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At the dawn of the third millennium, the legalization of marijuana for recreational and medical use has become a worldwide trend that keeps spreading around the world. Many governments have recognized the potential of legalizing marijuana. Only in the USA, "A total of 23 states and the District of Columbia now allow for comprehensive public medical marijuana and cannabis programs" (State Medical Marijuana Laws). According to the Marijuana Resource centre the last two states that passed marijuana legalization law, Colorado and Washington (2012), regulated it with the Amendment 64 and Initiative 502. The federal standpoint on marijuana is that "marijuana is a dangerous drug and that the illegal distribution and sale of marijuana is a serious crime" (Marijuana Resource Centre). Therefore, the Department of Justice has issued guidance that each state should follow in order to prevent abuse of marijuana. However, in spite of the laws and regulations, marijuana is still being used for the purposes other than medical. The government should not legalize marijuana for medical and recreational purposes because marijuana consumptions impacts brain function leading to risk from car accidents and places adolescents at risk for future substance use.
It is known that marijuana has an impact on the brain and due to that to the overall nervous system. According to the article Adverse Health Effects of Marijuana Use (2014), "As compared with unexposed controls, adults who smoked marijuana regularly during adolescence have impaired neural connectivity (fewer fibers) in specific brain regions" (Volkow D. Nora, M.D., Baler D. Ruben, Ph.D., Compton M. Wilson, M.D., and Weiss, R. B. Susa Ph.D.) If the government legalizes marijuana for recreational purposes, there are chances that the number of vehicle incidents will increase. The impact of marijuana on drivers has been shown in a recently published study by the group of professors from The Colorado University. According to the study, the number of car accidents dramatically increased since marijuana become legal. (Sautel, Min, Sakai, Thurstone and Hopfer, 2014). The table that the authors present in this article suggests that the level of harm that marijuana has is high in confidence of addiction to marijuana and other substances. The impact on marijuana use is noticed in diminished lifetime achievement, motor vehicle accidents and symptoms of chronic bronchitis (Volkow D. Nora et al. 2014). If the government legalizes marijuana, the number of drug addicts will increase and the government will have a short term benefit from it because the medical expenses may be larger than money gained from the legalized marijuana. The legalization of marijuana, in spite of its proved positive effects on our health, will only promote its widespread use. It would be difficult to restrain its use for a selected group of the population excluding children and teenagers. As children and teenagers are in the most vulnerable period of life when they are eager to try anything, the legalization of marijuana will only give them the access to drug. The brain of a child or a teenager is in a stage of developing, and it would be easy for them to get accustomed to marijuana and slowly become addicted. Even thought the marijuana use cannot cause serious impact on their brain, it is vital for passing to other, synthetic drugs that may lead to death.
The legalization of marijuana in fifty states may lead to the increased number of adolescents who are at risk of future substance abuse. According to Ossila, Pendersen, Ewig, Miles, Ramchand, and D'Amico (2014), "More teenagers buy marijuana than alcohol (36% versus 22%)" (p.2). Bearing on mind that alcohol is legal; marijuana legalization can only contribute to the increased number of adolescent smokers. A study conducted by the mentioned authors revealed a close correlation between alcohol and marijuana users. In the study adolescents that bought alcohol and marijuana (180), 143 participants reported buying marijuana and alcohol. This points out that the legalization of marijuana leads to the increased number of users among teenagers, leading to a future drug dependence. The reason for this can be found in the fact that marijuana leads dependence. Bearing on mind that marijuana does not fall into the category of dangerous drugs, adolescent may gain easier access to it by legalizing it. Not everyone who takes marijuana becomes dependent, but many of users develop tolerance. Tolerance occurs when a user needs larger amounts of drug to feel its effect. If marijuana becomes legalized, it is likely that many adolescents will gain access to it.
Even though, it is not legalized in every state, marijuana is widely spread and used drug. Based on a study conducted in Colorado, results revealed that since the legalization of marijuana, the number of car accidents increased. Another study revealed that the use of marijuana leads to risk from developing dependence among adolescents. The legalization of marijuana should not be allowed for recreational and medical purposes because it presents a threat to the safety of the ones who are direct participants in the traffic. In addition to this, the tolerance of marijuana may appear in adolescent that have an easy access to marijuana leading to drug dependence. It is undisputable that the marijuana has positive effects on people with different medical issues, but its legalization may cause more harm than effect of the entire population, especially adolescents.
References:
Volkow D. Nora, M.D., Baler D. Ruben, Ph.D., Compton M. Wilson, M.D., and Weiss, R. B. Susa Ph.D. 2014. Adverse Health Effects of Marijuana Use. The New England Journal of Medicine. Retrieved from: http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMra1402309
Karen Chan Osilla C. K., Pedersen R. E., Ewing A. B., Miles NV M., Ramchand R., D’Amico J. E. 2014 The effects of purchasing alcohol and marijuana among adolescents at-risk for future substance use. Retrieved from: http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1747-597X-9-38.pdf
Sate Medical Marijuana Laws. National Conference of State Legislatures. 25. August 2014. Retrieved from: http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/state-medical-marijuana-laws.aspx
Marijuana Resource Centre: State Laws Related to Marijuana, Office of National Drug Control Policy. Retrieved from: http://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/state-laws-related-to-marijuana
Sautel S.S., Min J.S. Sakai T. J., Thurstone C., and Hopfer, C. (10. April 2014). Trends in fatal motor vehicle crashes before and after marijuana commercialization in Colorado. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. Retrieved from: http://www.drugandalcoholdependence.com/article/S0376-8716(14)00834-5/fulltext
