essay on why weed is bad

March 1, 2024

Is Marijuana Bad for Health? Here’s What We Know So Far

Marijuana’s health impacts—good and bad—are coming into focus

By Jesse Greenspan

Cappi Thompson/Getty Images

With decades of legal and social opprobrium fading fast, marijuana has become an extremely popular commercial product with more than 48 million users across the U.S. Health concerns, once exaggerated, now often seem to be downplayed or overlooked. For example, pregnant patients “often tell me they had no idea there's any risk,” says University of Utah obstetrician Torri Metz, lead author of a recent paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association on cannabis and adverse pregnancy outcomes.

Fortunately, legal reforms are also gradually making it easier to study marijuana's health effects by giving U.S. scientists more access to the drug and a wider population of users to study. Although much research remains in “early stages,” the number of studies has finally been increasing, says Tiffany Sanchez, an environmental health scientist at Columbia University. As new results accumulate, they offer a long-overdue update on what science really knows about the drug.

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In addition to minor side effects that many users joke about—such as short-term memory loss—recent studies have linked marijuana to adverse health outcomes involving the lungs, heart, brain and gonads. For example, heavy marijuana consumption seems to increase the risk of clogged arteries and heart failure , and it may impact male fertility . Smoking weed likewise can lead to chronic bronchitis and other respiratory ailments (although, unlike tobacco, it hasn't been definitively tied to lung cancer). And cannabis plants hyperaccumulate metal pollutants, such as lead, which Sanchez found can enter users' bloodstreams .

Developing adolescent brains, particularly those predisposed to mental illness, may be most at risk from overconsumption. Although psychiatric effects are hotly debated , studies suggest that heavy weed use exacerbates—or may trigger— schizophrenia , psychosis and depression in youths and that it affects behavior and academic performance. “From a safety viewpoint, young people should definitely stay away from it,” says University of Ottawa psychiatrist Marco Solmi, lead author of a recent review of cannabis and health in the British Medical Journal .

24 states have legalized recreational marijuana, with 38 allowing medical use

Moreover, the drug can cross over to fetuses during pregnancy. Several studies have linked it to low birth weights , and researchers suspect it raises the likelihood of neonatal intensive care unit admissions and stillbirths . Some cannabis dispensaries have advertised their products as a cure for morning sickness, but Metz emphasizes that safer alternatives exist.

Of course, many adults use marijuana responsibly for pleasure and relaxation. Unlike with, say, opioids, there's effectively zero risk of life-threatening overdose. Plus, “people get addicted with tobacco way faster,” says Columbia University epidemiologist Silvia Martins, who studies substance use and related laws.

Cannabis, and its derivatives, also may help alleviate pain—although some researchers contend that it performs little better than a placebo . It may also decrease chemotherapy-induced nausea, calm epileptic seizures , ease the symptoms of multiple sclerosis and serve as a sleep aid .

Recent studies have hinted that the drug might slightly reduce opioid dependency rates, although this, too, is disputed . There's some evidence that weed users tend to be more empathetic , and researchers found that elderly mice get a mental boost from the drug. Still, experts caution against self-medicating: “You should ask your doctor,” Solmi says.

Some of the recent research into marijuana is more lighthearted. One study, for instance, found that, just like people, nematode worms dosed with cannabis get the munchies .

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Know the Risks of Marijuana

Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal substance in the U.S. and its use is growing. Marijuana use among all adult age groups, both sexes, and pregnant women is going up. At the same time, the perception of how harmful marijuana use can be is declining. Increasingly, young people today do not consider marijuana use a risky behavior.

But there are real risks for people who use marijuana, especially youth and young adults, and women who are pregnant or nursing. Today’s marijuana is stronger than ever before. People can and do become addicted to marijuana.

Approximately 1 in 10 people who use marijuana will become addicted. When they start before age 18, the rate of addiction rises to 1 in 6.

Marijuana Risks

Marijuana use can have negative and long-term effects:

Marijuana and Pregnancy

Marijuana use during pregnancy can be harmful to a baby’s health and cause many serious problems.

What is Your Marijuana IQ?

How much do you really want to know about the risks of marijuana? You might be surprised.

Marijuana Addiction

Contrary to popular belief, marijuana is addictive. Research shows that:

• 1-in-6 people who start using the drug before the age of 18 can become addicted.
• 1-in-10 adults who use the drug can become addicted.

Over the past few decades, the amount of THC in marijuana has steadily climbed; today's marijuana has three times the concentration of THC compared to 25 years ago. The higher the THC amount, the stronger the effects on the brain—likely contributing to increased rates of marijuana-related emergency room visits. While there is no research yet on how higher potency affects the long-term risks of marijuana use, more THC is likely to lead to higher rates of dependency and addiction.

About Marijuana

Marijuana refers to the dried leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds from the Cannabis sativa or Cannabis indica plant. Marijuana is a psychoactive drug that contains close to 500 chemicals, including THC, a mind-altering compound that causes harmful health effects.

People smoke marijuana in hand-rolled cigarettes, in pipes or water pipes, in blunts, and by using vaporizers that pull THC from the marijuana. Marijuana can also be mixed in food (edibles), such as brownies, cookies, and candy, or brewed as a tea. People also smoke or eat different forms of marijuana extracts, which deliver a large amount of THC and can be potentially more dangerous.

Rise of Marijuana Use

Today, marijuana use is on the rise among all adult age groups, both sexes, and pregnant women. People ages 18-25 have the highest rate of use.

