Persuasive Essay On Legalizing Marijuana

727 Words3 Pages

“People who smoke would have probably been regarded as fools or insane, if only a percentage of people who smoke smoked.” – Mokokoma Mokhonoana. Marijuana has been a problem in U.S society for many years. Since marijuana was first introduced in America in 1545, it has spread and become deeply ingrained in America’s society. So far eight states have legalized marijuana for recreational use, and others have legalized it for medical use. Gore Vidal believed that marijuana should be legalized, and that it would help America. Marijuana in America should not be legalized because it is a gateway drug, a medical product, and a highly variable plant. Firstly, marijuana is a gateway drug. Some studies indicate that marijuana precedes the use of legal and illegal substances. Adults who reported marijuana use are more likely to develop an alcohol use disorder within the three years. Studies also show that marijuana heightens the body’s response to other drugs. This is called cross-sensitization, meaning that THC ‘primes’ the …show more content…

Marijuana has different ‘strains’, and some of them are dangerous. Different strains have different potencies of THC and CBD. Strains high in THC content cause psychotic episodes, while strains high in CBD counteract the THC. If a person smoked marijuana every day that is high in THC, then that person would be more likely to develop a psychosis. Then again, psychosis will only affect people who use marijuana daily. Even then, the effects take a very long time, 30-40 years, to develop. Not every study concludes that marijuana causes mental health risks. This all makes it very hard to draw a conclusion between marijuana use and mental health risks. Although, there is a study that concluded that users of marijuana have a 2% chance of developing schizophrenia, double that of the general population. While that is not entirely conclusive, users still have five times the normal person of developing a