Introduction
The debate on whether to legalize the use of marijuana has been there for the last 20 years. There have been interesting and viable justifications for allowing marijuana for medical purposes. Similarly, satisfying stances have been raised by the opposing side in this debate. Finding a way to accommodate both the opposing and proposing sides has been an extremely difficult task. This essay seeks to show that allowing marijuana to be used for medical purposes is a bad idea. This is with disregard to its effectiveness in suppressing pain.
Effects of smoking marijuana
As we think about a possible benefit of legalizing marijuana, we should pay more attention to the effects and implications of its use in society. Psychologists advise that before making any decision, we have to weigh the benefits against the negative implications. When the benefits outweigh the negative implications, then one can consider the option. However, the negative implications exceed the benefits, then it means the option is not worth taking. In this case, marijuana is known to have serious implications on its users, and these adverse effects outweigh its usefulness in a very significant margin.
Marijuana has several short-term and long-term effects on humans. Some of the short-term effects of marijuana are detrimental and can cause great harm to users. For instance, the use of marijuana causes numbness hence disabling the sensory system. In addition to this, it causes panic and anxiety hence causing the user to hallucinate. This effect exonerates smoker control over his or her body and mind. In this state, one’s rationale is compromised, and he or she might end up hurting him/herself or other people.
Marijuana causes the user to develop poor coordination of movement hence inhibiting his/her response to other senses. In addition, it also makes the user feel sleepy, lazy, and depressed. It also causes the heartbeats to increase. The increasing rate of heartbeats caused by the intake of marijuana can easily cause a person to have a heart attack, and this can be lethal. Long-term effects of marijuana include:
- Growth disorders.
- Decrease in male sex hormones.
- Destruction of the lungs.
- Reduced sexual capacity.
- Reduced learning capability.
- Reduced power to understand among other effects.
Rationale
Given the effects mention above, the benefits of legalizing the use of marijuana as a medical remedy for pain is unjustifiable. The health implications caused by smoking marijuana or using it in its numerous forms are too detrimental to ignore. Marijuana is a very effective pain reliever but also a deadly contributor to lung problems. It is abnormal to treat one ailment and creating room for another at the same time.
Other than that, there is the danger of becoming an addict after an extended period of smoking marijuana. When a person is dependent on a drug, he or she will have difficulties living without it. If marijuana was to be legalized today, it would take only a few days for people to take it as a pain reliever. Thereafter, it will become a routine drug, and the rate of addiction will rise. This will definitely affect the entire society as the population turns into a drug driven community. Productivity among drug addicts and specifically marijuana addicts has always been dismally dissatisfying.
Legalizing marijuana regardless of the reason behind it can be dangerous and risky for the well-being of our society. Considering the above effects and implications, the benefits of using marijuana for medicinal purposes are dismal compared to the threats it poses on humanity. Besides, other alternatives work better and more efficiently in relieving pain than marijuana.
Presentation
Expository writing
Marijuana is a drug and it has different effects that can affect the human body in both positive and negative ways. Some of the effects of marijuana are terminal and may lead to a reduced life expectancy. Marijuana helps in relieving pain and it helps in averting common ailments such as the common cold and bronchitis. Continuous use of marijuana causes one to develop an addiction. Marijuana has medicinal value and can be very useful as an aesthesia
Persuasive writing
Legalizing marijuana may lead to a national-wide scarcity of an active generation. Productivity among drugs users is compromised by the use of marijuana. The long-term and short-term effects of marijuana are harmful and lethal. Legalizing marijuana will allow access of the drug to young people and children
Descriptive writing
When the drug gets into the human body, several functions are altered. The brain is the first organ to be affected by marijuana when it is inhaled into the system. The stimulant is then transferred into the blood stream and ultimately it enters into all other organs of the body. While in the system, the sensory function is altered and the brain response is compromised. This is the reason why the body may not register pain due to the dead or non-functional sensory system.