I believe that marijuana should continue to remain illegal. I believe there are more benefits if marijuana is kept illegal than if it were to be legalized. I believe marijuana should remain illegal because it impacts health negatively, it can be addictive and it would negatively impact society. Although the article from John Cloud (2002) stated that Marijuana might actually be good for you, the fact is that the research isn’t available. I believe that marijuana should not be legalized until they can prove marijuana to be beneficial to society. We should not allow a substance to be freely used in society if we do not fully know the long term effects or implications the drug will have on users. If the government did legalize marijuana it would promote to the country that the government approves of using marijuana which would cause more people to use it. Too many people already abuse marijuana as it is and if it were legal there would be many more cases of marijuana abuse.
Marijuana has a vast amount of negative effects on the user’s health which is why it should continue to be illegal. Marijuana affects the body both mentally and physically. There have been a number of studies that show association between chronic marijuana use and increased rates of anxiety, depression and schizophrenia (NIDA, 2010). The strongest evidence they have found against marijuana and its mental effects is that it can cause the onset or relapse of schizophrenia in vulnerable individuals (NIDA, 2010). This shows that marijuana negatively impacts individuals mentally. A substance that is linked to triggering a disorder should not be allowed to be used freely in society.
Physically, marijuana also has many effects on the human body. It increases heart rate by twenty to one hundred percent shortly after smoking and this can last up to three hours (NIDA, 2010). This increased heart rate can lead to palpitations and arrhythmias (NIDA, 2010). This is