Marijuana and THC remain illegal at the federal level, even though many states have legalized its use. In states where legal, marijuana is a fast-growing industry with sales to individuals over 21 in retail stores, wineries, breweries, coffee shops, dispensaries, online, as well as grown at home.

Get the Files

» View and share the following marijuana videos and resources

Video: Marijuana Use while Pregnant or Breastfeeding

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7 Ways Marijuana Can Affect Your Brain Health (PDF | 901 KB)

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If you, or someone you know, need help to stop using substances – whether the problem is methamphetamine, alcohol or another drug – call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) or TTY: 1-800-487-4889 , or text your zip code to  435748 (HELP4U), or use the SAMHSA’s Behavioral Health Treatment Services Locator to get help.

References and Relevant Resources

• Find Treatment
• Technology Transfer Centers (TTC) Program marijuana resources
• Tips for Teens: Marijuana
• Changes in Cannabis Potency over the Last Two Decades (1995-2014) - Analysis of Current Data in the United States: National Center for Biotechnology Information
• Does Marijuana Use Affect Driving? | NIDA
• Drug Facts: Marijuana | NIDA
• Drug Facts: Marijuana | United States Drug Enforcement Administration
• Early-Onset, Regular Cannabis Use Is Linked to IQ Decline | NIDA
• Is Marijuana Addictive? | NIDA
• National Survey on Drug Use and Health | SAMHSA
• Marijuana and Public Health | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Marijuana: Facts for Teens | NIDA
• Marijuana: Is there a Link Between Marijuana Use and Psychiatric Disorders? | NIDA
• The Contribution of Cannabis Use to Variation in the Incidence of Psychotic Disorder Across Europe | The Lancet

Last Updated: 06/06/2024

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The Evidence—and Lack Thereof—About Cannabis

Research is still needed on cannabis’s risks and benefits. 

Lindsay Smith Rogers

Although the use and possession of cannabis is illegal under federal law, medicinal and recreational cannabis use has become increasingly widespread.

Thirty-eight states and Washington, D.C., have legalized medical cannabis, while 23 states and D.C. have legalized recreational use. Cannabis legalization has benefits, such as removing the product from the illegal market so it can be taxed and regulated, but science is still trying to catch up as social norms evolve and different products become available. 

In this Q&A, adapted from the August 25 episode of Public Health On Call , Lindsay Smith Rogers talks with Johannes Thrul, PhD, MS , associate professor of Mental Health , about cannabis as medicine, potential risks involved with its use, and what research is showing about its safety and efficacy. 

Do you think medicinal cannabis paved the way for legalization of recreational use?

The momentum has been clear for a few years now. California was the first to legalize it for medical reasons [in 1996]. Washington and Colorado were the first states to legalize recreational use back in 2012. You see one state after another changing their laws, and over time, you see a change in social norms. It's clear from the national surveys that people are becoming more and more in favor of cannabis legalization. That started with medical use, and has now continued into recreational use.

But there is a murky differentiation between medical and recreational cannabis. I think a lot of people are using cannabis to self-medicate. It's not like a medication you get prescribed for a very narrow symptom or a specific disease. Anyone with a medical cannabis prescription, or who meets the age limit for recreational cannabis, can purchase it. Then what they use it for is really all over the place—maybe because it makes them feel good, or because it helps them deal with certain symptoms, diseases, and disorders.

Does cannabis have viable medicinal uses?

The evidence is mixed at this point. There hasn’t been a lot of funding going into testing cannabis in a rigorous way. There is more evidence for certain indications than for others, like CBD for seizures—one of the first indications that cannabis was approved for. And THC has been used effectively for things like nausea and appetite for people with cancer.

There are other indications where the evidence is a lot more mixed. For example, pain—one of the main reasons that people report for using cannabis. When we talk to patients, they say cannabis improved their quality of life. In the big studies that have been done so far, there are some indications from animal models that cannabis might help [with pain]. When we look at human studies, it's very much a mixed bag. 

And, when we say cannabis, in a way it's a misnomer because cannabis is so many things. We have different cannabinoids and different concentrations of different cannabinoids. The main cannabinoids that are being studied are THC and CBD, but there are dozens of other minor cannabinoids and terpenes in cannabis products, all of varying concentrations. And then you also have a lot of different routes of administration available. You can smoke, vape, take edibles, use tinctures and topicals. When you think about the explosion of all of the different combinations of different products and different routes of administration, it tells you how complicated it gets to study this in a rigorous way. You almost need a randomized trial for every single one of those and then for every single indication.

What do we know about the risks of marijuana use?  

Cannabis use disorder is a legitimate disorder in the DSM. There are, unfortunately, a lot of people who develop a problematic use of cannabis. We know there are risks for mental health consequences. The evidence is probably the strongest that if you have a family history of psychosis or schizophrenia, using cannabis early in adolescence is not the best idea. We know cannabis can trigger psychotic symptoms and potentially longer lasting problems with psychosis and schizophrenia. 

It is hard to study, because you also don't know if people are medicating early negative symptoms of schizophrenia. They wouldn't necessarily have a diagnosis yet, but maybe cannabis helps them to deal with negative symptoms, and then they develop psychosis. There is also some evidence that there could be something going on with the impact of cannabis on the developing brain that could prime you to be at greater risk of using other substances later down the road, or finding the use of other substances more reinforcing. 

What benefits do you see to legalization?

When we look at the public health landscape and the effect of legislation, in this case legalization, one of the big benefits is taking cannabis out of the underground illegal market. Taking cannabis out of that particular space is a great idea. You're taking it out of the illegal market and giving it to legitimate businesses where there is going to be oversight and testing of products, so you know what you're getting. And these products undergo quality control and are labeled. Those labels so far are a bit variable, but at least we're getting there. If you're picking up cannabis at the street corner, you have no idea what's in it. 

