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Adam Weiss
Charlyn Ingwerson
ENG 110
1 May 2003
Legalize Marijuana: Why Should We? ... ” That was what my little brother’s friend Roy told me when I asked him how often they smoked marijuana. That quote alone should be all of the information needed to make a case against legalizing marijuana. Just in case it is not enough, I will dispel some commonly held myths about marijuana. I will show that marijuana is an addictive drug that is associated with numerous health issues, it leads to harder drugs, and it affects both the lives of the smoker and those of the people around the smoker.
While many marijuana advocates will argue to the grave, the fact remains that marijuana is not good for you and has some major effects on your health. ... Department of Health and Human Services, marijuana contains more than four hundred chemicals, and just one joint contains more cancer causing agents than smoking four cigarettes does. The Department of Health and Human Services also says that marijuana increases your blood pressure, which can result in high blood pressure. The official website of the National Institute of Drug Abuse says that marijuana also suppresses the immune system which can lead to many illnesses down the road. When I asked my brother, Cody Harpst, in an interview, what he though about the long term effects marijuana has, he told me that marijuana was bad for you while you smoked it, but that when you stopped, everything would return to normal. There is some truth to this, but what he does not know is that prolonged exposure to marijuana can cause serious mental illnesses later in life (“Tips for Teens”). Another question that I asked Cody was what affect he though marijuana had on the brain. He told me that many people think that marijuana kills brain cells, but in reality it does not do anything to them. This also is partially true; while marijuana does not kill brain cells, it does severely damage cells in the hippocampus, which causes major problems with short-term memory (“Tips for Teens”).
Another thing that should be examined with the health issues in smoking marijuana are the problems that can arise when pregnant mothers smoke pot. In a report by Daniel Bachtold, he notes that babies of women who smoke marijuana while pregnant tend to be smaller and more restless (3-4).
Approximate Word count = 1878
Approximate Pages = 7.5
(250 words per page double spaced)
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