MARIJUANA DOES MORE HARM THAN GOOD

Many would claim that marijuana is simply a harmless high, a relaxing way
to slow down and experience the world from a happier perspective. Others
say that the use of marijuana could have medical benefits, while still more
state that it is no more harmful than some other substances that have been
legalized such as alcohol and cigarettes.

"In the interest of freedom and for the good of humanity America should
decriminalize marijuana." is the ideal of the pro-legalizationist. Yet
there is much that proponents of decriminalization will not admit.

According to medical research, smoking marijuana produces more problems
than cigarette smoking; four times as much tar is deposited on the lungs
and marijuana cigarettes contain the majority of harmful chemicals found in
cigarettes. The chemicals found in a marijuana cigarette also wreak havoc
on the immune system, killing off white blood cells that are necessary to
fight infection. Users furthermore experience imprecise control of their
body movements because marijuana interferes with their ability to perceive
space and slows down their muscle movement.

Those diseases that it can be used to treat (such as glaucoma) or as a way
of restoring appetites (like those lost to chemo-therapy) can also be
treated by other methods that are proven to be more effective and less
harmful than the effects of smoking marijuana. In those cases where
marijuana is a medically sound option, doctors can use a drug called
Marinol that simulates the medical benefits of marijuana by imitating THC
but does not include the health risks that are associated with smoking
marijuana which contains additional harmful chemicals.

Because of the distortion of perception experienced by those who use
marijuana, users are more likely to get into traffic accidents. The
perceived "mellow" of those who use marijuana translates into a physical
slow-down. They cannot react as fast or take in information as quickly.
These symptoms combine to make users very dangerous while driving. In 1990
the Transportational Safety Board conducted a study of fatal truck
accidents and found that just as many of them were caused by marijuana as
by alcohol.

Because of the increased health risks of smoking marijuana combined with
marijuana's ability to deaden the senses and slow down reaction times, it
was deemed unsafe and is therefore illegal. The government is not simply
trying to stop people from having a little harmless fun, it is trying to
protect us from doing something harmful to ourselves and others.

Some claim that marijuana is no worse than other substances like alcohol or
cigarettes. To them I ask, how many incidents of violence each year are
linked to alcoholism? How many die because their reaction times are slowed?
Some of the effects of marijuana -- such as the impairment of motor skills
- -- can still be affecting the user a full day later, long after the high
has worn off. Smoking tobacco is a scientifically verified health risk.
Seeing that these two substances are damaging to the population, should we
really allow another destructive substance?

Let us even assume that we should not stop other people from performing
self-destructive behavior because it injures them.

Let us assume that if their actions do not harm other people that
everything is acceptable. Then we still have to face the fact that
insurance costs more for everyone. For those insured by their work, the
cost of that insurance is affected by those who abuse alcohol or have lung
problems and so everyone has to pay for one person's solitary vice. This is
ignoring the cost of treatment for those who have poisoned their livers
with alcohol or those who are injured by drunk drivers.

Teenagers now find it easy to acquire alcohol and cigarettes by raiding
their parents or enlisting the aid of elder siblings. They can do this
because it is alright for their parents to use these substances. If we
legalize marijuana then we will have similar problems for that substance.

Marijuana has been shown to have even more detrimental effects, some of
which can be permanent, when used by a still developing mind. Teenagers
could lose the ability to comprehend massive amounts of information and it
can severely handicap their ability to solve problems.

Use of marijuana was decriminalized in 1975 in the state of Alaska.
Although they had set a legal age limit for its use, abuse of marijuana by
teenagers more than doubled. Four years later 10 more states had followed
suit. The abuse of marijuana by teenagers led the states to re-criminalize
it for the safety of the state.

Finally some people believe that if marijuana is decriminalized the crimes
associated with its use will decrease. This will happen because marijuana
will no longer be illegal and so will not need to be smuggled in.

Yet what people do not realize is that people under the age of 21 are the
most common users of marijuana. Since decriminalization will not legalize
marijuana for the most common users the black market will still exist

Therefore, because marijuana is not useful as a medicine but is, in fact,
harmful, because it can damage developing brains and because the loss of
motor control and spatial perception can be dangerous, marijuana should not
be decriminalized but rather remain an illegal substance.