Earlier this morning while searching the internet for topics I ran across this:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/asam-opposes-state-ballot-measures-180000319.html
Before I began I will proudly admit the I am a recreational user of marijuana, yet this article makes a few statements that I’m not quite sure I can agree with. (**Keep in mind this is written as my opinion.)
They claim “marijuana use is neither safe nor harmless” although there isn’t one article that I’ve read or heard about starting that marijuana was the direct cause of death. Continuing on, ASAM (American Society of Addiction Medicine), also states that marijuana:
– Contains psychoactive cannabinoids that can cause discomfort and even paranoid thoughts.
– Is associated with damage to specific organs and tissues and can impair behavior and brain function.
– Marijuana is addictive. “Approximately 9% of people who try marijuana become dependent.”
– Legalization would cause usage, addiction, and the “drug” itself to increase.
– Marijuana doubles the risk of wrecks and traffic issues. “Research in Washington State showed that 12% of drivers killed in car crashes were positive for marijuana. Legalization would increase drugged driving.”
Well for starters, if marijuana were legal, people probably wouldn’t have so many paranoid thoughts. Our brains are said to seem to be created for smoking the ganja, unlike most other animals, our brains have receptors and chemicals that specially function to process marijuana. As for marijuana damaging specific organs and tissues and impairing behavior, the only way I could see that to be true is if you smoke mary jane. Yet consuming the substance in edible form would make that argument completely invalid, or so I would believe. I do know from experience that marijuana does not affect behavior greatly. Aside from hunger, euphoria, fatigue, a slight change in our perceptions of time and uncontrollable giggle fits occasionally, I don’t see how that behavior is unacceptable.
As far as being addictive goes…stop it. There’s a difference between being an addicted fiend, and simply enjoying the recreational use of the substance to relax or for headaches, or pain, to increase appetite, or therapy or health treatment. I don’t see so-called “pot-head” sitting on corners at 3 am looking for their next fix.
I will admit legalization may cause usage and the drug itself (to hell the that addiction crap) to increase, but wasn’t our nation founded on in? Or is that just another lie that was fed to us? Wouldn’t making hemp another major crop most likely help our nation get one step closer to climbing out of this (crap) hole that we’re in now? Maybe I’m wrong.
Last, but not least, smoking and driving. Now I don’t know how many of you have ever driven after/while smoking, but I will say if anything, smoking makes me a more cautious driver (maybe because of said paranoid). What I’d like to know is, how many of these “statistics” were also tested positive for alcohol as well as marijuana? I’m sure at least 4%.
We can’t blame it all on Mary Jane. For some of us, she’s been there through thick and thin. Our nation probably wouldn’t be the same if it weren’t for her. I’m tired of the useless slander. I’m not saying to legalize it, and it does nothing wrong. I’m just saying let’s not make marijuana something more than it is, a plant. Simply that.
But what do I know? Check out this link to learn more:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/marijuana3.htm
And tell me what YOU think. :3