And we know that drug laws in general have been used to criminalize communities of color and minorities. Legalizing cannabis [can help] reduce the overpolicing of these populations.

What big questions about cannabis would you most like to see answered?

We know there are certain, most-often-mentioned conditions that people are already using medical cannabis for: pain, insomnia, anxiety, and PTSD. We really need to improve the evidence base for those. I think clinical trials for different cannabis products for those conditions are warranted.

Another question is, now that the states are getting more tax revenue from cannabis sales, what are they doing with that money? If you look at tobacco legislation, for example, certain states have required that those funds get used for research on those particular issues. To me, that would be a very good use of the tax revenue that is now coming in. We know, for example, that there’s a lot more tax revenue now that Maryland has legalized recreational use. Maryland could really step up here and help provide some of that evidence.

Are there studies looking into the risks you mentioned?

Large national studies are done every year or every other year to collect data, so we already have a pretty good sense of the prevalence of cannabis use disorder. Obviously, we'll keep tracking that to see if those numbers increase, for example, in states that are legalizing. But, you wouldn't necessarily expect to see an uptick in cannabis use disorder a month after legalization. The evidence from states that have legalized it has not demonstrated that we might all of a sudden see an increase in psychosis or in cannabis use disorder. This happens slowly over time with a change in social norms and availability, and potentially also with a change in marketing. And, with increasing use of an addictive substance, you will see over time a potential increase in problematic use and then also an increase in use disorder.

If you're interested in seeing if cannabis is right for you, is this something you can talk to your doctor about?

I think your mileage may vary there with how much your doctor is comfortable and knows about it. It's still relatively fringe. That will very much depend on who you talk to. But I think as providers and professionals, everybody needs to learn more about this, because patients are going to ask no matter what.

Lindsay Smith Rogers, MA, is the producer of the Public Health On Call podcast , an editor for Expert Insights , and the director of content strategy for the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

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Humanity has been acquainted with drugs for arguably thousands of years. Alcohol, hallucinogens and psychedelics, opioids, various chemical compounds invented not so long ago—these are just some of the substances that have been used and abused all over the world, in different cultures, and for different reasons. For instance, hallucinogenic mushrooms and plants were—and still are—used in shamanism, or for religious ceremonies. Alcohol was an almost indispensable attribute for the majority of social events, starting with feasts at kings’ palaces and ending up with village weddings. Cocaine was once a prescribed medicine that could be legally purchased in a drug store.

Things have changed over the course of centuries. Today, there are perhaps little-to-no people who would not know about the negative effects drugs can have on physical and mental health; at the same time, there are many of those who experiment with drugs, especially in adolescence. One of the most common substances teenagers start (and fortunately, finish) their acquaintance with psychoactive substances is marijuana. Relatively cheap, relaxing, and tolerated in many countries all over the world, it alters a user’s consciousness to a greater extent than alcohol or nicotine. In fact, marijuana is so popular that medical institutions of different countries invest money in research, studying the positive and negative effects of cannabis. So far, we can witness the wave of justification: scientists, physicians, and politicians claim that marijuana is an almost-safe drug, the negative effects of which are so insignificant that they are not worth considering. All this information is widely published on the Internet and other media, causing larger amounts of people to get introduced to smoking pot.

However, it is not that simple. As any psychoactive substance, marijuana contains chemicals that affect the brain; as these chemicals are not innate to the human body (no one is born with THC or CBD in their brains), they can—and sometimes do—disturb the subtle balance of biochemical reactions in a way that can be harmful to an individual. Although this perspective has not been too popular currently, let us take a closer look at what harm marijuana can do anyways.

What are the short-term effects of smoking marijuana? What does a high look like? Users report that when being under the effect of the drug, they most often experience an altered sense of time: some feel like it passes slowly, whereas others can miss out large periods of time. Decreased reactions are often followed by slow speech and thinking. A marijuana smoker can forget what they were about to say in the middle of a sentence, or what happened to them a minute ago. Many people tend to feel drowsy and/or sleepy—in fact, marijuana can act as a soporific. Marijuana often causes relaxed mood, and makes almost everything look funny. This is why people laugh so hard when they are under marijuana high. Also, cannabis users report altered senses and perception: they tend to perceive colors and sounds more vividly, become more sensitive and moody ( MedicalMarijuana, Inc ).

It is said that the regular use of marijuana does not impair one’s health, and numerous research studies support this claim. However, there are also not-so-popular studies that prove the opposite: marijuana can be harmful. This is especially fair in the case of teenagers. When a young person, whose brain has not yet fully formed physiologically uses marijuana regularly, it can affect the ways in which the brain builds connections between its areas responsible for memory, concentration, and learning. Whereas people who started smoking pot as adults rarely feel negative mental health effects, for those who were introduced to cannabis as a teenager, the situation is different. For example, a recent study conducted in Duke University, New Zealand, has proved that those who started heavily smoking marijuana as teenagers and developed an addiction lost on average eight IQ points during the period between their 13 and 38 years. In other words, an early exposure to marijuana can make you less intelligent, in a long-term perspective. Moreover, lost mental capabilities do not seem to regenerate on a full scale even after test subjects quit smoking marijuana. Those who started smoking pot as adults had no such problems, but it may be the lack of detailed research ( National Institute on Drug Abuse ).

