The Pros And Cons Of Marijuana

What is marijuana? “It’s an illegal drug that is made from the dried leaves and flowers of the hemp plant (Cambridge Dictionary)”. It’s also a drug that has been completely wiping the nation. Everyone has their opinion about this certain plant being legal, which has repeatedly been discussed. For thousands of years it has been used for various purposes, but lately it’s only been grown for smoking. People smoke it everywhere from their homes to their cars, but do they know what they’re actually smoking? With the popularity of marijuana constantly growing, awareness should be brought to the possible outcomes of its usage.

Marijuana, also known as hemp, stems all the way from Taiwan. In its earlier years it was used to make rope and many other

Older people tend to smoke for medicinal purposes and younger adults tend to smoke for recreational reasons. When it comes to the case of medical use, marijuana can be used for pain problems, mental illness, and other diseases. Marijuana as a medicine has called for FDA approval, but more research needs to be done in order to take complete action. In other words, people would rather use weed to be helpful than abused.

On the flip side THC has been FDA approved. “It's available by prescription Marinol (dronabinol) and Cesamet (nabilone) (Harding & Casoobhoy, 2005)”. Because the human body makes chemicals similar to those that are in marijuana already it’s easy for the medical marijuana to help these chemicals work faster and better. You can simply smoke it, eat it or drink it to help cure an issue. “Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States (SAMHSA, 2014)”. On that note users should know that the drug has both short-term and long-term

“When marijuana users begin using as teenagers, the drug may reduce thinking, memory, and learning functions and affect how the brain builds connections between the areas necessary for these functions. Marijuana’s effects on these abilities may last a long time or even be permanent (“What is Marijuana”)”. Brain development as a teen is what holds the structure of our minds, and once marijuana interferes with how the brain functions, it could change your life. “For example, a study showed that people who started smoking marijuana heavily in their teens and had an ongoing cannabis use disorder lost an average of eight IQ points between ages 13 and 38. The lost mental abilities did not fully return in those who quit marijuana as adults. Those who started smoking marijuana as adults did not show notable IQ declines (qtd in Meier, 2012)”. Also a long-term user may suffer from anxiety, pregnancy problems and also suicidal thoughts as far as teens.(“What is