Negative Effects Of Legalization Of Marijuana

While cognitive effects can have a negative attribute to smoking marijuana, it can also lead Americans to other drugs. Many users of marijuana are said to use another drug such as heroin and cocaine. This is said to be because after using marijuana, many Americans want something different to enhance their dopamine levels. “a person who smokes marijuana is more than 104 times more likely to use cocaine than a person who never tries pot”, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. 104 times more likely is a tremendous amount. With this, since the marijuana is illegal on a federal level, citizens are more likely to come in contact with people who sell marijuana illegally and use other harmful drugs and are more likely to experiment with other

Another important negative effect to consider is its addictive nature. The citizens who support the legalization of marijuana often say that marijuana is not as addictive as other more intense drugs, such as cocaine and meth, but addiction treatment specialists have seen firsthand that how using cannabis and its long-term use can lead to addiction. “Research found that as many as a tenth of users have developed dependence over time” (19 Primary Pros…). Like in other substances, if one decides to stop using marijuana it will lead to withdrawal symptoms, which range from anxiety to irritability. Though it is proven that marijuana is not addictive in the same sense as heroin, which is more of a physical ordeal. But marijuana can be more of a psychological dependence. Philip M. Boffey, a writer for the New York Times says, “It can interact with pleasure centers in the brain and can create a strong sense of psychological dependence that addiction experts say can be very difficult to break.” This is a different type of addiction and is less common. Marijuana addiction can cause users to be dependent on the drug and can lead to other bad