Even though marijuana is often consumed as an antidepressant, it is known to worsen mental disorder symptoms—at least in a short-term perspective. In particular, the drug can make a person paranoid, suspicious, or depressed. It can also cause mental conditions such as schizophrenia to become worse. At the same time, it is true that marijuana can make depression symptoms lighter, so it is fair to say that its effects of mental health are complex, and cannot be unequivocally labelled as positive or negative. What is for sure, though, is that marijuana can damage one’s lungs: regularly consuming this drug can cause respiratory problems such as bronchitis, inflammations, and chronic cough—although these effects are still not as severe as when smoking tobacco ( MedicalMarijuana, Inc ).

Moreover, the usage of marijuana is not recommended to pregnant women. This warning may look superfluous, as everyone is supposed to know that future mothers should avoid all kinds of substances in order to not cause harm to a child, but in fact, more and more women expecting a child are starting to smoke marijuana, as a 2016 JAMA study states. Exposing an unborn baby to marijuana can cause them severe health problems; in particular, it is known that babies whose mothers smoked marijuana during pregnancy had low birth weight, anemia, and impaired impulse control. They also had attention and memory problems ( Health.com ).

As it can be seen, marijuana is not as harmless as it is widely believed nowadays. Although its negative health effects can be subtle for those who started smoking it as an adult, for younger users, it can have a number of negative side effects—impaired cognitive capabilities, for example. Marijuana can also cause or worsen symptoms of several mental disorders, and is especially dangerous for unborn babies, in case if a women smoke it during pregnancy. Overall, it can be said that the risks of smoking marijuana outweigh its benefits.

Works Cited

“Side Effects of Marijuana.” Medical Marijuana , Inc., 26 Jan. 2018, www.medicalmarijuanainc.com/side-effects-marijuana/.

“Marijuana.” National Institute on Drug Abuse , Feb. 2018, www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana.

“10 Things to Know About Pot and Your Health.” Health.com , www.health.com/pain/marijuana-benefits-risks.

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Pros and Cons of Legalizing Marijuana

• Legalization Pros
• Scientific Evidence

The pros and cons of legalizing marijuana are still being debated. Today, 38 U.S. states and the District of Columbia allow for the medical use of marijuana. A growing number allow recreational use.

However, as a Schedule I controlled substance, marijuana is illegal under federal law. This Drug Enforcement Administration designation means that marijuana is considered to have "no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse." It also limits medical studies into the potential benefits of cannabis .

This article explains the positions of those who want to legalize marijuana as well as the arguments of those who do not want to see marijuana legalized.

The Pros of Legalizing Marijuana

Americans overwhelmingly support the legalization of marijuana. In fact, according to the Pew Research Center, 88% of Americans support legalizing marijuana. Of those, 59% say it should be legal for medical and recreational use, and 30% say it should be legal for medical reasons only.

Several possible health benefits of medical marijuana have been proposed:

• Nausea : Marijuana is effective in relieving nausea and vomiting. Studies have shown that cannabis can decrease nausea caused by chemotherapy and almost eliminate vomiting.
• Spasticity : Marijuana can relieve pain and spasticity associated with multiple sclerosis.
• Appetite : Marijuana can help treat appetite loss associated with conditions like  HIV/AIDS and certain types of cancers.
• Chronic pain : Marijuana can relieve certain types of chronic pain, including neuropathic pain, which is caused by nerve damage.

Arguments in favor of using medical marijuana include:

• It's safer : Marijuana is safer than some other medications prescribed to treat pain. For example, some people may use it instead of opioids for pain management. Opioids are highly addictive and are typically not recommended for long-term use in treating chronic pain.
• You can use it in many ways : You do not need to smoke cannabis for its benefits. Products such as topical pain relief treatments, edibles, and other non-smoking applications are now available.
• It's natural : People have used marijuana for centuries as a natural medicinal agent with good results.

Recreational Marijuana

Marijuana is legal for recreational use in 20 states and the District of Columbia. In 20 other states, marijuana has been decriminalized. This means there are no criminal penalties in these states for minor marijuana-related offenses like possession of small amounts or cultivation for personal use.

The Cons of Legalizing Marijuana

Those who oppose the legalization of marijuana point to the health risks of the drug, including:

• Memory issues : Frequent marijuana use may seriously affect your short-term memory.
• Cognition problems : Frequent use can impair your cognitive (thinking) abilities.
• Lung damage : Smoking anything, whether it's tobacco or marijuana, can damage your lung tissue. In addition, smoking marijuana could increase the risk of lung cancer .
• Abuse : Marijuana carries a risk of abuse and addiction.
• Accidents : Marijuana use impairs driving skills and increases the risk for car collisions.

The fact that the federal government groups it in the same category as drugs like heroin, LSD, and ecstasy is reason enough to keep it illegal, some say. As Schedule I drugs are defined by having no accepted value, legalization could give users the wrong impression about where research on the drug stands.

Scientific Evidence Remains Limited

In the past, clinical trials to to determine if marijuana is effective in treating certain conditions have been restrictive and limited. However, as medical marijuana becomes more common throughout the world, researchers are doing more studies.

Expert reviews of current research continue to say more studies are needed. In addition, many hurdles involve controlling the quality and dosing of cannabis with what is legally available to researchers.

One review of research noted that the long-term effects of cannabis are still unknown. Without more research into dosage and adverse effects, scientific evidence of risks and therapeutic effects remains soft.

Researchers need to evaluate marijuana using the same standards as other medications to understand whether it is valuable for managing any conditions.

Until the federal government downgrades marijuana from a Schedule I drug, widespread clinical trials are unlikely to happen in the United States.

Medical marijuana is increasingly available in the U.S. It is often used to treat chronic pain, muscle spasms, nausea, and vomiting, and to increase appetite. However, it can affect thinking and memory, and increase the risk of accidents, plus smoking it may harm the lungs and lead to cancer.

