Marijuana is Harmful to Your Health
Marijuana is now the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States. Donald Hagler, MD of the American College of Pediatricians points out that use of marijuana is associated with lower educational accomplishment, lower work productivity, and increased risk for motor vehicle accidents, in addition to heart and lung disease. The main active ingredient in marijuana is the mind altering chemical delta-9-tetrahydrocannol or THC. THC affects nerve cells and may lead to premature age related loss of nerve cells. Marijuana impairs judgment, coordination, balance, ability to pay attention and reaction time. Hagler goes on to point out that students who use marijuana regularly have lower test scores and grades and are less likely to achieve personal goals.
Smoking marijuana is more harmful than tobacco, because it contains 50 to 70% more carcinogens. It has the same effect as tobacco on the respiratory system, causing chronic cough, respiratory infections, bronchitis, emphysema and lung cancer. Furthermore, it increases blood pressure and heart rate and decreases the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood. Experts say that the marijuana of today is 3 to 5 times more potent than what was available in the 1960s. It is considered a gateway drug to even more dangerous drugs like cocaine and long term use can lead to addiction.
For all these reasons, making marijuana more available is not a good idea. Many states and the federal government have spent millions of dollars in advertising campaigns to reduce the use of tobacco. If marijuana is worse, why would we want to legalize it? It is a no-brainer that legalization would lead to an increase in marijuana use, an increase in medically related expenses and increased availability of the drug to children.
It is a little known fact that during prohibition (1920 to 1933), there was a significant decrease in alcohol use. It takes as little as eight to ten years of heavy drinking to develop cirrhosis of the liver. Public Health statistics show that in the years following prohibition corresponding to that timeframe the incidence of cirrhosis decreased, only to increase again after it was repealed. So why, then, did alcohol use decrease during prohibition? Because alcohol was harder to get, but even more importantly, because the majority of Americans are law abiding citizens! If something is against the law, they don’t do it. No one is suggesting that we return to prohibition. But the real lesson we learned is that once the cat is out of the bag, there is no going back. Why, then, open Pandora’s box by legalizing marijuana now. For the sake of our children we should oppose any efforts to legalize marijuana or any other illicit drugs.