Marijuana Legalization

Since Marijuana does have an impact on "decision time and trajectory," it obviously contains worrying psychological effects. It has been shown, those who smoked Marijuana regularly through their teens lost around eight I.Q points, and blossomed "impaired coordination, difficulty with thinking and problem solving, and disrupted learning and memory" (DrugFacts). Evidence exists marijuana has the ability to worsen psychiatric issues for people who are predisposed to them and brings them on at a younger age. On the other hand, Alcohol alters speech, creates hazy thinking, slows reaction time, dulls hearing impairs vision, weakens muscles, fogs memory and annihilates brain neurons. Ultimately Alcohol; triggers the brain"s frontal lobe creating crazed thoughts and emotions which can often lead an individual to make regretful choices, attacks the Medulla which controls a subject"s breathing and heartbeat, affects the Hiccompas or memory section (sometimes for an extended period of time), damages the RAS, which creates the need for sleep and naps, and attacks many other important brain functions (Alcohol and Your Brain). While Marijuana has been linked to two deaths per year, over 10,022 women, children and men are killed per year because of the insane irrationality alcohol causes while driving, (GET INVOLVED). Over 88,000 deaths are the result of alcoholism. Therefor, any person who supports alcohol and argues against the legalisation Marijuana is biased. In response to affected coordination, why do so many adored, healthy athletes smoke or sip weed before the "big game?" An Oregon athlete responded to a newscast saying, "Purple kush (weed,) it"s pretty much all I smoke" (Sam Allipur). Another athlete stated, "We factor in marijuana as a red flag. Some teams, if a guy tests positive, he's off their board. But other teams say, 'Screw it, he's a good player" (Sam Allipur). Arguments constantly arise concerning the possible physical impairments of marijuana inhalation. Interestingly, unlike tobacco, which claims around 480,000 lives a year, marijuana is not known to be a cause of lung cancer. Weed, has, however been linked to a quite painful swelling of the chest or lungs (Brownstein). Remarkably, Marijuana has actually assisted in the easing of pain of HIV positive patients, the unfortunates suffering from cancer, multiple sclerosis and nausea (Medical Marijuana). "Indeed, marijuana is less toxic than many of the drugs that physicians prescribe every day" (Medical Marijuana). For a terminally ill cancer patient, a dose of dopamine and relief from constant and grueling pain would be one of the kindest and peaceful ways to pass away. Is this not a better alternative for a patient than being knocked out by painkillers, generally depressed, and unable to enjoy his/her last few moments with his/her family? Why are alcohol and tobacco, which have no health benefits, legal, while marijuana has health benefits and is illegal? In order to have the marijuana issue civilly settled, it should be presented to each state as an individual issue, rather a federal issue. In short terms, it should be settled within the branches of states" rights. Marijuana should be legalized. Unlike tobacco and alcohol, Marijuana has been shown to possess health benefits, to be safer. The constant feud of Marijuana simply leaves an open door for police force insecurity, drug cartel violence and alternative ways for people to generate a source of income while get hand outs. The laws on Marijuana simply view a person as stupid and irresponsible. "Alcohol and Your Brain." - Science NetLinks. AAAS, n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. Brownstein, Jose. "Marijuana vs. Alcohol: Which Is Really Worse for Your Health?"LiveScience. TechMedia Network, 21 Jan. 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2014. "DrugFacts: Marijuana." National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). National Institute on Drug Abuse, Jan. 2014. Web. 28 Mar. 2014. Freeman, Shanna. "Top 10 Myths About the Brain" 17 September 2008. HowStuffWorks.com. 23 March 2014. "GET INVOLVED." MADD -Statistics. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2013. Web. 28 Mar. 2014. ["Medical Marijuana ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. Charity, 6 May 2009. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. Nelson, Steven. "Police Made One Marijuana Arrest Every 42 Seconds in 2012." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 16 Sept. 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2014. NORML. "Marijuana and Driving: A Review of the Scientific Evidence." Marijuana and Driving: A Review of the Scientific Evidence. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2014. "'Prison Math' and the War on Drugs | National Review Online." National Review Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. Sam Alipour. ""We Smoked It all"" ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 19 Apr. 2012. Web. 23 Mar. 2014 "Smoking\u0027s Impact on Health Is Not Limited to Lung Cancer" 01 August 2005. HowStuffWorks.com. 23 March 2014. "State Medical Marijuana Laws." Legislative News, Studies and Analysis. N.p., Mar. 2014. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. St Pierre, Allen. "Annual Marijuana Arrests in the Us 1965-2010." Marijuana-arrests.com. N.p., 3 Aug. 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.