More studies are needed to understand the benefits of medical marijuana. However, unless the federal government removes it as a Schedule I controlled substance, research, access, and legality will remain complicated.

National Conference of State Legislatures. State medical marijuana laws .

United States Drug Enforcement Administration. Drug scheduling .

Pew Research Center. Americans overwhelmingly say marijuana should be legal for recreational or medical use .

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Filippini G, Lasserson TJ, Dwan K, et al. Cannabis and cannabinoids for people with multiple sclerosis . Cochrane Database Syst Rev . 2019;2019(10):CD013444. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD013444

American Cancer Society. Marijuana and Cancer .

Hill KP. Medical marijuana for treatment of chronic pain and other medical and psychiatric problems: A clinical review . JAMA. 2015;313(24):2474-83. doi:10.1001/jama.2015.6199

Choo EK, Feldstein Ewing SW, Lovejoy TI. Opioids out, cannabis in: Negotiating the unknowns in patient care for chronic pain . JAMA . 2016;316(17):1763-1764. doi:10.1001/jama.2016.13677

Corroon J, Sexton M, Bradley R. Indications and administration practices amongst medical cannabis healthcare providers: a cross-sectional survey . BMC Fam Pract. 2019;20(1):174. doi:10.1186/s12875-019-1059-8

The Council of State Governments. State approaches to marijuana policy .

Harvard Health Publishing, Harvard Medical School. The Effects of Marijuana on your Memory .

Ghasemiesfe M, Barrow B, Leonard S, Keyhani S, Korenstein D. Association between marijuana use and risk of cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis . JAMA Netw Open. 2019;2(11):e1916318. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.16318

Preuss U, Huestis M, Schneider M et al. Cannabis use and car crashes: A review . Front Psychiatry . 2021;12. doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2021.643315

Deshpande A, Mailis-Gagnon A, Zoheiry N, Lakha SF. Efficacy and adverse effects of medical marijuana for chronic noncancer pain: Systematic review of randomized controlled trials . Can Fam Physician. 2015;61(8):e372-81.

Hill KP, Palastro MD, Johnson B, Ditre JW. Cannabis and pain: a clinical review .  Cannabis Cannabinoid Res . 2017;2(1):96-104. doi:10.1089/can.2017.0017

Maida V, Daeninck PJ. A user's guide to cannabinoid therapies in oncology . Curr Oncol. 2016;23(6):398-406. doi:10.3747/co.23.3487

Meier MH, Caspi A, Cerdá M, et al. Associations between cannabis use and physical health problems in early midlife: A longitudinal comparison of persistent cannabis vs tobacco users. JAMA Psychiatry. 2016;73(7):731-40. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2016.0637

By Angela Morrow, RN Angela Morrow, RN, BSN, CHPN, is a certified hospice and palliative care nurse.

Cannabis and the Mission of Higher Education

By  Jon Porter

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In our collective national consciousness, we as a society are becoming quite comfortable with the notion of legalized recreational cannabis. For the most part, we have decided that it’s safe, as reflected in the decline of American high school seniors who perceive great risk in regular marijuana use from 58 percent in 2005 to 31.9 percent in 2015. So it’s not surprising that legalization of cannabis has gained traction at the state level. On Election Day, ballot initiatives legalizing the recreational use of cannabis passed in California, Maine, Massachusetts and Nevada; these states join Alaska, Colorado, the District of Columbia, Oregon and Washington.

On one hand, such developments have very little to do with the policies of most institutions of higher education. In order to comply with the law, institutions that receive federal funding will still need to prohibit the possession of cannabis on their campuses. But on the other hand, if we in higher education are willing to go deeper on this issue, these developments afford colleges and universities the opportunity to clearly articulate the misalignment between regular cannabis use by students and our core institutional mission to fully engage them in intellectual and extracurricular life.

The fact is that regular cannabis use places students at substantially higher risk for impaired mental health, dependence and blunted academic engagement and achievement -- outcomes that are at direct odds with the mission of higher education. Indeed, such use has the potential to adversely impact the trajectory of their personal happiness and productivity for years after college.

Beyond the serious public health concerns associated with acute cannabis impairment, related primarily to operation of a motor vehicle, an emerging body of scientific literature outlines important findings related to the function of the brain -- findings that deserve the serious attention of faculty members, administrators and students. Central to that work is a new appreciation of the highly dynamic nature of brain development during the teenage and young adult years, a process involving the creation of new neural circuits and the pruning of others that is driven by both experiential and genetic forces. It has become apparent that cannabis can adversely impact that development seriously, and this is particularly true when use is regular and/or started at an early age.

With regard to the mental health of our students, the literature highlights disturbing associations between regular cannabis use and the development of psychosis, anxiety and depression. Psychotic events are uncommon but regular occurrences in the traditional college-age population, and as one would expect, have devastating and long-term impacts on both the individual and the family system. Anxiety and depressive disorder, while perhaps less dramatic in presentation, often results in a blunted ability to engage effectively in academic life and to function at one’s potential.

Beyond all this, regular cannabis use impairs cognitive function. Among the impacts noted in the literature is a long-term erosion of executive function, an array of cognitive skills that help us discern important from superfluous information, prioritize tasks, and organize and carry out our day. Each of those outcomes appear to be dose dependent (more likely with regular use) and more likely to occur with earlier age at first use.

