Physical and mental health risks of marijuana legalization

Marijuana Should Not Be Legalized

Physical Health Concerns

According to a Harvard University Law School document, it would be "…fallacious to conclude that because the chemicals in marijuana have been found to present fewer dangers…" than cocaine, heroin, alcohol and tobacco, that the recreational use of marijuana "is safe" (Harvard). In fact, even though many states authorize the use of cannabis for medical purposes (for AIDS sufferers and for those experiencing harmful side effects from cancer chemotherapy and glaucoma), marijuana has "potentially dangerous side effects" (Harvard).

Those "dangerous [physical] side effects" include: a) damage to cells in the bronchial passages that could cause chronic bronchitis; b) a decrease in the ability of the body's immune cells to "fight off fungi, bacteria, and tumor cells"; c) the possibility of getting "pulmonary infections and respiratory cancer"; and d) since one joint of powerful cannabis has "four times more tar than a cigarette," lungs are exposed to the same dangers that cigarettes create (Harvard).

Mental Health Concerns

The Harvard paper asserts that use of marijuana "is at the root of many mental disorders," and those include: a) "acute toxic psychosis"; b) "panic attacks," which is one of the "very conditions it is being used experimentally to treat"; c) "flashbacks"; d) "delusions"; e) "depersonalization"; f) "hallucinations"; g) "paranoia"; h) "depression"; and i) "incontrollable aggressiveness" (Harvard).

The authors of this research assert that marijuana has "long been known to trigger attacks of mental illness" -- and those triggered responses include bipolar (manic-depressive) psychosis and schizophrenia (Harvard). The American Psychiatric Association explains that heavy use of marijuana can cause memory lapses along with "impaired motor coordination, anxiety, impaired judgment, sensation of slowed time, [and] social withdrawal" (Harvard).

U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Position on Marijuana

The DEA flatly states that "The clear weight of the currently available evidence" supports the statement that "…smoked marijuana has a high potential for abuse, has no accepted medicinal value in treatment in the U.S.…" and there is a lack of safety involving its use under medical supervision (DEA, 2011). The DEA statement that there is no "accepted medicinal value" to marijuana is contrary to the policies of the 18 states that now make marijuana legal (with a doctor's prescription) for medicinal purposes, and yet the DEA sticks to its position that "marijuana is not medicine, and it is not safe" (DEA, p. 2).

The DEA document asserts that the DEA is "not alone" in viewing smoked marijuana as having "no documented medical value." The DEA quotes the American Medical Association which does not endorse medical marijuana programs or the legalization of marijuana albeit the AMA does urge continuing "clinical research" to see if marijuana could be medicinally potent. Other groups supporting more studies (but opposing legalization) include: the American Cancer Society; The American Glaucoma Society; and the American Academy of Pediatrics (DEA, p. 4).

Moreover, the DEA sites its own research -- including 111 researchers "registered with DEA to perform studies with marijuana, marijuana extracts," and other derivates that are found in the cannabis plant -- which indicates that "…smoked marijuana is harmful" (5).

The DEA continues its narrative on marijuana on page 6 of the 2011 paper by asserting that the proposition that "smoked marijuana is 'medicine' is, in sum, false-trickery used by those promoting wholesale legalization." And while there are 18 states that authorize the distribution of medical marijuana, some states are very firm in their law in terms of what medical issues qualify as medical marijuana. In New Jersey, which was the 14th state to make medical marijuana legal, there are only 12 illnesses that doctors are allowed to prescribe marijuana for, and that list does not include "chronic pain."

The DEA provided the names of wealthy Americans that have provided funds for various medical marijuana campaigns; the DEA says that "a few billionaires" but not "grassroots support" provide the money behind these pro-medical marijuana campaigns. Those billionaires are "George Soros, Peter Lewis, George Zimmer, and John Sperling," a group that reportedly provided $1,510,000 to the California medical marijuana initiative in 1996.

Problems Created by Marijuana Use

Psychology professor Douglas A. Bernstein writes that whether or not marijuana can be proved to be addictive, or whether it leads to other kinds of drugs, "…it can create a number of problems" (Bernstein, 2007, p. 361). Marijuana "disrupts memory formation, making it difficult to carry pout complex tasks," Bernstein explains (361). Many people believe they are more creative while using marijuana, but Bernstein says it "…actually reduces creativity" (361). Moreover, the drug affects muscle coordination so driving while using marijuana is "quite hazardous"; and in addition, motor impairment continues "long after the obvious effects of the drug have worn off" (Bernstein, 361).

For long-time regular users, Bernstein writes that "…impairments in memory and attention can persist for years after their drug use has stopped," and as to those who begin smoking marijuana in their teenage years, and get involved in heavy use of the drug, this pattern "…has been associated with the later appearance of anxiety, depression, and other natural disorders as severe as schizophrenia" (361).

The bottom line, when it comes to shoes who do not want marijuana legalized, can be summarized in four ways: a) it is addictive; b) it leads to the use of other drugs; c) the intoxicating effects of marijuana "endangers the user and other individuals"; and d) long-term marijuana use leads to undesirable behavioral changes, disruption of brain functions and other adverse effects on health" (Bernstein, 360).

In conclusion, there are many good reasons for people to argue that marijuana should be made legal. They have been reviewed in this paper. Perhaps the DEA's assertions are on shaky ground when they flatly discount the medical uses of marijuana that 18 states and the District of Columbia now allow for their citizens, but nonetheless the DEA has provided sufficient justification for its opposition to the legalization of marijuana.