Marijuana has been a part of culture for centuries and has even been cultivated and sold by prominent members of American society. I chose the topic because of the political implications that have become an issue within the last decade and wanted to be able to make an informed decision. A more personal second reason why I chose this topic is due to personal interactions. Both I and my family have been affected by marijuana; I grew out of it and moved on with my life, but some dear to me have yet to move on and I cannot help but to inquire why. Many people have questions about the topic of marijuana regarding legality, effects, long term effects, and why is it so controversial? With that in mind I had several questions I wanted answered when I picked my topic.
For the most part, my questions with this topic were so: Why is it that some people who use marijuana seem to become addicted even though studies have found the drug to be non-habit forming? Is there a certain type of people who just have extremely addictive personalities, or are just pre-genetically disposed to addiction? Another question I asked was if a seemingly large majority of America wants to legalize marijuana and heavily regulate it, what would be the negative and positive outcomes of this for our people and our economy? With previously stating that some people become addicted to things much faster than others; what would happen if marijuana was legal for everyone? With very high prices for marijuana what would the possibility be for taxation if marijuana were legal? Would legalization of marijuana dramatically reduce the price and therefore diminish the possibility of taxing the substance with success? There are no tell all sources, or gifted physic that can predict our future or answer every question, and not all of these questions can be answered lest congress, the Food and Drug Administration, Drug Enforcement Administration, and all other presiding entities change their minds about marijuana tomorrow.
Several things discovered during the research process were, that some people despite the use of non-habit forming substances develop a mental addiction to the substance. The reason that marijuana has never been legalized or recognized by the FDA as having any kind of medical uses is because the subject is so politically supercharged that few dare to dabble in any aspect of it. Some presidents and politicians have had pro-marijuana stances, but due to scandal and political issues recanted, or simply dropped the subject. With so much controversy there is endless speculation as to what would happen if marijuana became legal; however, there is no way to discern what is correct or plausible.
Hu et al. "College students and use of K2: an emerging drug of abuse in young persons." Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy 6.16 (2011): n.pag. EBSCO. Web. 2 May 2012. .
This study was conducted by Xingdi Hu, Brian A Primack, Tracey E Barnett, and Robert L Cook to determine the prevalence of use of the new designer drug known as “Spice” or K2 in a sample of college students. The group warns health care professionals and medical care takers to monitor young people who use these types of synthetic marijuana over extended periods of time for unknown long term side effects. The group also states that highest usage percentage is in adolescent males in their first and second years of college. The intended audience of this study is decision makers in school systems, health board members, college deans, private health care physicians, insurance agencies, and policy makers for educational groups both non-profit and for profit. The purpose of the study is to give clear warnings to health care providers and educational advisors on these new legal designer drugs. These drugs are very new to the market and have no studies to determine long or short term health effects; although these
