Research Paper
Ivan Olvera
Mr. Delaney
English 11
2/27/13
Marijuana Issues When the idea of marijuana being legalized is brought up, controversy starts to arise. There is controversy on this subject matter because many people believe that if alcohol and cigarettes are legal, then how come marijuana can not be legalized? This is a problem because people do not understand how bad marijuana can be. People think that marijuana is not as bad as other drugs and alcohol,so they just smoke marijuana. The solution to this problem is to keep marijuana illegal, to educate people on the harms of marijuana, and to get the parents to be involved in their children’s lives. People who use marijuana want to believe that marijuana has no health effects, when, in reality, there are health affects. Those health effects happen to be worse than most marijuana users think. Marijuana affects some of the bodies most important parts like the heart, the brain and the lungs. According to Mehling, “Eating or smoking marijuana has been shown to increase heart rate by 20 to 50 percent...However, marijuana users who do not know about or expect these acute health effects may find them unpleasant or even scary, resulting in panic or anxiety reactions. And, those with heart problems or other physical disorders may have disturbing or even harmful effects as a result of cannabis use” ( Mehling). The effect of marijuana only last a couple of hours, but when someone does not know that they can get anxiety from marijuana, they may start to freak out. The situation can get ugly quickly because they will have this anxiety and panic and start doing things they normally would not do if they were not under the use of marijuana. When something affects the brain, it is usually not a good thing. The article The Health Effects Of Marijuana supports the fact that that marijuana effects the brain in many ways. “When high doses of marijuana are used, usually when eaten in food rather than smoked, users can experience the
Mr. Delaney
English 11
2/27/13
Marijuana Issues When the idea of marijuana being legalized is brought up, controversy starts to arise. There is controversy on this subject matter because many people believe that if alcohol and cigarettes are legal, then how come marijuana can not be legalized? This is a problem because people do not understand how bad marijuana can be. People think that marijuana is not as bad as other drugs and alcohol,so they just smoke marijuana. The solution to this problem is to keep marijuana illegal, to educate people on the harms of marijuana, and to get the parents to be involved in their children’s lives. People who use marijuana want to believe that marijuana has no health effects, when, in reality, there are health affects. Those health effects happen to be worse than most marijuana users think. Marijuana affects some of the bodies most important parts like the heart, the brain and the lungs. According to Mehling, “Eating or smoking marijuana has been shown to increase heart rate by 20 to 50 percent...However, marijuana users who do not know about or expect these acute health effects may find them unpleasant or even scary, resulting in panic or anxiety reactions. And, those with heart problems or other physical disorders may have disturbing or even harmful effects as a result of cannabis use” ( Mehling). The effect of marijuana only last a couple of hours, but when someone does not know that they can get anxiety from marijuana, they may start to freak out. The situation can get ugly quickly because they will have this anxiety and panic and start doing things they normally would not do if they were not under the use of marijuana. When something affects the brain, it is usually not a good thing. The article The Health Effects Of Marijuana supports the fact that that marijuana effects the brain in many ways. “When high doses of marijuana are used, usually when eaten in food rather than smoked, users can experience the