Marijuana Causes and the Effect

¶ … marijuana causes and the effect it has on an individual. Marijuana is often seen as a recreational drug that should be legalized, like alcohol. However, marijuana is a dangerous, gateway drug that can lead to more serious drug abuse, and it has a negative effect on people's lives.

Marijuana is legal to use medicinally in some areas of the country, and many advocates believe that it is not harmful if it is used recreationally. However, marijuana is a drug, and like any drug, it can become addictive. That means that someone who uses it habitually will have trouble quitting it, and that means that it can lead to other addictive behaviors. Many experts believe that it can also lead to the use of other, more harmful drugs, such as cocaine or heroin, which is why it is called a "gateway" drug. It can be the gateway to other, more harmful addictions, which is only one reason that it should remain illegal.

Individuals who smoke or ingest marijuana are impaired, just like people who drink too much, so there is also an issue with individuals who smoke marijuana and then get behind the wheel of a car. They can kill or maim someone just as easily as someone who is drunk, so it makes sense to keep marijuana illegal, as it could be another threat to American lives if it was decriminalized. Studies have indicated that marijuana use also injures brain cells, just as alcohol does, so it can permanently impair someone who abuses this drug. Marijuana is an abusive substance, and it can cause irreparable damage to a person's life. A person who is high on marijuana and kills or injures another person will have to live with that guilt their entire lives, and they will have to pay for it through prison time, too. That is a very heavy price to pay for a "recreational" drug, and it can alter a life in many other ways, too.

Marijuana has a dramatic effect on American society, as well. There is a large, well-maintained drug smuggling organization that provides marijuana to American users, and many of those organizations are located in Mexico. They are violent, gang-oriented, they have a stronghold over Mexican society, and they dominate the drug culture in the United States, too. They control what is bought and sold, the prices, and the quality of the drug. Anyone who uses marijuana supports these drug cartels, either knowingly or not. These cartels are dangerous, even deadly members of society, and supporting them only supports the violence and illegal activities they continue. Using marijuana is dangerous to American society, because it encourages these cartels, and that is yet another reason it should remain illegal.