LEGALIZING MARIJUANA A DANGEROUS PROSPECT

Legalizing marijuana for individuals over the age of 18 is not right
for America. Illicit drug use already causes serious problems in
society: Health issues, accidents, lost productivity in the workplace,
and wrecked families. Legalizing marijuana would only further
intensify these problems. Marijuana is a risk to our society morally
and physically. Its use leads to use of harder illicit drugs which
pose an even greater threat to society. Our government has a duty to
its citizens to protect us from harmful drugs such as marijuana. I
urge you to consider the deteriorating effects of marijuana on
individuals and their surroundings.

Marijuana is a plant that grows in a variety of climates and consists
of 66 different cannabinoids. Marijuana has a variety of effect on the
user such as euphoria, a feeling of well-being, distortions in time,
deficits in short term memory, paranoia, mood enhancement, mild
sedation and an increased desire to eat.

Unfortunately, some users experience adverse mood reactions which are
characterized by period of increased anxiety and paranoia, sometimes
to the point of hysteria.

The legalization of marijuana debate has been controversial,
especially in the past decade.

Legalization of marijuana will create more drug-dependent users and
increase accessibility to the youth. Before the United States rushes
to legalize marijuana, we should learn from our past mistakes.
Increased access to marijuana results in increased marijuana use.
Legalization of marijuana in Alaska in the 1970s led to a tripling of
marijuana use among 18- to 20-year-olds. Alaska's marijuana use among
teens was nearly twice that of the continental United States.

Even though this issue only pertains to legalizing marijuana to those
over the age of 18, whenever you legalize an illicit substance, you
increase it's accessibility to children. This is especially dangerous
because developing brains and bodies are more vulnerable to the
negative effects of smoking marijuana. No one has ever died from a
marijuana overdose. As a result, proponents of legalizing marijuana
often say that marijuana is a "victimless crime" - meaning that the
only one that is harmed is the user. However, this is not true.
Marijuana has been a factor in many workplace accidents and car
accidents. Driving under the influence of marijuana presents police
officers with a new problem. It is much more difficult to detect
marijuana intoxication than it is to detect alcohol use. Individuals
under the influence of marijuana can often pass a field sobriety test
even though their driving is impaired. We must consider the collateral
damage that legalizing marijuana would cause to those who do not use
the drug.

The current debate over medical marijuana is not whether marijuana has
medical use, but the relative degree of harm inflicted by the negative
side affects. Marijuana has been implicated to play a role in cancer
development, immune system depression and psychosis as well as a
variety of less significant ailments. It is essential that we consider
the psychological and physical harms caused by marijuana use.

Many supporters of legalizing marijuana claim that it only makes sense
to legalize marijuana because other drugs such as tobacco and alcohol
are more dangerous. While it is nearly certain that alcohol has more
detrimental effects on the user, this does not mean we should legalize
marijuana. American use of tobacco and alcohol places a significant
burden on society in terms of crime, tragedies, lost productivity and
deaths. It makes no sense to add another drug to this list and further
weaken American society. It is the government's duty to protect
Americans against harmful drugs, not to promote their use.

We must stand firm against this potentially government-sponsored vice
and "just say no" to legalizing marijuana.