Summary: Is One Smoke Really Safer

Is One Smoke Really “Safer” Than The Other?
Marijuana isn’t a safe smoke as people assume daily; it’s a very common thought that marijuana isn’t harmful, that all it does it make you want to sleep and eat and it calms you down. It is common to believe that medical marijuana and other drugs aren’t harmful because they are used for medical purposes. There are many negative outcomes of using marijuana such as addiction, learning disabilities, depression, and lung infections such as pneumonia. Nora Volkow is the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). In the article “Why American Teens are Turning from Cigarettes to Marijuana” she says that teens believe marijuana is not harmful to themselves because it is used in medical situations. Many say that marijuana isn’t an addictive drug, however, with a frequent use for an extensive amount of time it can be addictive; twenty to fifty percent of daily users are addicted. Research shows that approximately nine percent, or one of every eleven of those who use marijuana even once will become addicted. Those numbers increase if you start to smoke in
It is not common knowledge that smoking marijuana changes how your brain works, there are over four hundred chemicals in marijuana. Marijuana effects your brain and can create problems with your learning and your memory as well as attention. Long term users have said they found themselves being unhappy with their lives, experiencing memory and relationship problems, physical and mental health decaying, less career success, and lower salaries. Marijuana can play a part in depression as well. Alby Podolski, who was quoted in the brochure stated, “I was lazy a lot. I didn’t want to do things… I was depressed. I felt like I was always in a rut. I was always feeling bad about myself, where I was standing in life.” (Alby’s Story in