[dropcap]W[/dropcap]eed, a substance first accepted into our society immediately after the spanish lost the Spanish American war,  giving them free access to become a US citizen. The new constant flow of foreign peoples undoubtedly would bring new customs to America, thus introducing us to the drug now referred to as Marijuana. 

Facts about the addictive drug

Although it has been medically proven that being addicted to THC itself is impossible, it’s the euphoric feeling that gets people hooked; the flooding of dopamine in the system is what causes the initial addiction. Marijuana has made a massive comeback with Washington and Oregon legalizing the use of recreational marijuana. These are not the first states to take this step, Colorado, Alaska, California, Massachusetts, and Nevada have all taken on the dangerous task of legalizing this drug. Trying to be cautious of the side effects legalization has on the economy the state government has set the legal age to smoke, sell, and grow at twenty one in hopes of avoiding marijuana use in teens. Despite these standards being more or less suitable, they are not powerful enough to help evade the usage rate in younger age groups. This rate is known to increase when marijuana is legalized. The Governors seem to think that just because the legal age to smoke is twenty one, that the use of weed in younger age groups of kids will not be evident. This statement has time and time again proven to be wrong on most fronts. Here in the United States, changes in this policy have passed with insignificant amount of debate on this subject matter because the users of marijuana are the only people who seem to care about this law being passed.

So, the standing question remains “Should pot be legalized”? That is the exact question pot smokers have been pressing onto our government for decades. [perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]There is no clean cut answer that would not spike repercussions, so far our state officials have only avoided the question by not answering [/perfectpullquote]

There is no clean cut answer that would not spike repercussions, so far our state officials have only avoided the question by not answering the question in itself, only to answer why it might be a good idea or a bad one at that. The reason this question is so hard for our representatives to answer and act upon, is because this is the first time in the history of the U.S where they do not have a list telling them what to do every step of the way. In previous centuries they had existing presidents, vice presidents, governors, even speakers of the house, but they have yet to find a person in charge of national legalization and that is why it is so challenging for them to set the law in stone. Of course they have Colorado’s, Alaska’s, California’s, and Nevada’s experience to act upon although they do not fail to see this is not their best option to act upon.

Image by Pixabay

Image by Pixabay 

The science behind it is clear and unavoidable – marijuana is a dangerous substance. It differs from alcohol in every way. Firm pot believers don’t have a valid reason why recreational marijuana should be legalized besides “everyone else is already doing it”, the fact they have tried to persuade us to believe in does not provide hard evidence on why our government should legalize this dangerous substance.

But we may still have a chance for mankind, seeing that as the public is beginning to recognize the scientific data and the horrific dangers of marijuana that have been recorded straight from the findings in states that have already taken this next step in washing our humanity down the drain. It definitely has something to due with the fact that there are less positive stories and more negative coming from Colorado and Washington State. Charles Stimson from “The Heritage Foundation” tells us “The average strength of today’s marijuana is five to six times what it was in the 1960s and 1970s, and upwards of 10 to 20 times stronger than in the past.”, this showing us that the drug being sold now is an entirely different level of marijuana, and lethal to our generation.

   Problems to expect with legalization

Senator Booker has promised many positive outcomes due to the legalization of recreational weed, like the prevention of epileptic seizures, and even that the taxes of the funds from the pot industry will go towards helping rebuild schools and community centers. These are the exact same promises that were made to us when Colorado tried their recreational legalization, and as you can see arrests are up, and we still have a black market for the distributing of weed, and the promises were broken. While these thoughts were hopeful, there wasn’t an increase in the amount of schools and community centers built, and there were very little steps taken in the medical industry in order to help the targeted diseases.

A report by a federal grant-funded agency in Colorado found four specific negative side effects that pot legalization has caused:

1) A heavy amount of DUI drug arrests involved pot.

2) Adolescent consumption of this drug has increased remarkably.

3)  an increase in college users.

4.) almost 50 percent of Denver arrestees tested positive for marijuana

 [perfectpullquote align=”left” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]Hospitals have been given the O.K to use medical marijuana as a form of medication to treat diseases like, cancer, diabetes, epilepsy and other fatal diseases. [/perfectpullquote]

Where weed really belongs

Of course, there is no argument that marijuana needs a place in today’s society. That is why marijuana can indeed be used for medicinal purposes, that’s why the government has already allowed hospitals to further their knowledge of today’s most common, and rarest diseases. Hospitals have been given the O.K to use medical marijuana as a form of medication to treat diseases like, cancer, diabetes, epilepsy and other fatal diseases.

Cannabis promoters have been advertising to our society that legalizing marijuana will be favorable to the state, but how this law will also help “save lives”. The studies do not publicize how legalizing this lethal drug will increase the likeliness of our school system failing, our economic system lacking, and our financial problems increasing.The Legislature Jerry brown stepped up and proposed a bill last year to legalize medical marijuana, thank god this bill will not take full effect until 2018. You would hope our leaders would be sharp-witted enough to wait and see how regulating medicinal marijuana works out in our society before irrationally jumping into legalizing it for every adult.

This being the largest amount of attention the legalization of marijuana has received in, well… forever, let us hope our leaders make the smart choice of preventing the provocative behavior that follows marijuana as bad as its own smell.

Featured image: Image by Pixabay