This House [Strongly] Condemns The Use Of Recreational Cannabis!

I thank That1User for accepting, I hope that this turns out to be a fun, and thought provoking debate. In essence I have accepted the onus that cannabis use should be discouraged so long as it is used recreationally. I once more remind the voters that in the "Premise" I clarified a "small amount" as a no matter how reasonably small amount. So one puff in a lifetime does not cut it, I would be quite disheartened if That1User played on semantics or trolled this debate, as I hope it to be a serious discussion. With that, lets begin with one last note: I was in a lot of pain so I took some pain killers, if my writing seems a bit broken, I apologize. Please don't cut S and G unless its really bad. :PINTRODUCTION Hitherto it has been assumed that cannaboids are not detrimental to mental or physical health. Constantly advertisements have exhibited marijuana and other such narcotics as nothing but plants, and while their medical uses have been celebrated, it seems that people have ignored the serious threats they post to one's health. I will in this debate attempt to show that cannabis harms the mental health, and it is on this premise that I wish to condemn its recreational use. Ergo this debate will fall on one issue, and one issue alone: whether the harm value of cannabis outways the good value. Since this is not a legal debate, we do not need to discuss freedom of choice: we are not talking about legislating cannabis, only comdeming it, as we may condemn smoking cigarettes. The main point of discussion is that there are people who believe that marijuana is not harmful, that is untrue. So lets see what provides greater utility: not smoking marijuana or smoking it. THE TRUE STATISTICS ON CANNABIS USE They say marijuana can be used in moderation, though just as most people do not know that the recommended maximum dosage of alcohol is 21 units; most people also do not know that an excess of cannabis is considered 3 average sized bongs a week[1]. This is considered over-dosage which can seriously affect one within 12 months [the study of 12 months will be talked about below]. In fact the "safe" dosage is no where near that high and is only 350 mg of THC in 7 days. Compare this to a single average bong which can contain 200mg to 750 mg of THC.[1][2]Almost unanimously doctors agree that developing brains should not take cannaboids. This means anyone below the age of 19-23 should not take cannabis. Even then a staggering "92% of youth has reported use of cannabis 'in the past year' and 16% report 'daily use'.[1] While it has been shown (Miller P. et al 2001) that around 32% of adults over dose of cannaboids. This is the true tragedy. In 2005, 160 million people reported using cannabis (4% of the world population) which is 10% more than it was in the 1990s.[3] In the United States 40% of the adult population reports cannabis use. I want these statistics to be clear when I talk about cannabis harm because its important to know that the harm is affecting all these people. The studies which have shown proper cannabis harm are new, and while many were released in November, and July, only now have they been confirmed, and only now have collections of these studies been compared by other doctors in peer-reviewed journals (the studies were published in journals in 2014). KILLING ME SOFTLY WITH HIS SONG, TELLING MY WHOLE LIFE WITH HIS SONG (hint: Roberta Flack)It seems appropriate to start with adolescents. As I have said 92% reported use in the last year alone. That means that 9 out of 10 of your friends have used marijuana, and every 9th friend is using it every single day. This is because 16% is using it regularly everyday. In this day and age there is a growing level of teenage depression, anxiety, and suicidal rates. According to studies 1 in 12 teens attempt suicide in their adolescenes, where as 1 in 4 have given it thought. Around 10% of teens and children now have serious anxiety disorders, while a staggering 18% adolescents have general anxiety.[4][5]Here is something you probably did not know now. Of those who are institultionaized 51% reported usage of regular cannabis (more than 400 mg of THC/week), and this number should have been sufficiently smaller since only 19% report regular usage of cannabis. This shows a trend where cannbais users are more likely to be institutionalized due to psychosis. Not to mention that 10% of schizophrenia cases where genetics should not have come to play are due to cannabis use.[6][7]Cannabis has been shown to raise the chances of anxiety, depression, and cause psychosis. It also speeds up genetic schizophrenia considerably. As one neuroscientist writes: 'Marijuana abuse during adolescence may produce enduring changes in brain function, particularly in individuals at a greater risk for developing psychiatric disorders. Scientific research suggests that repeated marijuana use during adolescence can increase the risk for psychosis, decrease adulthood IQ, and lead to changes in the brain that increase vulnerability to more dangerous illicit drugs.'[8]Another study which took reports this. "A total of N = 267 studies were identified from a systematic literature search (any time- March 2013) of Medline and PsycInfo databases, and a hand search. The results of 31 studies (with prospective cohort or cross-sectional designs using non-institutionalised cases) were analysed using a random-effects meta-analysis with the inverse variance weights. Lifetime or past 12-month cannabis use, anxiety symptoms, and cannabis use disorders (CUD; dependence and/or abuse/harmful use) were classified according to DSM/ICD criteria or scores on standardised scales." The results were positive, and official conclusion presented is "Anxiety is positively associated with cannabis use or CUD in cohorts drawn from some 112,000 non-institutionalised members of the general population of 10 countries."[9] The [1] study also reports that "Cannabis use is related to emotional distress, depression, and lack of a sense of purpose [54]. In addition, cannabis can (G.K. Shapiro, L. Buckley-Hunter / Journal of Psychosomatic Research 69 (2010) 533–539 535) interfere with learning and personal development in teenagers. Short-term memory is impaired by the use of cannabis [55] and in particular the impact on cognitive function is more severe in younger users."In the end my head is hurting though I believe that these studies successfully show a correlation between cannaboids and serious health issues such as anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. Because recreational cannabis is used simply for "fun" purposes and does have a "down" when one feels immediate distress (which makes one want to take more) we highly condemn the use of recreational cannabis. [1]http://www.uniad.org.br...[2]http://en.wikipedia.org...[3]UNODC 2007 [the link automatically downloads so I cant post it because its a link to my computer][4]http://www.adaa.org...[5]http://www.nimh.nih.gov...;[6]http://bjp.rcpsych.org...[7]http://www.nature.com...[8]http://www.brainfacts.org...[9]http://www.biomedcentral.com...