Vasile Goldis Western University of Arad [624380]

“Vasile Goldis” Western University of Arad
Faculty of Medicine
General Medicine, 2nd year, 1st semester
Student: [anonimizat]: Jurca Elena -Simona

Should marijuana/drugs be legalized?

Marijuana (grass, pot, and weed) is a dry shredded green and brown
mixture of stems, leaves .seeds and flowers which comes from the hemp plant
Cannabis sativa. Marijuana is composed of hundreds of chemical substances,
many of which have not been investigated. The main psycho -altering
pharmacologic ingredient, known as Delta -9-tetradydrocannabinol (THC), is
thought to act directly on cannabanoid receptors, while interacting with multiple
others, incl uding opioid, benzodiazepine, GABAergic and dopaminergic
receptors. The psychodynamic effects on perception, cognition, and memory,
may range from a feeling of euphoria and relaxation to difficulty concentrating,
impaired thinking, and altered problem -solving. Heavy users may experience
panic attacks, hallucinations, and depression. Some imaging studies have
documented a smaller brain volume in chronic users. [1]
Marijuana smoke consists of multiple chemicals and carcinogens,
contributing to a more direct, toxic effect on lungs than cigarette smoke.
Although marijuana can be eaten, inhaled or consumed as a liquid, once it is
absorbed THC has a long half -life. It remains in the body for several weeks,
exerting pharmacodynamics effects for a prolonged time. [1]
Marijuana may pose risks to users across the lifespan. Pregnant women
who ingest or inhale marijuana jeopardize the development of their fetus’s brain,
with their children at risk for poor learning and attention deficits. The
widespread a vailability of marijuana in high schools exposes adolescents to the
deleterious cognitive effects of THC at a time when their brains are still
developing. The use of marijuana in adolescence may lead to dependence and
addiction in young adulthood, particul arly in genetically predisposed
individuals. [1]
Until the impact of ingesting or inhaling a drug on one’s physical and
emotional health is known, it is premature to consider legalization. While
legalization should be opposed, decriminalization of the possession and use of

“Vasile Goldis” Western University of Arad
Faculty of Medicine
General Medicine, 2nd year, 1st semester
Student: [anonimizat]: Jurca Elena -Simona

marijuana must be enacted. We need to educate individuals about the harmful
health effects of marijuana, not jail or criminalize them.[1]
Although illegal, Marijuana is the most commonly abused drug in the
United Sta tes. Although legal in 10 states, medical marijuana has now been
relegated to the control of the federal government. Medical marijuana is not
considered an effective pain reliever. Former US Surgeon General Jocelyn
Elders, said it perfectly; "The evidence is overwhelming that marijuana can
relieve certain types of pain, nausea, vomiting and other symptoms caused by
such illnesses as multiple sclerosis, cancer and AIDS – or by the harsh drugs
sometimes used to treat them. And it can do so with remarkable s afety. Indeed,
marijuana is less toxic than many of the drugs that physicians prescribe every
day." [2]
Throughout recent years there has been endless arguments on whether
marijuana should remain illegal or in fact become be legalized. Research s hows
that although marijuana can be linked to serious side effects the result of
legalizing the popular drug could do endless effects for our economy. Marijuana
is the largest cash crop produced in the US and nearly 69 million Americans
over the age of 12 have tried marijuana at least once in their lifetime.[2]
It has also been on record that people smoke because of social pressures
or because they feel that it relaxes them and clears there worries. Alcohol and
other similar drugs are known to ha ve the same effects of clearing away ones
problems and worries. However marijuana has no documented deaths while the
legal drug such as alcohol has about 85,000 deaths annually. Based on the data it
seems that marijuana should be the legal drug because of the less dangerous and
life threatening effects. But this isn’t the case; alcohol is legal while cannabis is
banned. Not everyone agrees with the law about marijuana being illegal and thus
brought up a valid question, Should marijuana be legalized. [3]
Altogether, it is evident that marijuana has a lot of medical use and hence it
should be legalization. Furthermore, there are several dangerous products than
marijuana such as cigarettes and alcohol, which are legal, and hence the
proponents of le galization of marijuana term the law to the unjust. On the other
hand, it has been suggested that marijuana, in its natural form, is one of the
safest therapeutically active substance known to man and hence it can be used

“Vasile Goldis” Western University of Arad
Faculty of Medicine
General Medicine, 2nd year, 1st semester
Student Name: Jurca Elena -Simona

within a supervised routine of medical care . Likewise, statistic show that
cigarette smoking and abuse of alcohol is harmful to a person health and many
deaths have been associated with the use of these two substances but extreme
smoking of marijuana only makes a person sleep. Therefore , there is a need of
legalizing marijuana because when it is compared with alcohol and cigarettes,
which is legal, marijuana is less fatal. According to research that was carried out
by the American Medical Association, they indicated that the only confirm ed
negative effect of marijuana is caused by smoking it, since it contains three
times more tar and five times more c arbon monoxide than tobacco. [3]
In conclusion, it is evident that the advantages of legalizing the substance
outweigh the disadvantages of legalizing it and hence there is a need of
legalizing it. Furthermore, it is evident that marijuana has many uses especially
medicinal uses and hence it is important to legalize it. Nonetheless, since there is
no tangible evident showing t hat the use of marijuana causes death and it is not
physically addictive like cigarettes and alcohol, I believe that it is high time for
it to be legalized. Altogether, the issue of marijuana being an illegal substance
does not have any form of validity a nd hence it should be legalized but its use
should be somehow controlled. The critics against the legalization of marijuana
argue that it is wrong for the legalization of marijuana due to a number of
reasons. In the first place, they argue that by legalizi ng marijuana, crime rates
will increase since a lot of criminal who have been caught in other criminal
offences tend to use this drug.

“Vasile Goldis” Western University of Arad
Faculty of Medicine
General Medicine, 2nd year, 1st semester
Student Name: Jurca Elena -Simona

Bibliography:
1. https://www.npjournal.org/article/S1555 -4155(16)30757 -7/pdf
2. Saffer, James. „ The Effect of Marijuana Decriminalization ”, Londra:
WW Norton Publishers, 2006.
3. Stampp, Legalization of Marijuana. 7th ed. New York: Addison Wesley,
2006.