MARIJUANA NOT THE HARMLESS DRUG

The legalization of cannabis is a regularly recurring topic.

The constant increase in consumption leads us to believe it is a fairly
harmless soft drug.

Nonetheless, its effects are all too often downplayed and can be unpleasant
given the percentage of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, has
increased from two per cent in the 1970s to between 15 and 25 per cent today.

Increasingly potent and widely used, marijuana can wreak havoc in the lives
of many people.

While certain effects are still not clearly understood and vary from one
individual to the next, the risks connected to marijuana consumption are
very real.

By affecting the capacity to think and react, cannabis creates a state of
confusion, a decrease in judgement, short-term memory loss and difficulties
in concentration and coordination, which can put the smoker and the people
he or she is with in danger.

In the long-term, there is a decline in motivation, a tendency to become
withdrawn, apathetic and anxious.

Physically, the respiratory, cardiac, immune and reproductive systems can
be gravely affected.

The feelings of euphoria and calm the smoker seeks with "just one little
joint from time to time" could carry a high price tag in the long-term. And
all of that without mentioning that it's easy to get hooked.