Reason 4 - Blog Post 4

What Other's Might be Thinking.

One might not be getting the whole story when it comes to marijuana, since people in the average community are not well educated about it. Not many have gotten a chance to do their research on the true effects of cannabis. According to Narconon, “Memory, Learning, Perception & Problem Solving: Use of marijuana results in problems with memory a learning, distorted perception difficulty with problem-solving and impaired driving.” Others might argue as well that a person that consumes cannabis in any way shape or form becomes increasingly lazy and unproductive. Madlen Davies states in, “Cannabis DOES make you lazy”, “smokers are 'less willing to perform hard tasks after using the drug.” They did a study using rats and described how giving them certain amount of THC would affect their completion of a task they were trained to do. When doing the testing the scientists state, “'Perhaps unsurprisingly, we found that when we gave THC to these rats, they basically became cognitively lazy’, said Mason Silveira, the study's lead author and a PhD candidate in UBC's department of psychology.” Given this information many perceive to believe that marijuana has many bad effects that people don't really pay attention to, for the sake of just having it legalized.

However this argument can be easily manipulated into something it is not. Shown in the same article by Madlen Davies, they say although the rats had become more ‘lazy’ they could still complete the task they were trained to do, they just didn't want to. The average “stoner” stereotype is a lazy teen, smoking a joint, doing nothing but sitting on a couch. This stereotype once again needs to be rethought completely. Many people who live active lifestyles and have active careers smoke cannabis for whatever reason that might be. An article by Amer Lee entitled “Bleacher Buzz, 25 Elite Athletes Who Also Smoke Pot” talks about many athletes use marijuana commonly. It says, “ESPN spoke with 19 former and current players during their investigation, and it was the general consensus that as many as 40-60 percent of the team used marijuana at some point during their college careers.” Although Marijuana has some bad effects it does not come close in comparison to the side effects of other, stronger and legal pharmaceutical drugs(opioids).

Negative information on the internet, leads people to continue to believe that marijuana is not only a gateway drug to other substances, but it is a main source of addiction. This thought process is unconventional and is the reason why marijuana is still considered to be a drug and not a medicine. In the article “America’s Addiction to Opioids: Heroin and Prescription Drug Abuse”, it states “The abuse of and addiction to opioids such as heroin, morphine, and prescription pain relievers is a serious global problem that affects the health, social, and economic welfare of all societies.” Facing the fact that the medicine leading pharmacies push are statistically more addictive and harmful at the end of the day compared to Marijuana. It is hard for people to understand why doctors use the more harmful and costly remedy.

Shown in this photo above, people who are prescribed opioids for pain after a medical issue, are not easily lead off of them. Many normal people who live normal lives use or have used marijuana in the past. Recreational users who use it, mainly use it either for stress or anxiety. An article called “Marijuana 'can reduce chronic stress and depression'” by Hannah Osborne, it states “In a study looking at endocannabinoids – chemicals in the brain similar to substances found in cannabis – scientists found chronic stress it's reduced the production, which led to depression-like behaviour in animals studied.” This natural plant remedy can be very beneficial to people who suffer from common everyday stress and anxiety.           

This shows that the stereotype of a pot smoker is outdated and needs to be rethought for the future generations to come. Changing the way society perceives smokers to be in movies and television shows. Would educate children and others to understand that, just because one smokes doesn't make them a bad person that has no goals in life. A person can be an active smoker and live a healthy, happy, active life style.

Word Count: 718

Work Cited:

"America's Addiction to Opioids: Heroin and Prescription Drug Abuse." National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). N.p., 14 May 2014. Web. 09 Nov. 2016.

By Amber Lee , Sports Lists Lead Writer Apr 19, 2012. "25 Elite Athletes Who Also Smoke Pot." Bleacher Report. N.p., 07 Nov. 2016. Web. 09 Nov. 2016.

"How Marijuana Helps Relieve Stress and Anxiety." Leaf Science. N.p., 18 Mar. 2016. Web. 09 Nov. 2016.

Http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/reporters/hannah-osborne. "Marijuana 'can Reduce Chronic Stress and Depression'" International Business Times RSS. N.p., 05 Feb. 2015. Web. 09 Nov. 2016.

"Is Marijuana Bad for You?" RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2016.

MailOnline, Madlen Davies for. "Cannabis DOES Make You Lazy: Smokers Are 'less Willing to Perform Hard Tasks' after Using the Drug." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 24 Aug. 2016. Web. 09 Nov. 2016.

Reason 3 - Blog Post 3

Economic Effects Marijuana Laws Have Caused!

The regular responsible American pays their taxes every year. One entrusts their hard earned money to be distributed fairly throughout their state on improvements in the local communities. Things we see everyday but don't really appreciate quite often like, public schools, roads, social security, public protection and other benefits we should get from our taxes.

