...In Japan the use of marijuana is illegal and highly punishable. In the United States the use of marijuana is illegal as well; although, the punishment is merely a misdemeanor or short a jail stay. According to Smith (2008), “Under Japan's Cannabis Control Law, possession of even small amounts of marijuana can garner a five-year prison sentence, and selling it can earn up to seven years” (para. 4). A survey conducted in San Francisco, California, revealed the percentage of respondents who used cannabis or marijuana throughout different countries. The number of respondents who currently used or had used in the United States resulted a 42% use rate, Germany was at an 18% use rate, whereas Japan had a surprising use rate of 1.5%. Some places throughout the United States have legalized marijuana for medical use only, but the Japanese culture only used it for making robes for the Buddhist, monk, and sumo wrestler loincloths. Japanese once viewed marijuana as a very scary and dangerous drug but the use of it has increased drastically within recent years, resulting in several drug busts and arrests. Marijuana.com (1995-2011) announced, “Japan doesn't consider marijuana to be a "soft" drug. Penalties for possession and sale are the same as for heroin. An ounce of weed in Japan costs $2,000. That should give you some idea how dangerous it is to possess it there: price follows risk” (para. 1). The use of marijuana in Japan can ruin ones reputation because it represents a level of disrespect...
Words: 462 - Pages: 2
...LEGALIZATION OF MARIJUANA FOR MEDICAL USES The legalization of marijuana for medical purposes has been questionable for many years, and it has been an active debate in the United States even up to now, with many different issues on which people have many different opinions. There is opposition to the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes because it has the potential to be used incorrectly, however it is also considered that there is the potential for marijuana to be used in relieving the suffering of many seriously ill patients. Marijuana has been used by people for thousands of years to provide relief from many different serious medical problems. For thousands of years marijuana was not only legal, it was a common crop. It is only in the past ninety years or so that marijuana has been found to be not only unusable, but also harmful and extremely illegal in some States in America (Blaszczak, 2014) .Up to now 23 states in America have legalized marijuana for medical uses, each state has its own regulations to control details such as allowable quantities and registration requirements (State by state marijuana law, 2015). However, the debate on the legalization of its medical uses is still going on in the rest of the states in America. Marijuana is defined as a shredded, green-brown mix of dried flowers, stems, and leaves from the plant named Cannabis sativa. Marijuana has been used as an agent for achieving a feeling of intense excitement and happiness since ancient...
Words: 1182 - Pages: 5
... 11/01/2014 Marijuana legalization Many people suggest that legalization of marijuana would lead to greater drug use especially with children. Drug trafficking will increase and violent crimes as well. There could be more users than ever before and could create more pressure on law officials to keep our streets safe. It’s really sad to note that drug dealers, who live out in the cities have no alternative but to find real jobs in order to live. I believe that crime could possibly increase, however, over time it would decrease once society and law officials adapt to the legalization. I say this because tobacco and alcohol cause enough problems and there is a strong possibility that marijuana could be added into the mix. Many arguments are made about the legalization of marijuana and I do agree that drugs other than marijuana should be kept illegal. Although marijuana legalization in the United States may have some complications, but if consumption could somehow be controlled, it would drastically reduce crime in our cities. In order to clarify, I will provide you truth a few marijuana misconceptions. Marijuana causes no known brain damage short or long term. THC is not addictive unlike any other illegal substance. THC only temporarily causes memory loss of current events. THC is known to make people less aggressive so less likely to be violent or to cause crime. I have not witnessed or heard of anyone overdosing and dying from marijuana use, so I don’t really understand...
Words: 534 - Pages: 3
...The American Medical Association (AMA) makes claim the use of marijuana is a dangerous drug and as such is a public health concern and that the sale of marijuana should not be legalized. The report shows where the American Medical Association makes several statement to the public that the American people need to be on the side of science and oppose efforts to expand marijuana use and addiction. They also state, “There is no current scientific evidence that marijuana is in any way beneficial for the treatment of any psychiatric disorder. This article offers no substantial information in regards to how harmful the drug really is. (Sabet, 2013) If the drug offer no scientific evidence of beneficial properties, than and they cannot offer any substantial information on how harmful the drug really is, than why not legalize it for adult consumption. Here is one piece of evidence of beneficial properties that the report does not show, there has yet to be a single case where a person has overdosed from the consumption of marijuana. This fact alone shows that the use of marijuana over conventional alcohol has its benefits. Although, marijuana use does have some sort term dangers. Some discomforts from the use of smoking marijuana include dry mouth, dry eyes, increased heart rate and visible sign of intoxication. Others problems include impaired short term memory, difficult thinking and problem solving, anxiety, paranoia, impaired muscle coordination, increased susceptibility to infections...
