In Biology class a few days ago an interesting topic was raised. We were learning about different types of drugs, when we started talking about marijuana.
Marijuana is a mixture of dried and shredded, stems, seeds, flowers and leaves of the cannabis sativa plant. The chemical in this plant is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol. Marijuana hosts somewhere around 400 more chemicals. Its potency and amount of tetrahydrocannabinol, has increased over the years. Now days, almost 10% of all marijuana is stuffed with this deadly chemical.
Lots of people have different names for marijuana. Around these places, we mainly hear "weed" or "dope". Around urban areas you'll hear it being called everything under the sun, "herb", "pot", "Mary Jane", "reefer", "skunk", "boom", "chronic" and "ganja".
Our class went on to the issue of legalization of marijuana. It's an iffy topic. Some people think it's great to legalize it considering it provides some pain relief to medical patients. Others would say that marijuana is addictive and the current laws should remain as they are. I asked a friend on their opinion. But first, I'll give you mine.
The laws on marijuana should remain as they are - only available to those certain patients who need it... no exceptions. If marijuana became legal, even for a certain age to buy, children and adults would still abuse it. Underage drinking is no stranger to society, as alcohol is accessible to a certain age. If marijuana was restricted to a certain age, teenagers would begin to use the drug even more than some already do. It's a ridiculous thought to even allow marijuana use. That's my two cents worth.
A friend of mine said that marijuana is addictive and should not be legalized. This would promote more people to start smoking the drug, and the people who currently do, would become more addicted. He has a point - a very good one at that. Why would you legalize a drug that has so many people already addicted? There is a not too unreal fear that there could be a new generation of addicts.
But as teenagers, a large percentage of the population has smoked marijuana - once at least. Stupid to try, even more stupid to do it a second time, more and more children are beginning to light up. Why? Is it because of what they see on television and movies that exploit the drug, making it seems as though it's a fun thing to do? We never really see any television shows that depict the characters smoking a bong and then getting arrested now do we? Mostly, we see a group of teenagers sitting around a round table, baked out of their trees, laughing at one another's jokes. It seems hilarious. Right?
The reality is it's not. Congratulations to you who tried it once or twice and didn't do it again because you realized how stupid you were and how stupid it was what you were doing. Good try to those of you who know its bad, and keep doing it anyways just to feel that high again. And to those of you, who smoke it just as much as a priest goes to church, try to give it up. It's not only you who is affected, your family and friends are affected by your drug use. This is a major epidemic in society that needs to be brought to a close. The best we all can do is promote awareness and encourage our friends to quit. It's an expensive habit and it all just goes up in smoke anyways.