The addictive potential of cannabis is an undersold and rarely discussed issue -- one that is all too real for those afflicted. Cannabis use disorder (CUD), a clinical diagnosis arrived at when use results in dysfunction in one or more of life’s arenas -- school, work or interpersonal relationships -- is a real and underappreciated risk of regular use. A 2008 study using face-to-face interviews of more than 1,200 first-year college students noted a 9.7 percent prevalence of CUD among all first-year students and 24.5 percent prevalence among students who reported any use in the preceding year. Recovery from CUD takes years, including a typically prolonged period of time when use is having an adverse, but not yet recognized, impact on a person’s quality of life and performance.

Of significant note, the studies raising concerns about use have been conducted during an era when the potency of cannabis (measured in the percentage of its active ingredient, delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol) has increased tremendously. Between 1993 and 2008, the potency of cannabis confiscated by law enforcement authorities grew from 3.4 to 8.8 percent . Preparations exceeding 80 percent are now readily available to consumers in states with legalized recreational use (as well as in states that have not legalized recreation use). It is quite likely that the associations between regular cannabis use and the impairments of mental health and cognitive function noted in studies over the past decade will strengthen as new studies enroll subjects who have used more potent cannabis. At this point in time, we simply don’t know how cannabis preparations as potent as those now available will affect the function of the cerebral cortex at the cellular level.

As a higher education community, our thinking about cannabis is at a point where our perceptions regarding the risks of high-risk drinking were decades ago. Not perceiving its serious downsides, we are inclined to accept and even normalize use in consonance with the views of broader society and set a bar far too low.

We have the opportunity to take a very different approach and seize a crucial leadership position in two ways. First, against a rising societal tide of acceptance, we can take it upon ourselves to clearly understand the hazards posed by regular cannabis use to the mental health and to the well-being of our students -- and ultimately to their ability to optimize their engagement in academic and extracurricular life in the process of actualizing their potential. Medical and mental-health service leaders must actively engage this issue to ensure that campus leadership, students, faculty members and student affairs professionals have a common understanding about the insidious downsides of regular use.

Second, senior institutional leadership must clearly articulate the risks it poses to student engagement and the success to every constituency of their learning community. Presidents, provosts, deans and chairs must be clear and consistent in communicating the disconnect between regular use, optimal performance and attainment of the most robust learning environment possible.

Of crucial note, this is not an issue of right or wrong that institutions can meaningfully resolve though prohibition or sanction. The most effective approaches will be those that help students achieve clarity about their goals for this time in their lives -- goals regarding the development of their intellect, their relationship to others and their understanding of the broader world -- and provide them the means to think critically and act effectively in making decisions about what role they want cannabis (along with alcohol and other substances) to play in their journey.

In the final analysis, this is work situated at the very core of our mission in higher education. But it’s work that we can’t do if we passively accept the broader societal messaging about the harmlessness of cannabis. Because of our stake in the healthy development of young minds, we are called to be better informed and more nuanced in our approach to mitigating its impact on our students and our mission.

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Greenfield Community College leaders prematurely ended a partnership with a DEI consulting firm that issued a highly

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Negative Effects of Marijuana Use on the Body and Brain

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Introduction

Immediate effects of marijuana use, distorted perception:, loss of coordination:, increased heart rate and blood pressure:.

Trouble with Thinking and Problem-Solving:

Problems with memory and learning:, long-term effects of marijuana use, impact on driving skills:, cognitive decline:, respiratory health risks:, cancer risk:, additional health concerns, prenatal effects:, immune system impairment:.

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Home — Essay Samples — Law, Crime & Punishment — Marijuana Legalization — Why Marijuana Should Be Legalized and Its Benefits

Why Marijuana Should Be Legalized and Its Benefits

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Published: Jan 30, 2024

Words: 1013 | Pages: 2 | 6 min read

Introduction

• American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). (n.d.). The War on Marijuana in Black and White. Retrieved from https://www.aclu.org/report/report-war-marijuana-black-and-white
• Drug Policy Alliance. (n.d.). Marijuana Arrests by the Numbers. Retrieved from https://www.drugpolicy.org/resource/marijuana-arrests-numbers
• Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). (2014). Medical Cannabis Laws and Opioid Analgesic Overdose Mortality in the United States, 1999-2010. Retrieved from https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/1897424
• Leafly. (2020). Cannabis Jobs Report 2020. Retrieved from https://d3atagt0rnqk7k.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/07123735/Leafly-Jobs-Report-2020.pdf
• National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). (2021). Marijuana Research Report. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana
• Tax Foundation. (2016). The Budgetary Effects of Ending Drug Prohibition. Retrieved from https://taxfoundation.org/budgetary-effects-ending-drug-prohibition

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Minor and Major Arguments on Legalization of Marijuana Essay

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Minor argument

Major argument.

Conlusion : Marijuana should not be legalised.

Premises 1 : If marijuana were to be legalized it would be impossible to regulate its’ sell to, and use by the minors. It would set free, the bounds that exist on the transit of the drug, making it reach the intended and unintended places including possession by children. The use of the drug by minors on the other hand has devastating effects.

Premises 2 : legalization increases the use of the drug for non-medical reasons. Legalization increases the circulation in the society which means that those who are to use it for reactional purposes are also getting it at increased rates than when it is illegal. The increased use for non-medical reasons means more abuse in the society (White, 2009).

Premises 3: Marijuana use has long-term adverse medical effects. Legalization the legalization would mean that the country was allowing the citizens be exposed to these conditions when it was possible to control such through having it remain illegal (Vick, 2010).

Premise 4 : Even when used for medical reasons, Marijuana still has side effects which need to be avoided through not legalizing it. They include destabilized thinking.

