CANNABIS: A HARMLESS SOFT 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 that the percentage of THC (the psychoactive
ingredient in cannabis) has increased from two per cent in the 1970s to
between 15 per cent 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
nonetheless 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withdrawn, apathetic and anxious.

This tends to create a kind of dependence that leads to constant smoking,
which is, in its turn, detrimental to maintaining family relationships and
friendships, as well as the capacity to pursue personal dreams or
professional ambitions.

Physically, the respiratory, cardiac, immune and reproductive systems can
be gravely affected. A single joint contains the same quantity of
carcinogens as a half a package of cigarettes.

The feelings of euphoria and calm that the smoker seeks with "just one
little joint from time to time" could carry a high price tag in the long-term.