the brain there are obviously many physiologic disorders caused by the smoking of marijuana. Depression, anxiety, and personality disturbances have all been associated with marijuana use. Also because marijuana compromises the ability to learn and remember information, the more a person uses marijuana the more he is likely to fall behind in accumulating intellectual, job, or social skills. Research has also shown that marijuana’s adverse impact on memory and learning can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off. Smoking and living in normal everyday society it self becomes a hassle and nearly impossible to achieve for a chronic smoker.

There are some positives to marijuana legalization; such as marijuana as a medication. Marijuana, I have to admit, has medicinal uses for a verity of dieses. For AIDS: Marijuana can reduce the nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite caused by the ailment. Glaucoma: it can help reduce intraocular pressure (pressure in the optic nerve), alleviating the pain and slowing and sometimes stopping damage to the eyes. Cancer: Marijuana can stimulate the appetite and alleviate nausea and vomiting, which are common side effects of chemotherapy treatment. Multiple Sclerosis: Marijuana can limit the muscle pain caused by the disease, as well as relieving tremor. Epilepsy: Marijuana can prevent epileptic seizures in some patients. Chronic Pain: Marijuana can alleviate the chronic, often debilitating pain caused by myriad disorders and injuries. Each of these applications has been deemed legitimate by at least one court, and legislature (ONDCP). I completely understand that marijuana is a very helpful drug but only If it is used in the right way but it is the fact that it is so addictive and people who use it for medicine often end up abusing it. The government should continue its policies on medical marijuana (people with a certain condition can legally obtain the drug and use it). Another argument for legalizing marijuana would have to be the elimination of an underground infrastructure. There is a very extensive worldwide trade of marijuana worth billions of dollars. The trade is very fragile and thousands of people are killed each year either carrying the drugs or because of an error on the job. If marijuana were legalized the government could take control of trade and so fewer lives would be lost and the whole operation would be substantially smoother. Also if the government