Words: 434 - Pages: 2
...Mark Holder 3/04/2015 Texas History 2306 Legalizing The Use of Marijuana in Texas To Be or Not To Be There is always a big debate over the legalization of recreational use of the commonly known all natural drug marijuana. In my opinion the debate stems from the stigma that has always been associated with marijuana use. That stigma, unto which was onset in the early 1960’s from the “ Hippy” generation has carried over into modern day, thus making the use of weed, marijuana, gongja. Reefer, or chronic as a substance that is destined to lead you to destruction. It would be easy for me to reference a lot of different resources when addressing this subject, but since I have so much hands on experience in the use of cannabis, I will start with myself and my history of the use of marijuana and why I feel like it should be legalized. My use of marijuana started at the age of 12. It was at a point in my life as to choose which side of peer pressure that I would submit to. I initially tried cigarettes, as a matter of fact a variety of brands, none to which I can actually say suited my taste. My first experience with marijuana took me to a place of calmness. My biggest fear of my first smoke was “What are the side effects?”. Needless to say my side effects were tolerable very to me, and damaging to any ones kitchen that I was in, because I was extremely hungry and very inquisitive, during mediocre conversations. This is a brief summary of my personal...
Words: 1303 - Pages: 6
...this the most rewarding use of marijuana? Would the development of a medical marijuana industry prove more beneficial to Jamaica? Would the decriminalization of marijuana in order for such an industry to be enacted be economically viable? Other questions to ask ourselves are, what is Decriminalization and how would decriminalization of marijuana help with enacting a medical marijuana industry? According to the Merriam-Webster decriminalization means “to remove or reduce the criminal classification or status of; especially: to repeal a strict ban on while keeping under some form of regulation”. Marijuana currently is a banned drug in Jamaica and for Jamaica to develop a medical marijuana industry which would therefore means large scale production of the drug for scientific research and medicine production. The drug would have to be legalized on a certain level to facilitate such. Note in the above definition for decriminalization it made mention of the drug being kept under some form of regulation which for this research basically means certain punitive usage of the drug would still be rendered as illegal. The scope of this research paper will cover areas such as, the economic state of the country and its ability to facilitate and withstand such an industry, the illicit use of the drug, implementations of stringent control measures and use of the substance, inabilities to export due to certain treaty and acts and the negative effects of the recreational use of the drug. With the...
Words: 1628 - Pages: 7
...Period 1 3/12/2012 Legalization of Marijuana Should marijuana be legalized? There is currently a debate regarding whether Marijuana should be legalized. Marijuana should be legal in the U.S. This is because there has been a lot of automobile crashes and even deaths. This is all under the influence of alcohol while others are smoking weed and with that it decreases the deaths and the crashes there is. In order to solve this issue of legalizing Marijuana, there should be a law passed. The first reason that Marijuana should be legalize is because it drops in deadly crashes, this is under the influence of alcohol. And it’s tested that when your high there is a less percentage of crashing. According to the article “Medical pot tied to safer roads” Legalization of Marijuana” “is associated with nearly 9 percent decrease in traffic fatalities. Most likely as a result of its important and alcohol consumed by young adults”. This shows that the author suggest that they should put a law, because with the alcohol and the drunk driving has killed a lot of people and has caused a lot of damage as well other people are smoking weed and the traffic in fatalities has decrease a 9 percent in its car accidents. This shows that while you’re under the influence of alcohol there are more possibilities to crash then while been high and driving. As a conclusion there should be a law passes about medical Marijuana. The second reason that “Marijuana should be legalized” is because cancer...
Words: 581 - Pages: 3
...faced by health care today. One of them is legalizing recreational use of marijuana. According to Patterson (2013), in United States, there are currently 20 states and the District of Columbia approves marijuana use for medical purposes. However, on November of 2012, the states of Colorado and Washington became the first two states that pass the law for legalizing marijuana for recreational use (Patterson, 2013). Meaning, it is legal for anyone at the age of 21 and older to purchase and possess marijuana under one ounce and consume it in a private location. It is also legal for Colorado residents to grow marijuana in their private home for personal use of up to six plants with the restriction that only three out of six plants may flower simultaneously (Patterson, 2013). * This legality poses an ethical concern to public health due to the health and safety aspects of marijuana usage. Desai and Patel (2013) stated that there have been testimonies from patients claiming that marijuana relieves pain, nausea, tremors, epilepsy, and cancer but none of the research results can prove its benefits are greater than its risk (p.136). Desai and Patel (2013) further stated that Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) properly categorized Marijuana under scheduled I of the Controlled Substance Act, meaning drugs under this list have currently no proven acceptable medical use and are high for potential abuse (p. 136). Marijuana also does not meet Food Drug administration (FDA) standards and therefore...
