Marijuana legalization is one of the biggest debates going on in the United States today. Marijuana has been one of the most widely used illicit drugs for some time. Many people see the drug as harmless and are in favor of it being regulated and made legal. Several states throughout the United States have adopted state laws to where marijuana has become legalized for recreational or medicinal use, even though it remains illegal under federal law. There is much controversy over this matter and could develop many implications for our society. Colorado was one of the first states to utilize marijuana in January 2014, for non-medical use with restrictions in place (Durkin, 2014). Although restrictions do exist, there are still concerns regarding …show more content…
al., 2017). Many believe that legalization of marijuana could lessen the prisons capacities, decrease racial difference in arrests, increase tax revenue and create new employment (McGinty et. al., 2017). I see the legalization of marijuana as harmful, creating damaging public health consequences, like the potential for our adolescent’s health to be in jeopardy or the increase in marijuana impaired driving incidents. I believe this would produce a world similar to the alcohol and tobacco industries, which puts making money before the concerns of our public’s health (McGinty et. al., 2017). Lusk, Paul & Wilson (2015) suggest that after smoking or ingesting marijuana the brain is impacted in areas such as concentration, attention, motor impulsivity, decision making, working memory, and verbal fluency. Researchers have also found that regular marijuana users displayed higher rates of depression and suicide compared to non-users, and also had higher rates of psychotic disorders (Lusk, Paul & Wilson, 2015). We also have to keep in mind that the brain is not fully developed until around age 26, and that the FDA should approve marijuana before legalization occurs to prevent any disruption in the development of the brain that could cause harmful effects to those