Marijuana laws in the United States have caused the government to spend one trillion dollars plus on fighting it. In an article called “Wasted Tax Dollars” it talks about how Americans’ tax money has gone to waist. Taxes have been paying for more police to waste their time in arresting people with possession of marijuana. As opposed to the real crimes out there, like theft, rape, or the use of other drugs. In an article called “Marijuana Arrests by the Numbers” it states, “Of the 8.2 million marijuana arrests between 2001 and 2010, 88% were for simply having marijuana.” The war America is having on cannabis is completely and utterly absurd. If 52 percent of drug related arrests are only marijuana related charges, then what are police forces doing about the other 48 percent?  

If it's true that, according to ACLU, “More than 50 percent of Americans Support Legalization”, then why are hard working American’s tax money being wasted on petty crimes? In the same article it says, “States can waste 3,613,969,972 dollars enforcing marijuana laws every year.” This creates many problems when it comes to wanting to save your money. The more the states try to control the common drug the more law enforcement will need to be recruited and the more tax money spent. When it's heavily enforced, more arrests and incarceration will take place and that's more tax money spent. See a pattern here? When incarcerated this leaves Americans still paying for these criminals to stay behind bars. From 2001-2010, 7 million people were arrested and processed for possession of pot.

Even people in politics like Bernie Sanders try to bring this issue to light. He has spoken about marijuana incarceration on multiple occasions. He once tweeted, “I find it strange how that the kid who smokes marijuana gets arrested but the crooks on Wall Street get off scot free.” Bernie has been a proud supporter of the legalization of marijuana nationwide for a long time, he brought light to this serious issue.  

There is a problem in the justice system, that needs to be solved. People who are against the legalization of marijuana usually don't realize the horrible economical effects that happen. With enforcements focusing on teenagers smoking a pipe doing nothing harmful, they have less time and focus to catch the real criminals in communities and major cities.       

         

                

Word Count: 468

Work Cited:

@ACLU. "Marijuana Arrests by the Numbers." American Civil Liberties Union. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2016.

Ernest-shepard. "Bernie Sanders Talks Decriminalization Of Marijuana During The Last Debate: Is It Time To Legalize Pot?" The Inquisitr News. N.p., 09 Nov. 2016. Web. 09 Nov. 2016.

"Wasted Tax Dollars." Drug Policy Alliance. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2016.

Reason 1-Blog Post 1: The “Other Option”

Many perceive cannabis as a drug, but in many ways, it can be regarded to as medicine. In 2016, it is not uncommon to meet people who smoke marijuana. The use of medical marijuana as a substitute for opiates and other drugs has become more readily available over the past few years. Cannabis can provide medical help to people with issues like, multiple sclerosis, anorexia,wasting syndrome and much more.

Cannabis is helpful in many ways; for example, according to Ted Bosworth in “For neuropathic pain, marijuana yields modest benefits,” “In a study of long-term safety led by Dr. Ware, a standardized cannabis product containing 12.5% tetrahydrocannabinol was dispensed to 215 current or prior users of marijuana with a non-cancer chronic pain syndrome (Bosworth). Followed for one year, adverse events in this group were compared with 216 control patients who also had chronic pain but were not using cannabis.” This study shows the effects of controlled patients using the leading brand of opiates as opposed to the patients who are using cannabis product containing THC levels of 12.5%. This article also shows pain levels throughout the testing and it states that, “Pain control was also monitored over the course of the study. According to Dr. Ware, average pain scores in the cannabis group fell modestly but consistently over the course of the study. Over the same period, the pain scores rose slightly in the control group.” This leaves many patients that were once opposed to the idea of legal cannabis, to believers of the true effects of the medicine. Dr. Ware has given his opinion in the article on the drug and how it is really just too late to go back to where we stood before on it. He stated, "I think we are past the point where this option can simply be ignored.” He also suggested that legalization of marijuana has fueled a growing acceptance of marijuana as a treatment option whether or not it is prescribed. According to UNODC, World Drug Report 2012, “ An estimate was done that between 26.4 million and 36 million people abuse opioids worldwide, with an estimated 2.1 million people in the United States suffering from substance use disorders related to prescription opioid pain relievers in 2012 and an estimated 467,000 addicted to heroin.” For this reason, it's necessary to examine the objective evidence to provide appropriate counseling. There is no doubt that we need to educate ourselves more about the effects of medical marijuana and have more testing done since we have been restricted on learning the truth about the drug in the past. The real question is, if it's already proven that neuropathic pain reductions (aka cannabis supplements) were characterized as being on an order similar to those achieved with opioids and anticonvulsants, Then why are most doctors and pharmacies suggesting the option of opiates and other drugs like it to the average customer, knowing the bad effects it has on the human body?     

Word Count: 505

Work Cited:

"America's Addiction to Opioids: Heroin and Prescription Drug Abuse." National Institute on

Drug Abuse (NIDA). N.p., 14 May 2014. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.

Bosworth, Ted. "For neuropathic pain, marijuana yields modest benefits." Family Practice News

1 Sept. 2016: 13+. Academic OneFile. Web. 26 Oct. 2016.