Words: 813 - Pages: 4
...Final Project Marijuana Use Is Harmful Mariah Di Toto 4/20/2014 CRT 205 Source #1 Title and Citation: Marijuana Use is Harmful This article is convincing readers that marijuana use is harmful for your memory, coordination and respiratory functions. It is also found to raise the risks of heart attacks, cancer and addiction. The only areas that seem to be vague is where this article starts talking about the effects of marijuana, and not explaining how much it takes before it effects you in those ways. Also how long a person has to be a marijuana user in order for these long term effects to actually start to arise. They seem to not know exactly what the long-term effects on the brain are, but says it effects your memory. Their finding seems to be inconsistent, so their argument for saying it is actually bad for your memory can’t actually be proven 100%. I do find this source to be credible based off of the information that is given. This article is broken up into sections that talk about the main effects of marijuana usage. It lists statistics throughout the article and studies that have been conducted. However, I do believe they are only taking one side where marijuana can be useful in a lot of cases not mentioned here. It isn’t all negatives when it comes to marijuana usage. I do not believe that any rhetorical devices were used by this author. The author stuck to simple details and studies, and did not go on exaggerating or relating...
Words: 1033 - Pages: 5
...Marijuana Use and Its Effects WebMD: Better information. Better health. Marijuana Use and Its Effects Marijuana, which comes from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa, is the most frequently used illegal drug in the U.S. About 4% of American adults smoke pot at least once a year. Roughly 1% of adults abuse pot, and one in 300 have a pot addiction. Most people smoke the plant's dried leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds. But marijuana also can be mixed into food or brewed as a tea. Marijuana goes by many street names, including pot, weed, and herb. Hash, a concentrated form of the drug, is short for hashish. The rates of marijuana smoking in adults have remained stable since the 1990s. However, the rates of addiction to pot have risen significantly over that same period. And, according to recent government studies, as many as 30% of today's teenagers are smoking marijuana. Occasional marijuana use is rarely seriously harmful, but smoking pot has important medical effects. Physiological Effects of Marijuana The active ingredient in marijuana is THC. That's short for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol. THC is rapidly absorbed after smoking pot. Within minutes, THC and the other substances in marijuana smoke cause short-term medical effects. Signs of using marijuana include: Rapid heart rate Increased blood pressure Increased rate of breathing Red eyes Dry mouth Increased appetite, or "the munchies" Slowed reaction time These effects are reduced after three...
Words: 712 - Pages: 3
...The Negative Affect of Marijuana Use Com/172 09/18/12 Dr. Chris Feriante The Negative Affect of Marijuana Use Most people never think about the consequences of using a controlled substance, for the most part people tend to believe they are in control of their usage and can stop any time they feel like it. Consequently controlled substance lives up to its title, and ultimately takes control of your life. One day you may feel like you are on top of the world and the next day you will realize you have lost everything. Unfortunately when you turn your life over to a controlled substance you lose the ability to quite when you want and may find that you have now become addicted to the drug that has been abused. The use of a controlled substance such as marijuana can cause a negative impact on a person’s finances, social relations and personal health. The use of marijuana has adverse affects on a person’s ability to accomplish complex as well as simple task that may be required by ones employer. These effects according to the ”Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute” can include , impaired thinking, loss of balance and coordination, decreased concentration, decreased alertness and a decrease in reaction time, all of which will cause an employer to terminate an employee for the work place. Unfortunately once an employee has been terminated due to illegal use of marijuana it becomes very difficult to obtain employment which leads to loss of wages and eventually...
