Pros and Cons of Marijuana Legalization Argumentative Essay

Intro

The legalization of marijuana is a very spoken topic. People have mixed feelings about legalizing marijuana. Some people think it should be completely banned while others think the opposite and that everyone should be able to use it. Although there are many people that are addicted and will go out of there way to get it. I personally think that marijuana should only be used if prescribed. It is not necessary to use it if it’s not needed. Smoking marijuana comes with many side effects, like the fact that it can have long term effects on your health and can severely affect your stature and future.

Claim 1

To begin, marijuana can severely affect your mentality. The more marijuana you take, the slower your brain works. Your reaction time becomes slower and it can also block memory formation. “Somewhere between 20 and 30 percent of recreational marijuana users react with intense anxiety after taking the drug” (Welsh). According to Welsh, marijuana users may experience psychosis or even hallucination. If you have a full time job, this can be extremely dangerous. A doctor could be taking marijuana and put someone’s life at risk by not being at their best, they could give a patient the wrong pills or even screw up during a surgery. Therefore, marijuana can have bad effects on your brain and your body.

Marijuana has many other ways of affecting your brain. Based on research from Fletcher, the THC part of the cannabis affects a part of your brain that messes with your physical attributes. Common reactions may be clumsiness, coordination, reaction time, etc. This can also put people under the impression that you are an alcoholic. So going back to the job situation. For example: Your building a house after smoking weed. The head of the construction site asks you to go nail some things in the wall and because You don’t have enough control over your actions to safely do your job,you could end up injuring yourself and or others. It can also be a huge issue on the road. If you are hallucinating while driving, or being uncoordinated, you can put yourself and others in danger. Marijuana should not be used for pleasure.

Claim 2

I also think that taking marijuana as a parent or guardian can affect the child's future. When taking marijuana, you are most likely to get high. If you are high you do not have the capability of taking care of a child. By doing that, the child isn’t getting the attention it needs, and they will slowly start to drift away and walk into their parents footsteps. They tend to start failing school and have only their parents to blame. Smoking near your kids can also make them a second-hand smoker. “But research is clear that cannabinoids, the chemicals that cause the “high,” get into the bodies of people nearby — including children” (Mcarthy). This statement proves that smoking marijuana around a person, including a child, can have the same effects as the smoker.

Claim 3

Depression, the feeling of being depressed, is one effect to the cause of smoking marijuana. According to “Smoking Cannabis Increases…”, young people who are genetically vulnerable, can develop depression symptoms. “Two-thirds of the population have the gene variant that makes one sensitive to depression” (“Smoking Cannabis Increases…”). Nowadays, depression is a very serious thing. It can lead to anxiety, stress and so on, especially if they are dopamine addicted (Jeurgens). If not treated properly, it can lead to suicide. Suicide is the tenth leading death in the United States. In other words, marijuana should only be used if prescribed and used with extreme caution.

Counterclaim

Although marijuana has many cons, it also has its pros. Marijuana can be used as pain relief and releases dopamine. Some marijuana contains indica. According to Holland, indica can treat many things such as: headaches, joint pain, neuropathy, HIV, etc. Indica can also help nausea and elevate it to a normal degree. Marijuana also releases dopamine which is what makes you feel good so that leads to it being very addictive. An example of a natural dopamine release is when you smile. You usually feel good about yourself if it isn’t a forced smile. Latest research also shows that marijuana can also stop cancer from spreading. “One chemical found in marijuana, called cannabidiol, prevents cancer from spreading” (Welsh). There are two sides to every story, you have to listen to both sides to be able to judge.

Marijuana also has many good effects. Although it can cause depression, it can also help it. People who are going through a bad time usually smoke marijuana to get the release of dopamine. Again, dopamine makes you feel good, and when depressed people can’t get dopamine naturally so they use cannabis to get it. There are also ways to not get high while using marijuana. According to Fletcher, marijuana has two compounds, CBD and THC. THC is the bad part of the cannabis that gets you high. on the other hand, CBD is the helpful part that treats many diseases. We now have the technology to be able to separate the two components. Therefore, I think that if we are to use cannabis, we should only be using the CBD part of it for medical reasons due many things being at risk to use the THC.

Conclusion

In conclusion, marijuana should only be used if prescribed by a doctor. There are many reasons to it and I have only included a few. It can severely affect your mentality,it can have a huge effect on your kids and lastly, it can cause depression. These are all very important claims that everyone should consider. On the other hand, marijuana does have its pros. It releases dopamine and makes you feel good. Marijuana can also treat many diseases. I have considered all of these topics and made my decision that marijuana should only be used if prescribed. I just think that the cons outway the pros.

Work Cited

1. Welsh, Jennifer, Dina Spector, Randy Astaiza. “The Positives and Negatives: How Marijuana Affects your brain.' thejournal.ie, 11 Jan. 2014, https://www.thejournal.ie/marijauan-health-effects-legalised-medical-negative-positve-1256236-Jan2014/. Accessed 3 Oct. 2019.
2. Leonard, Jayne. “What are the best cannabis strains for chronic pain.” MedicalNewsToday, 3 Aug. 2018, https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322051.php. Accessed 3 Oct. 2019.
3. McCarthy, Claire. “Second Hand Marijuana Smoke and Kids.” Harvard Health Publishing, 5 Jun. 2018, https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/secondhand-marijuana-smoke-and-kids-2018060514012. Accessed 3 Oct. 2019.
4. “Smoking Cannabis Increases Risk of Depression in the case of Genetic Vulnerability, Study Finds.” ScienceDaily, 13 Oct. 2011, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111010074853.htm. Accesses 3 Oct. 2019.
5. Fletcher, Jenna. “A Comparison of CBD and THC.” MedicalNewDaily, 26 Jul. 2019. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325871.php. Accessed 3 Oct. 2019.
6. Juergens, Jeffrey. “Marijuana addiction and abuse.” AddictionCenter, 16 Jul. 2018. https://www.addictioncenter.com/drugs/marijuana/. Accessed 3 Oct. 2019
7. Holland, Kimberly. “Sativa vs. Indica: What to expect across cannabis types and strains.” healthline, 8 Apr. 2019, https://www.healthline.com/health/sativa-vs-indica. Accessed 7 Oct. 2019.