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Tori Temple
Professor Scaife
Comp I
11/?/2015
Marijuana
Marijuana is the most widely used drug in the entire world today.
Marijuana is very much available in the United States, and usage is
increasing every day. Marijuana is a drug that people sometimes like to call
dope. Dope is defined as a drug taken illegally for recreational purposes (Fig.
1). Although marijuana is legalized in Colorado, Alaska, Oregon, and
Washington for recreational use, the rest of American hasnt legalized it.

Why do many people think that smoking marijuana is harmless and not
as addicting like other drugs? They have the wrong idea. Many people also
think that smoking marijuana is relaxing to the mind and helps people
completely forget of tension, stress, and troubles. What most marijuana
smokers dont know is that casual marijuana use is linked to major brain
changes. In the first study to link casual marijuana use to major brain
changes, researchers say that even occasionally smoking marijuana may
rewire your brain and cause structural changes (Greer). People dont

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understand that the brain is vital to the human body, and if studies show
that smoking marijuana even just casually can rewire brain waves, then what
will happen to those people who smoke big doses of marijuana? What is
going to happen to their brain? GPA is lower in comparison to those who
do not smoke pot. Why do you think marijuana is called Dope? People who
smoke pot act and do stupid things (Thomas). AIn a different it article it
read a study that seemed to show that adolescents who started using
marijuana before the age of 18 and diagnosed as addicted by the time they
were 38 experienced a drop in IQ by early adulthood(Does Marijuana
cause brain damage?). Being in college I know my education is extremely
important and I know that my future means more to me then doing dope
just to make me feel calm. The fact that the study starts with 18 means most
of these most of them still have a future ahead of them and also they may be
in college.
Many people are for the legalization of medical marijuana to get
one step closer in legalizing it recreationally. If one were to take a survey and
ask people who smoke marijuana, if marijuana should be legalized for
recreational use, they would, of course, say yes. The next question to ask
them is why they would want recreational marijuana to be legalized. Most
would probably say it keeps them relaxed and takes stress away. From
articles on the internet, one can assume that marijuana smokers will fight to
get recreational marijuana legalized. For example in an article called Why
people use marijuana? the author simply writes that Marijuana is a widely

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used illegal drug all over the world The author then goes to say There is no
concrete reason why people smoke marijuana it may be due to peer
pressure, a habit inculcated from someone in the family or just a try to taste
the drug(Why People Use Marijuana). The author then talks about the
effects of using marijuana, and after all of the hard work that the author has
gone to write this article, the author is torn down by numerous of comments
made by viewers. One comment quotes for all those people who think weed
should stay illegal they are Idiots.there are many more things that affect
your body and all weed does is relax you and make you feel better (Why
people use marijuana?). Many of the comments on the articles page, Why
People use Marijuana? are made by people who are very much offended by
the subject of making recreational marijuana legal. Many argue with people
who are against it, just to show satisfaction for their own marijuana use. For
example, another comment said, I have been smoking for 30 years. I
smoke it to relax. I smoke a 1/4 bag every 8-10 days. I do not smoke
cigarettes, (use to but quit 3 years ago). I will occasionally drink a beer
usually at cookouts. I am 48 years old. I have stopped smoking pot several
times for months at a time. I am healthy, but a little overweight. The one
negative side effect that may be due to smoking pot is my ability to stay
focused. I do realize that. I am high as I write this. I think Marijuana should be
legalized and when selling and buying TAX the hell out of it!! Just like cigs,
beer, and pop and soon to be tanning salons(Why people use marijuana?).

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Heart rates and weak pulses are also a negative sign of legalizing
marijuana for recreational use. There have been stories where a marijuana
smoker was driving down the interstate and got in a wreck because their
heart rate has been slowed down due to the quick smoke they had before
getting in the car to drive. A study published today in the Journal of the
American Heart Association further demonstrates that marijuana use
increases the risk of major cardiovascular events such as heart attack, heart
rhythm disorders, and stroke , particularly in young people without other
heart disease risk factors(Abraham, MD). If recreational marijuana is
legalized, more youth will be able to get their hands on it. America already is
having trouble with the youth and smoking of marijuana. For the study,
researchers in France looked at data from the French Addictovigilance
Network between 2006 and 2010. They identified 35 out of nearly 2,000

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marijuana-users with known medical conditions linked to the heart and

arteries in the brain or limbs(Firger). Youth smoking marijuana is bound to
increase their chances of having heart attacks and weak pulses. A prior
study showed a 480 percent increase in the risk of heart attack within the
first hour following marijuana use, primarily in those at risk for heart attack
(Abraham, MD). Medical marijuana is legalized to help patients that are in
pain, but how is that okay when people are going into the hospital because
of having a heart attack due to the use of smoking recreational use of
marijuana?
Conclusion.

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Works Cited

https://publicsealion.wordpress.com/2012/11/07/why-marijuana-shouldnot-be-legalized/
http://blog.ted.com/ethan-nadelmann-speaks-at-tedglobal-2014/
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/04/15/marijuanabrain-changes/7749309/
http://www.truthonpot.com/2012/11/02/does-marijuana-cause-braindamage/
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/marijuana-use-may-lead-to-cardiacarrest-and-other-heart-problems/
http://www.letusfindout.com/why-people-use-marijuana/