Words: 1484 - Pages: 6
...to believe that the use of drugs and alcohol can inhibit psychological maturity and growth. A study to see whether this statement is true was conducted quite recently. Researchers already knew that the use marijuana can cause poor decision making and make some people have permanent dopamine level control problems. Researchers also knew that the level of maturity can depend on how adolescence deal with everyday problems. When anybody deals with their problems by avoiding them with drugs, the problem itself is never solved. The participants in the study were over 1100 male juvenile delinquents ranging in ages from 14 to 17. The study was done by interviewing the teens with a series of questions and situations. When a teen would answer a question with an inappropriate mindset, for example showing true feelings of wanting to give up on a project or wanting to get in fight when angry, the answers would curve the results to a negative maturity level. There was a based maturity level set in the form of a graph ranging from -.04 up to .08. In each graph the levels of maturity decreased with the use of both marijuana and alcohol. The steadiest incline of maturity decrease was the later onset of drug use in adolescence. The results of the study clearly showed that there was a direct correlation between the use the use of marijuana and alcohol and declination of male maturity. This is mainly because of drugs lasting effects on the brain with prolonged use. As stated in our text...
Words: 613 - Pages: 3
...There is no reason for marijuana not to be legal. Why or why not should weed be legalized? Individuals deserve the right to make choices for themselves, while the government only has the right to limit those choices if the individual’s actions endanger another. | Coffee is addictive. Every morning, all across America, there are people (many of them idling in their cars at a drive-thru) getting java. What happens when these people do not get their coffee on time and as anticipated? Other than a little irritability, not much happens. People seem trustable enough to drink coffee, even though that behavior often results in a life-long addiction. Tobacco is addictive. Every moment of every day and night, all across America, there are people smoking tobacco. What happens when these "smokers" do not get to light up their cigarettes on time and as anticipated? Other than a lot of irritability, not much happens. Despite the enormous number of tobacco-related deaths each year, adults are nevertheless trusted to moderate their private use of tobacco. Alcohol is addictive. Usually in the evening, but not always, there are people all across America drinking alcohol. What happens when these people do not get their alcohol on time and as anticipated? Well, depending upon the individual's level of past alcohol use, there are varying degrees of negative consequences associated with alcohol withdrawal, e.g., headache, loss of appetite, and even seizures in extreme cases. Despite the...
Words: 1348 - Pages: 6
...Argumentative Writing Rubric 9-10 | Advanced | Proficient | Basic | Not Yet | Claim: The text introduces a clear, arguable claim that can be supported by reasons and evidence. | The text introduces a compelling claim that is clearly arguable and takes a purposeful position on an issue. The text has a structure and organization that is carefully crafted to support the claim. | The text introduces a precise claim that is clearly arguable and takes an identifiable position on an issue. The text has an effective structure and organization that is aligned with the claim. | The text introduces a claim that is arguable and takes a position. The text has a structure and organization that is aligned with the claim. | The text contains an unclear or emerging claim that suggests a vague position. The text attempts a structure and organization to support the position. | Development: The text provides sufficient data and evidence to back up the claim as well as a conclusion that supports the argument. | The text provides convincing and relevant data and evidence to back up the claim and effectively addresses counterclaims. The conclusion strengthens the claim and evidence. | The text provides sufficient and relevant data and evidence to back up the claim and addresses counterclaims fairly. The conclusion effectively reinforces the claim and evidence. | The text provides sufficient data and evidence to back up the claim and addresses counterclaims. The conclusion ties to the claim and...
Words: 668 - Pages: 3
...| February 24, 2011 | | Team ASkylar BennettThermon V. Ratliff, Jr.Jan RobertsRichard “Rusty” Wheeler | The Pros and Cons of Marijuana for Medical Use A Brief Discussion of the Topic Team A has chosen the topic The Pros and Cons of Marijuana for Medical Use. Is marijuana even a viable medical option? We have discussed going several different directions with the topic. We will try to include sub-topics such as: * Smoked vs. non-smoked marijuana for medical value * Medical marijuana in public policy * The risks of marijuana for medical purposes including: * Actual medical risks * Is it a gateway or a stepping stone for hard core drugs? * Possible addiction beyond the medical use * Governmental views on marijuana as a medical option * How a patient would gain access to medical marijuana * Who might be allowed to distribute marijuana: * How would it be prescribed by physicians * Control of the growing, production, distribution of the product for prescription disbursement There are so many different avenues of this topic that we have only begun to discuss how we might present this topic to the class. We are sure that we will keep an open mind and not convey the team members’ opinions. We want the audience to develop their own opinions and viewpoints on this topic. Discuss causes for the situation. What factors have led to the problem as it exists? What are the historical roots of the issue? Who are the major stakeholders...
Words: 1615 - Pages: 7
