LEGALIZE MEDICAL MARIJUANA ADDICTION GATEWAY DRUGS AMERICAN

The push for legalization of marijuana is becoming more of an issue
lately with many states potentially having questions on their ballots
this November regarding the legalization of the illegal drug. If you
see a question about legalizing marijuana on your ballot this November
or any other time, you should vote against it without a second thought.

Those who support legalizing the drug argue two points: first, that
the extra taxes collected from sales revenue will help the U.S.
economy, and second, that marijuana is not addictive or harmful.
However, these notions are far from the truth.

When you consider the repercussions of legalizing marijuana, the
potential economic benefits do not seem as significant. In 1975,
Alaska's Supreme Court declared through its state's constitution that
adults could possess marijuana for personal consumption in their
homes. Essentially, this was a green light for using marijuana.

In 1988, a University of Alaska study showed that the teenagers in
Alaska used marijuana at more than twice the national average for
their peers. Marijuana use had moved past the experimental stage and
became an integral part of their lives. Having had enough of this
failed experiment with legalization, Alaskans voted to re-criminalize
the drug in 1990. Also, proposals to legalize marijuana have failed in
Nevada, Arizona and Ohio.

Obviously, legalization has yet to work perfectly as expected. This is
mostly due to the addictiveness of marijuana. While there is some
disagreement as to how addictive marijuana really is, the THC in
marijuana has shown to be very addictive. The younger the user the
more addictive marijuana is, one way advocates plan to combat this is
to instill an age limit on who can buy marijuana. While age limits are
a good idea, there are always ways around such restrictions. Many
people start drinking or smoking before they are of legal age. I
myself had my first smoke when I was 16, not 18. It was also around
that time that I first drank alcohol.

Touching on whether or not marijuana is addictive, Harvard
psychiatrist and researcher Harrison Pope has recently conducted a
study looking at the symptoms of people when they stop using
marijuana. According to his study, there are clear withdrawal symptoms
associated with quitting marijuana. The only way to explain these
symptoms is to recognize that marijuana must be addictive.

Marijuana has been shown to be a gateway drug for its users. According
to a report published by the American Medical Association, 300 twins
were studied and the "marijuana-using twins were four times more
likely to use cocaine and five times more likely to use hallucinogens
like LSD." It's hard to argue that marijuana is not a gateway drug
when even the AMA says it is.

The final problem with marijuana is that it is so widely used, there
is no way it could all be regulated. As a registered Libertarian, I am
not a fan of big government. We have several agencies currently trying
to stem the flow of all drugs, why create another agency to regulate
the flow of marijuana? That will create more government spending which
is seldom the answer to budget problems. You cannot help a broke
economy by throwing more money at the problem.

Where marijuana legalization has reached the ballot, it has been
rejected or later overturned by the voters. Marijuana is an addictive
drug that will be hard to regulate. It is also a gateway drug to
harder drugs. I find it hard to see why making marijuana legal would
be a good thing. Even the argument of it having medicinal uses is
bogus. The FDA, who must approve all drugs for public use, has yet to
approve marijuana for any condition or disease. So, it's illegal, it's
addictive, it's a gateway drug, and it serves no medical purpose. So,
I ask you, why legalize it when it clearly is harmful?

Chuck Fischer is a junior in business management.