Posts Tagged Legalization of Marijuana

Marijuana Legalization Gains All-Time High Support

Posted by Drug Free in Marijuana Use and Abuse on October 24th, 2011

Support for the legalization of marijuana is growing in the United States. In a new survey conducted by Gallup nationwide, 50% of the respondents agreed that marijuana should be legalized, and 46% were still against it.

The survey revealed that more younger members of the population, aged 18 to 29, were in favor of legalizing pot (65% of them) compared to those in the 65 and above age category (only 31% of the group).

marijuanaA statement from Gallup confirmed that during the Oct. 6-9 annual Crime survey for this year, participants who positively responded to the legalization of marijuana reached the all-time high record (so far) of 50%.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse has shown that more Americans choose marijuana as their preferred illegal drug. If the rates favoring marijuana legalization continue to rise, government officials will have to address the clamor and come up with solutions fast.

The record high support for pot legalization comes at a very critical time as debates between pot legalization advocates and state officials continue. In the US, there are 16 states that have approved the use of medical marijuana, and some are mulling for the decriminalization of the recreational use of marijuana.

Yet the federal government remains strong in enforcing laws against marijuana. They have already released notices that they will be going after the biggest medical marijuana industries in California.

No Comments

Risks of Marijuana Use

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Addiction, Drug Facts, Drug Rehabilitation, Drug Testing on July 31st, 2009

legalize_marijuana_main

In my earlier posting I spoke about the legalization of marijuana. But as a counselor it is my responsibility to sensitize people on the risks associated with its use. It is high time that people understand that smoking pot is not as harmless as it is thought to be.

This is specially for kids and their parents since contrary to the popular belief that marijuana is not popular among kids, the fact is the number of teens in treatment for marijuana dependency is more than that for all other illegal drugs. Teenage is the age of experimentation which might lead to addiction. Research shows that the potency of today’s marijuana is very high and is thus highly addictive. It also serves as a gateway drugs for teenagers who might gradually switch over to other extremely harmful substances like heroine, cocaine, etc.

Smoking pot has hazardous effects on the health of the smoker. Marijuana smoke destroys and leads to abnormal functioning of the lung tissue. The amount of carbon monoxide absorbed and tar inhaled is 3-5 times greater than cigarette use. Loss of motor co-ordination, increased heart rate, heightened anxiety and panic attacks are short term effects of the drug.

Marijuana also affects the brain activities. It impairs the attention, memory and learning capacities leading to poor academic performance. Pot smoking creates a trance like state which impairs judgment leading to risky decision making and involvement in unsafe behavior.

Longitudinal studies show that chronic use of the weed leads to deviant behavior patterns like aggression, delinquency, rebellious, poor relationship with parents.

Often we have found teens resorting to marijuana as a way to overcome depression. But pot can worsen the situation by increasing the level of depression and paving a path for other serious mental illnesses like schizophrenia, anxiety disorders and even suicide.

Will you still believe that marijuana is not harmful?

Be on the guard. Spread the message, save children from using marijuana.

No Comments

Should Marijuana be Legalized?

Posted by DrugFreeHomes in Drug Abuse Treatment, Drug Addiction, Drug Facts, Drug Rehabilitation on July 30th, 2009

leaf

One of the most debated topics in the recent years is should marijuana be legalized?

I happened to go through some of the comments regarding the issue and was quite baffled to find that most of the comments were in favor of the issue. The points raised by them might seem to have some significance when compared with alcohol – a substance tagged as ‘legal’ but snatching away thousands of life every year.

According to them it is due to tough marijuana laws that exist in the country several people turn towards alcohol simply to avoid the consequences of being caught. According to National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism around 35,000 people die of alcohol related disease every year. Add to this the number of death cases resulting from drunken driving. Alcohol also triggers violence which is not evident in marijuana. It also seems to be less harmful to health.

Currently billions of money is being spent on chasing marijuana users, locking them in prison and treating them in rehabilitation centres. The burden falls on the tax payers. The money saved could be used for better purposes like adopting effective preventive measures.

They argue that prohibition does not work and it failed miserably with alcohol as well. Marijuana is one of the most popular drugs amongst American high school students. It is so easily available that around 100 million Americans have tried it at least once and there are nearly 15 million habitual users. The sellers aim at making money and a person need not be 21 years to get marijuana. But in case it is legalized there will be regulations to keep it away from kids.

Apart from these marijuana has medical, industrial, agricultural and religious uses as well.

But a word of caution for those who are propagating legalization of the drug – think about them who will end up with a dependency. Will it affect his health, wealth and relationship?

No Comments