Legalize Marijuanna
I’m speaking in affirmation of a bill to legalize marijuana. Marijuana should be legalized for recreational use for anyone above the age of 18. I will not be speaking on the reasons that are more regularly debated like the positive effect legalization would have on the economy, or the medical benefits. Instead, I will be speaking on why we, as citizens, are being deprived of our rights by marijuana being illegal. Tobacco and alcohol are legal and have more severe effects on society than marijuana. The government and authority figures have mislead the public for years with lies about the effects of marijuana. I’m here to speak about the truth of marijuana and how it does not cause harm to the general public.
In 1974 when President Ronald Reagan launched a war on drugs, he produced a study called the Dr. Heath/Tulane Study. This study proved that marijuana can kill brain cells. This study then became the government’s foundation for why marijuana is harmful. After years of asking how the study was conducted, the methods were finally brought to the public. Dr. Heath pumped the strength of 63 joints into a monkey in five minutes. In doing so, what he really did was suffocate the monkeys. When the brain is cut off from oxygen for more than 4 minutes there is going to be brain damage. Studies since have proven that marijuana causes no such brain damage. In fact a study published by Xia Zhang at the University of Saskatchewan states that marijuana use may actually stimulate brain cells, and thus, increasing your ability to learn. Another study recently proved that long term use of marijuanna doesn’t cause any brain damage at all.(Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research Center at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine).
Another common belief of marijuana is that it causes lung cancer. In the 1999 study by the Institute of Medicine, which was paid for by the government, the study had to use words like “may” and “should” cause cancer.
In 1974 when President Ronald Reagan launched a war on drugs, he produced a study called the Dr. Heath/Tulane Study. This study proved that marijuana can kill brain cells. This study then became the government’s foundation for why marijuana is harmful. After years of asking how the study was conducted, the methods were finally brought to the public. Dr. Heath pumped the strength of 63 joints into a monkey in five minutes. In doing so, what he really did was suffocate the monkeys. When the brain is cut off from oxygen for more than 4 minutes there is going to be brain damage. Studies since have proven that marijuana causes no such brain damage. In fact a study published by Xia Zhang at the University of Saskatchewan states that marijuana use may actually stimulate brain cells, and thus, increasing your ability to learn. Another study recently proved that long term use of marijuanna doesn’t cause any brain damage at all.(Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research Center at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine).
Another common belief of marijuana is that it causes lung cancer. In the 1999 study by the Institute of Medicine, which was paid for by the government, the study had to use words like “may” and “should” cause cancer.