Premise 5 : With legal marijuana, deviancy cases will increase. Marijuana has been directly related to crime. With it being legalized, the impact is that crime will rise.

Support: As Govier (2010) identifies, “Marijuana should not be legalized. That’s because sustained use of marijuana worsens a person’s memory, and nothing that adversely affects one’s mental abilities should be legalized”. According to Govier (2010), the medical harms of marijuana outweigh its medical benefits.

Lepore (1985) states, “Marijuana should not be legalized because of its side effects!!” According to Lepore (1985), “Marijuana weakens the adrenal glands”, and displaces a vitamin called L-glutamine. The loss of L-glutamine, according to Lepore (1985), makes one have a hampered thinking.

A survey by U.S Department of Justice (1992), identified that 80 percent of the American population believe “it was a bad idea” to legalize and only “14% said it was a good idea”. As Peck and Dolch (2001) state, Marijuana use in a case study caused a boy to, “ran away from home a couple of times, vandalize buildings, and stole things”. As the authors believe, such use distorts the normal behavior of the citizens thus a loss especially from the most active category of the youth.

Conlusion: marijuana should be legalized.

Premise 1 : Marijuana remaining illegal is against the constitutional rights of people. According to the constitution, citizen posses the right to chose what they do as liberty bestowed on them by the constitution. Not legalizing it makes it that the government was controlling their liberty thus defining what they can do not do with their own lives.

Premise 2: Some people are prescribed to use marijuana as a medication to their medical conditions. Making marijuana illegal is denying them a right to the use of this substance as a medicine. This is inhumane because for some the unavailability of marijuana due to its being illegal means they have to suffer pains (Cantor & Berkowitz, 1984).

Premise 3: Having marijuana as illegal is an act of discrimination. It discriminates the minority who are the citizens and users of the drug. This discrimination leads to branding and name calling on this category and thus an act which continues and fuels deviancy in society.

Premise 4: Marijuana being illegal causes legal battles which lead to waste of security and law enforcement resources. With this quality, the police units are engaged in constant struggles called drug wars. This reduces the number of police who can be engaged in other meaningful security activities aimed at protecting citizens.

Support: Rosenthal, Kubby and Newhart (2003) state, “ the damage to the mental health of millions of Americans as a result of arrest, incarceration, loss of property, and humiliation are far more serious than any medical damage ever reported from the use of marijuana” as Rosenthal, Kubby and Newhart (2003) believe, marijuana’s use for medical reasons is a valid reason why it has to be legalized because for these categories, denying them through having it illegal is like denying then a drug they cannot live without.

As Rosenthal, Kubby and Newhart (2003) believe too, the millions who depend on marijuana for medical and non-medical reasons should not be made to suffer further loses through the court procedures they are put to.

Study done by Flowers (1999) reveled that, “1 in 10 respondents believed use of marijuana should be legal. Nearly 49 percent felt that marijuana should be legal by prescription for medical purposes, while over 13 percent believed marijuana use should be decriminalized”

Cantor, N., & Berkowitz, L. (1984). Theorizing in social psychology: Special topics . Orlando: Academic Press.

Flowers, R. B. (1999). Drugs, alcohol and criminality in American society . Jefferson, NC: McFarland.

Govier, T. (2010). A practical study of argument . Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.

Lepore, D. (1985). The ultimate healing system: Breakthrough in nutrition, Kinesiology and holistic healing techniques: course manual . Pleasant Grove, Utah: Woodland Pub.

Rosenthal, E., Kubby, S., & Newhart, S. (2003). Why marijuana should be legal . Philadelphia: Running Press.

U.S Department of Justice (1992). Drugs, Crime, and the Justice System . New York: DIANE Publishing.

Peck, D. L., & Dolch, N. A. (2001). Extraordinary behavior: A case study approach to understanding social problems . Westport, Conn: Praeger.

Vick, D. (2010). Drugs & Alcohol in the 21st Century: Theory, Behavior, & Policy . NY: Jones & Bartlett Learning.

White, J. E. (2009). Contemporary moral problems . Australia: Thomson Wadsworth.

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Legalizing Marijuana Is a Big Mistake

By Ross Douthat

Opinion Columnist

Of all the ways to win a culture war, the smoothest is to just make the other side seem hopelessly uncool. So it’s been with the march of marijuana legalization: There have been moral arguments about the excesses of the drug war and medical arguments about the potential benefits of pot, but the vibe of the whole debate has pitted the chill against the uptight, the cool against the square, the relaxed future against the Principal Skinners of the past.

As support for legalization has climbed, commanding a two-thirds majority in recent polling , any contrary argument has come to feel a bit futile, and even modest cavils are couched in an apologetic and defensive style. Of course I don’t question the right to get high, but perhaps the pervasive smell of weed in our cities is a bit unfortunate …? I’m not a narc or anything, but maybe New York City doesn’t need quite so many unlicensed pot dealers …?

All of this means that it will take a long time for conventional wisdom to acknowledge the truth that seems readily apparent to squares like me: Marijuana legalization as we’ve done it so far has been a policy failure, a potential social disaster, a clear and evident mistake.

The best version of the square’s case is an essay by Charles Fain Lehman of the Manhattan Institute explaining his evolution from youthful libertarian to grown-up prohibitionist. It will not convince readers who come in with stringently libertarian presuppositions — who believe on high principle that consenting adults should be able to purchase, sell and enjoy almost any substance short of fentanyl and that no second-order social consequence can justify infringing on this right.

