This process must be preserved. It is listed in the federal Controlled Substances Act as a Schedule I drug. Thus, in the view of the nation's scientific and medical community, marijuana has a high potential for abuse and no generally accepted therapeutic value. The weight of scientific evidence to date demonstrates marijuana is not a benign drug. It is a contributing cause of injury and death to users and non-users alike.
Research shows that smoked marijuana damages the brain, heart, lungs and immune system.
It impairs learning, and interferes with memory, perception, and judgement. Marijuana has been implicated in a high percentage of non-alcohol related highway crashes, as well as accidents in the workplace. Drug-related visits to hospital emergency rooms involving marijuana have tripled since 1990. Last month, the National Institute of Drug Abuse released two studies confirming that marijuana's addictive mechanism acts on the brain in a manner similar to that of cocaine and heroin. Marijuana is also a gateway drug.