They say marijuana is a helpful medicine. They say it makes you calm down and feel good.

They also say

that it isn’t as dangerous or harmful as alcohol and other drugs. Those are some reasons why they want
to legalize marijuana. But are they right? No they are not. Marijuana should stay illegal because if it is
legalized, more people will smoke it, causing negative effects on health and families.

If marijuana is legalized, people will think smoking marijuana is something we can do every day at any
time which increases drug use. People are going to smoke marijuana without getting in trouble or
getting arrested. Also there is going to be easier access to marijuana, and it will be cheaper to buy. These
same things happened when alcohol was legalized. Also, drug dealers can grow marijuana without
getting arrested, and make a bunch of money off of it.

Increased drug use leads to negative health effects. For example people who are depressed use
marijuana because they believe it will calm them down, and make them feel better. However, this isn’t
true because marijuana worsens depression. Other negative health effects are respiratory illness, lung
infections, and cancer of the lungs, mouth, throat, and esophagus. Marijuana users have a higher risk of
cancer then cigarette smokers. Also, after a few minutes of smoking marijuana, your heart beats faster
and your blood pressure drops. Because of lower blood pressure and higher heart rate, researchers
found that marijuana users have a four times higher chance of a heart attack within the first hour of
smoking marijuana.

Legalizing marijuana would also lead to negative effects on families. Marijuana use at work and school
Also, younger teens will use it. Parents will use it and give bad example to younger kids and teens, and
become high around their kids. Marijuana affects teens and their ability to concentrate in school, and
drug-using parents will neglect or abuse their children. If marijuana stays illegal, these negative effects
will lessen.

Why take the risk of legalizing marijuana? It is only giving a bad idea to teens, parents, and families.
Increased drug use, negative health effects, and negative effects on families are all the outcomes of
legalizing marijuana. So think about this, will it put a negative effect on your family? Will it increase drug
use by people? Will it affect teens and their ability to learn? Will it make you depressed and a have
higher risk of cancer? Yes it will.