The Positive and Negative Effects of Legalizing Marijuana

Marijuana has been an ongoing topic of controversy in the last decade. The United States has dug deeper into the effects of the drug and whether it possesses extreme life threatening causes. Many medical conditions including anxiety and depression have been treated with marijuana in which positive results were produced.  However, the negative effects involving increased heart rate, cancer - causing agents, the inhibition of motor skills, and the suppression of white blood cells, outweigh the positive. 

Marijuana, also called, weed, or pot, is a drug that comes from a hemp plant with the scientific name, “Cannabis sativa”. The drug is known for stimulating and altering a person’s mind, causing physical relaxation and behavioral changes. Although the drug has been around for hundreds of years, it only became popular in the 1970s when “hippies” abused it. The federal court system has allowed states to independently decide what is suitable for the welfare of their state by choosing to either legalize the recreational and medicinal use of the drug or not. Weed was primarily legalized as a medicinal substance in selected states to help relieve pain and distress in patients who possessed extreme medical conditions. Using the substance for these purposes produced great results, but many feared that the abiding effects of the drug could lead to more detrimental conditions including dependence, chronic bronchitis, and cancer. 

According to the Johnson Institute, the inhalation of smoke from a joint could be far more harmful than a “pack of tobacco cigarettes”. Research has already provided evidence on how cancerous tobacco is, which means that marijuana may have the same toxic effect.Another detrimental effect of smoking pot is the suppression of the production of white blood cells. White blood cells fight against infection and protect our bodies from disease and without enough blood cells one is prone to colds and other “respiratory problems”. Along with delayed production, a person’s immune system could weaken, causing other parts of the body to malfunction. Agad’s argument shares little detail involving the medical con’s between marijuana and the people who smoke it. The harmful imposing threats linked between health and pot are extremely important when considering legalization which further questions if one’s health is even worth the temporary high?

An area of interest involving the wartime “Prohibition Act of 1920” and the temporary ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages with content exceeding 1.28 percent is a good topic of debate. In a brief comparison of the ban of marijuana to that of the attempt to ban alcohol, Matthew Shechtman explains “just as prohibition failed to cure, and even exacerbated, the social ills it attempted to curtail, the federal reign over marijuana law could do the same”. Since alcohol has some similar mind altering and short-lived effects of marijuana, the comparison was somewhat valid. Marijuana has become a drug that is just as popular as alcohol, which is why the amount of money and effort used to keep it away could be futile; however, there are still important reasons that validate why it is safe to control the use of marijuana. Using Marijuana as a recreational source almost always allows users to misuse the drug. Along with a sensational relaxed feeling, marijuana also causes people to believe they are doing much while doing very little in all actuality. The body becomes accustomed to a drug and it is hard to kick the habit after continuous use because the consumption of it on a daily basis allows the body to develop a need for it. In comparison, a woman who smokes cocaine while pregnant will potentially give birth to a baby who is dependent on the drug because they have grown in a body that supplied access to it involuntarily. When the hippie’s smoked pot and petitioned against working 9-5 jobs in the seventies, they became lazy, carefree, and lacked concentration inhibiting their motor skills. This apparent effect prompts many employers and companies to require a drug test screening before they hire potential candidates. 

In conclusion, marijuana may have some positive effects, but unless it is controlled between who uses it and when, the future effects can produce negative results. In a professional world, it is unlikely to want a person who could not function coherently on a team because of the use of marijuana. From a medical perspective, overuse of the drug could cause a patient to develop a dependency towards it, which is why it is safe to say that although marijuana is legal in some states, for medical and recreational purposes, the prevalent reluctance of legalization in other states is a controlled way of keeping the use at a minimum.