But Lehman explains in detail why the second-order effects of marijuana legalization have mostly vindicated the pessimists and skeptics. First, on the criminal justice front, the expectation that legalizing pot would help reduce America’s prison population by clearing out nonviolent offenders was always overdrawn, since marijuana convictions made up a small share of the incarceration rate even at its height. But Lehman argues that there is also no good evidence so far that legalization reduces racially discriminatory patterns of policing and arrests. In his view, cops often use marijuana as a pretext to search someone they suspect of a more serious crime, and they simply substitute some other pretext when the law changes, leaving arrest rates basically unchanged.

So legalization isn’t necessarily striking a great blow against mass incarceration or for racial justice. Nor is it doing great things for public health. There was hope, and some early evidence, that legal pot might substitute for opioid use, but some of the more recent data cuts the other way: A new paper published in The Journal of Health Economics found that “legal medical marijuana, particularly when available through retail dispensaries, is associated with higher opioid mortality.” There are therapeutic benefits to cannabis that justify its availability for prescription, but the evidence of its risks keeps increasing: This month brought a new paper strengthening the link between heavy pot use and the onset of schizophrenia in young men.

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Letters to the Editor: Pesticides aren’t the only problem with marijuana. Pot is bad for you

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To the editor: I know reporters at The Times know the risks of using marijuana. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration warns that marijuana use includes the following dangers:

Permanent IQ loss; depression, anxiety, suicide planning and psychotic episodes; negative impact on timing, movement and coordination; slower reactions, lane weaving, decreased coordination and difficulty reacting to signals and sounds on the road; birth defects; and relationship problems, worse educational outcomes, lower career achievement and reduced life satisfaction.

Despite all this, The Times has published articles championing all the ways to consume pot in our already troubled city.

But now that Times reporter Paige St. John and WeedWeek editor Alex Halperin have documented the additional dangers of pesticides and environmental destruction caused by California’s proliferation of pot growth, shops and consumption, The Times is sounding the alarm bell that should have never stopped ringing.

Marijuana is bad for you. If only we valued our brains, bodies and our Earth as much as we value getting high, we might explore and report on healthier ways to enjoy our state and each other.

Tori Mordecai, San Marino

To the editor: Your excellent investigation of pesticides in cannabis raises an issue those of us working to ban trespass cannabis grows on public lands have long known: Cartel-grown cannabis is not only finding its way into the legal market, it is a key piece of it.

Since 2018, we have been beating the drum on the national public health time bomb of illicit pesticides in cannabis. Carbofuran, a pesticide banned in the U.S and smuggled in from Mexico that is among the most toxic substances in existence, consistently shows up at grow sites. A quarter-teaspoon will kill a 400-pound black bear in minutes.

The grow sites on public lands we have seen usually contain the carcasses of wildlife, from threatened Pacific fishers to game species.

Following major national news coverage on the issue, public land growing has decreased, but cartels now have moved their operations, and their poisons, to private lands within communities.

While the majority of illicit cartel cannabis is shipped to cities in the Midwest, a percentage remains in California and is widely available. The only real solution to this is enhanced testing of every product going into dispensaries, the closing of retail outlets that violate the law and increased enforcement against illicit cartel production.

Richard McIntyre, Sacramento

The writer is director of the Cannabis Removal on Public Lands Project.

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Why is marijuana bad.

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Marijuana is a drug that comprises of seeds, stems, leaves and flowers from a plant called cannabis sativa which has a mind altering chemical that is psychoactive together with other compounds that are related with it. Cannabis sativa is also known to be concentrated in a sticky black liquid named hash oil or in a resin by the name hashish (Goode, 2009).

Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug that is commonly used by many people in the United States. In the past decade, the use of marijuana has increased drastically among the youths. The data is consistent to a reduced awareness of the risks associated with the drug with augmented debates increasing on the public concerning the lawful use of the drug. Despite the federal government considering Marijuana as a schedule 1 substance, there are already two states in the US that have legalized the recreational use of Marijuana among adults. In addition, 21 states have already passed the laws that allow the use of Marijuana for treating specific medical conditions (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2014).

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Marijuana is commonly smokes in form of hand rolled cigarettes or pipes. In addition, it is also smoked using cigar blunts that are emptied of tobacco and then refilled with a combination of marijuana and tobacco. The smoke emitted from Marijuana contains a distinctive and pungent, often sweet and sour smell. Smoker of Marijuana sometimes mix it with food (Cermak, 2003). Marijuana affects the brain in a number of ways. Commonly, the smoke from Marijuana contains the chemicals that get into the bloodstream from the lungs. The blood carries the chemicals to the brain and also into several other organs of the body. When Marijuana is taken with drinks or ingested with food, the rate of absorption is slow. Marijuana affects the development of the brain especially when it is used in heavy quantities by young people. It can affect the memory and the thinking capacity of an individual. Sometimes, the effects can be dangerous in that they can permanently affect the brain of an individual. Frequent Marijuana smokers can experience respiratory problems the same problems experienced by smokers of tobacco (Foundation of Drug Free World, 2014). It also increases the rate of the heart by between 20 and 100 percent shortly after smoking. The effect can take up to 3 hours for the heart to return to its normal rate. Frequent use of high doses of Marijuana results in the user starting hallucinating. The use of Marijuana among pregnant women is also considered dangerous for the development of the baby.

• Cermak, T. (2003). Marijuana: What’s a Parent to Believe? Hazelden Publishing Foundation of Drug Free World. (2014). THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF MARIJUANA. Retrieved 1 December 2014 from http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/marijuana/the-harmful-effects.html
• Goode, E. (2009). Marijuana. Transaction Publishers.
• National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2014). Drug Facts: Marijuana. Retrieved 1 December 2014 from http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana

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