Long Term Cannabis Use Causes Brain Damage example essay topic

Legalize Marijuana The myths about marijuana are endless and almost all are, false. Over the years people have come to believe many things about how marijuana affects your body and mind. Many other people believe that marijuana is more harmful then tobacco. People believe that "pot" kills the brain cells in the parietal lobe and the cerebellum. The brain is almost completely unharmed in the smoking of cannabis. Another rumor is about how your body reacts to the cannabis in your system and the harm that it causes.

The affects are actually very interesting in that cannabis has been found on multiple occasions to actually strengthen your immune system and help fight off and viruses in your body. The deaths credited to cigarettes are staggering, the deaths attributed to marijuana are non-existent. "July 1, 2003 -- Long-term and even daily marijuana use doesn't appear to cause permanent brain damage, adding to evidence that it can be a safe and effective treatment for a wide range of diseases, say researchers. The researchers found only a 'very small' impairment in memory and learning among long-term marijuana users. Otherwise, scores on thinking tests were similar to those who don't smoke marijuana, according to a new analysis of 15 previous studies. In those studies, some 700 regular marijuana users were compared with 484 non-users on various aspects of brain function -- including reaction time, language and motor skills, reasoning ability, memory, and the ability to learn new information.

'We were somewhat surprised by our finding, especially since there's been a controversy for some years on whether long-term cannabis use causes brain damage,' says lead researcher and psychiatrist Igor Grant, MD". (WebMD Medical News) The more studies that doctors do show more of the same, marijuana is a safe and in some cases an affective treatment to some serious illnesses. The majority of people who say that cannabis is a hazard to the brain got that idea from the 1974 study by Dr. Robert Heath. These studies have been highly criticized by the American Medical Association and also Journal of the American Medical Association.

They criticized the amount of monkey's used in the study (four) and also the misidentification of a normal monkey's brain structure. So if marijuana has no harm to the brain, while alcohol which ranges from simple "slips" in memory to permanent and debilitating conditions that require lifetime custodial care. And even moderate drinking leads to short-term impairment. So alcohol is perfectly legal and marijuana isn't? Where is the sense in that? So we have proven that smoking of cannabis is not a hazard to the brain, but the government must have other reasons for the prohibition of cannabis.

Rumors that cannabis is horrible to the reproductive system and that it also suppresses the immune system are both the theories of Dr. Gabriel Nahas and his 1980's experimentation. Dr. Nahas experimented with tissue isolated in petri dishes and dosed animals with near-lethal amounts of cannabinoids (intoxicating part of marijuana). These studies have all been rejected by the scientific community and his study which first showed a shut down in the reproductive systems and immune systems, were proven inaccurate when every animal returned to normal within 20 days of the intoxication. After the truth came out on these studies, a few other doctors did another study on the immune system and the affects cannabis has on it. The studies were done in 1978 and 1988, and they both reveled the same information, an average dose of cannabis in the human system stimulated the immune system. The exact opposite of Dr. Nahas and his original studies.

So we now know that marijuana does nothing to hurt our brains and makes our bodies stronger against disease, but we can't get this natural plant because it's illegal, why? "Each year, a staggering 440,000 people die in the US from tobacco use. Nearly 1 of every 5 deaths is related to smoking. Cigarettes kill more Americans than alcohol, car accidents, suicide, AIDS, homicide, and illegal drugs combined".

(American Cancer Society) Cigarettes kill millions and people harvest tobacco the same way as a marijuana plant. There are only two main differences between cigarettes, and marijuana. Marijuana is illegal and kills right around 440,000% less people then cigarettes each year. The final reason for legalization is for financial benefit, for the government. Each year the government earns over $200 million in tobacco tax revenue, and marijuana could be taxed in the identical manor.

There are over 20 million know marijuana users in the United States (lansing police) and they would all want to buy the government plant. Willing pay the extra tax, just like cigarette users do. So the government would now receive tax money from the people who smoke cannabis, would not have to spend any more money on the drug war against marijuana, and take the business out of marijuana drug dealers. Marijuana is not directly related to any deaths in the United States, it is a great way to fight off minor illness, and is the best way a person can forget about stress and relax.

The benefits of legalization of marijuana are endless and the reasons to continue the prohibition on cannabis are minimal. So why does the government continue to refuse the American society of a safe and rewarding substance? YOUR GUESS IS AS GOOD AS MINE!