This paper explains the debate of legalizing marijuana use for those in the age of adulthood. It uses the aging that law governs as adult: eighteen (18), twenty-one (21), and twenty-five (25). It will discuss the adaptive changes in our brain and what constitutes as safe use from a legal perspective in these age ranges. States and countries that have legalized along with the defining factors of use will be discussed. The methods used were educational research through the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition and educational literature covering the topic. This research is important in the sociological and counseling field because it will effect treatment and views of a schedule I drug.
Marijuana: The Legal Age Debate
One of the controversial debates of legalizing marijuana is that of brain development the and the legal age in which one should be allowed legally and developmentally to use. Legally, in the United States an individual is an adult at eighteen. At eighteen a person can vote, go to war, smoke tobacco, marry, and can …show more content…
The fact that at eighteen the brain is still in development at 18, is not. Steinberg (2012) writes that in the last 15 years incontrovertible evidence has come into legal, political, and popular culture discussions. Brain anatomy and activity have been found to take place far longer than previously thought. Reward sensitivity in the brain and risky behavior peak between 16 and 17 (Steinberg, 2012). Hardin and Ernst (2009) suggest the use of marijuana may exacerbate the already enhanced brain development causing maladaptive connection of brain systems. Steinberg (2012) states that studies show that the regain of the brain that regulate such things as foresight, impulse control, and resistance to peer pressure are still developing at this age. There is no cemented age in which these processes in the brain
Marijuana: The Legal Age Debate
One of the controversial debates of legalizing marijuana is that of brain development the and the legal age in which one should be allowed legally and developmentally to use. Legally, in the United States an individual is an adult at eighteen. At eighteen a person can vote, go to war, smoke tobacco, marry, and can …show more content…
The fact that at eighteen the brain is still in development at 18, is not. Steinberg (2012) writes that in the last 15 years incontrovertible evidence has come into legal, political, and popular culture discussions. Brain anatomy and activity have been found to take place far longer than previously thought. Reward sensitivity in the brain and risky behavior peak between 16 and 17 (Steinberg, 2012). Hardin and Ernst (2009) suggest the use of marijuana may exacerbate the already enhanced brain development causing maladaptive connection of brain systems. Steinberg (2012) states that studies show that the regain of the brain that regulate such things as foresight, impulse control, and resistance to peer pressure are still developing at this age. There is no cemented age in which these processes in the brain