Chris Segal
Assistant Perspectives Editor
A few years back at a family gathering, my sister’s boyfriend called me a hypocrite for telling him the disadvantages a.k.a. the side effects of taking ecstasy. I have never done an illegal drug and, according to him, if I wanted to understand what I was preaching, I needed to shut up and shoot up.
Sadly to say, I never developed a drug habit. This gentleman, on the other hand, was arrested while on his bicycle for drug possession. Go figure.
That being established, I may not be qualified to share my knowledge on marijuana, but I am going to do it anyways, because I am not in jail.
Marijuana has been around for a few years; a form of marijuana has been dated back to 6000 B.C. in China. Marijuana has been used for medicine and as a fiber in China, India, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, South Africa and South America.
Marijuana has been used for centuries, so why is it illegal while tobacco and alcohol are not? Because in 1970, the Controlled Substance Act was passed, which classified marijuana in the same group as heroin and LSD as a “Scheduled I” drug, meaning marijuana had high abuse potential and no accepted medical use. Medicinal marijuana must not have been factored into the decision.
However, like it or not, marijuana is illegal.
A study from the Drug Enforcement Agency shows that “marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug” and that “at least one-third of Americans have used marijuana sometime in their lives.”
In the 1960s, college students and “hippies” used marijuana in the United States. The drug became a symbol of rebellion against authority. To this day there have been no deaths from a marijuana overdose. Those rebellious college students and “hippies” of the 60s appear to have no long-term damage from their pot smoking.
The only downside, or positive aspect however you want to look at it, is that today’s marijuana is more potent. Tetrahydrocannabinol, THC, is the active ingredient in marijuana. Thirty years ago the average THC level was less than 1 percent.
In current varieties of marijuana the average THC level is more than 6 percent. It could be nothing, or, it could cause some trouble down the road.
Marijuana is not as harmless as it may appear. There are 50 to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons in marijuana smoke than tobacco smoke.
Using marijuana may promote lung cancer, cancer of the respiratory tract or hinder your immune system. Smoking marijuana can bring on that annoying cold or lead to cancer, just like tobacco.
The British Lung Foundation found that smoking a marijuana joint is equivalent to smoking 20 cigarettes.
Marijuana is one of the least addictive drugs; alcohol and tobacco can be much more addictive. However, for many people, marijuana is far more psychologically addicting.
There has been some dissent over marijuana being a “gateway” drug. The DEA wants everyone to know that drugs are dangerous and illegal. Most people who use marijuana move onto harder and more addicting drugs, which is statistically true.
The Harvard Medical Journal on the other hand has reported that there is nothing inherent in marijuana that would cause users to move to harder drugs.
The truth of the matter is that with Americans spending more than $10.6 billion on marijuana in 1999 alone, drugs are a business. A business with users overdosing and going to prison, not much job security for the dealers.
Most marijuana smokers do not also double as growers. This gateway theory picks up momentum when drugs are looked at as an industry.
Dealers make large quantities of money by selling expensive drugs to addicted users. Marijuana is relatively cheap and not terribly addicting. What is the best way for dealers to stay in business or increase their profits?
Dealers have been known to create more high-paying customers by sprinkling a little sample of ketamine, ecstasy or methamphetamines unknown to the user into their marijuana.
These new drugs can be addicting on the first try, but more likely they peak the interest of the marijuana user. This is an explanation of how marijuana can be a gateway drug. Marijuana can lead to other harder drug usage.
This information is important because, as the DEA admits, a third of the population will partake in marijuana during their lives. There will most likely be no long-term side effects from moderate use other than possible jail time if caught.
Should marijuana be illegal? Probably not, but the fact remains that it is. There are consequences for your actions, so choose wisely if you are going to break a law or experiment with something new.
2-10-2005