Essay On Legalizing Recreational Marijuana

The Long-Term Issues with Legalizing Recreational Marijuana The major issue with legalizing the recreational use of marijuana in California, or any other state, is the harm it can do to one’s mental health, the way it takes away a person’s capacity to carry out daily tasks productively, and finally how all people, including children will be exposed to it in public, even if they are against it. Medical marijuana that is used by people with serious health conditions should not be made illegal, but should also not be easily accessible to the general public, but only for those who truly need it, such as cancer patients. However medical marijuana has been proven effective in helping to relieve pain in patients with serious health issues who truly need it. The use of recreational marijuana should not be legalized in any state due to the negative effects it tends to have on many of the people who use it. As a society, we should all want to come together to foster the purest and healthy environment for every citizen, and the legalization of recreational marijuana would do the exact opposite by polluting our towns and cities with the pungent smell and smoke of a drug that should remain illegal for recreational use. The recreational use of marijuana can drastically impair one’s mental functions and abilities. Although marijuana use is not as harmful as other drugs, such as Heroin or Cocaine, it can still be addictive for the people using this drug. Research suggests that 30 percent of users may develop some degree of problem use, which can lead to dependence and in severe cases takes the form of addiction.9 People who begin using marijuana before age 18 are 4 to 7 times more like than adults to develop problem use.10 Dependence becomes addiction when the person can 't stop using marijuana even though it interferes with his or her daily life.( Marijuana 2016). Marijuana is classified as a psychoactive drug which has the power to change the way the brain functions, and can lead to various mental health disorders, such as psychosis and schizophrenia. As stated by Ann MacDonald, Harvard Health Contributor, “young people who smoked marijuana at least five times were twice as likely to have developed psychosis over the next 10 years as those who didn’t smoke pot” (MacDonald 2011). The risk factor for people who smoke marijuana, especially as young adults, is even greater if one has any family history of mental health disorders such as schizophrenia. The use of recreational marijuana can also cause problems such as memory loss, and result in negative effects on learning and retaining information, sometimes permanently. It is imperative that teenagers and adolescents do not start using marijuana at a young age because it can have dramatic effects on the cognitive abilities of these students for life. As oberved by Staci Gruber of Harvard Medical School, “Young adults who began smoking marijuana before age 16 performed worse on cognitive tests compared to those who began smoking after age 16” (qtd. in Doheny 2010). Marijuana may only be a schedule one drug, but the way in which it can alter the brain’s chemical functions makes it a very dangerous substance, and the line between harming the necessary functions of your brain and trying to get a buzzed feeling can be very fine. Not only does the recreational use of marijuana affect the …show more content…
The key issues in legalizing the recreational use of marijuana is the harm it can cause regarding one’s mental health, the way it hinders one’s motivation and ability to carry out typical daily tasks to be a productive citizen, and finally the way all people will be exposed to this drug in public even if they are against having their families around it. Marijuana has been illegal in the U.S. for many decades because it is a drug that has long-term, harmful effects on people’s cognitive functions, and should continue to stay illegal for recreational use in California or any other state. A drug is a drug no matter what “schedule” it is and the legalization of recreational marijuana will lower the standard of what should be legalized. If we allow one drug to be made legal who knows which harmful drug will be