The seriousness to which we treat the issue of marijuana varies from person to person. Some see marijuana use as harmless and support legalization, while others feel strongly the opposite and that it is as serious a drug as any other illegal substances, like cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamine. Regardless of individual opinions, it is important to acknowledge the significant change in the potency of marijuana in the last few decades. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the active ingredient in marijuana that effects potency. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), since the 1970's the level of THC in marijuana has increased by as much as 500%. It is important to examine what this change means in terms of health effects, addiction rates, and the likelihood of leading to other drug use due to the fact that other than alcohol, marijuana is the most popular drug teens experiment with.
A difficult fact to dispute for those in favor of legalizing marijuana is that the effects of the drug are different for everyone and there is no clear mathematical formula to determine the amount of time it takes for the drug to be metabolized and leave a person's system, as is the case with alcohol. The short term or immediate effects of marijuana use include distorted perception, loss of coordination, laziness, antisocial behavior, paranoia, trouble thinking or problem solving, and memory or learning difficulties. The US Department of Health and Human Services found that in 2002. approximately 120,000 people were admitted to emergency rooms as a result of marijuana related issues. This statistic was a 139% increase since 1995. Long terms effects of heavy use include having parts of the brain affected that control memory, attention, and learning. The NIDA reports that about 1 in 7 10th graders are current users of marijuana (meaning they have used in the last month) and that less than 1 in 5 12th graders are current users.
Today, marijuana addiction is receiving much more attention compared to the feeling in previous years that marijuana was not an addictive substance. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported in 2007 that more people are entering rehabilitation centers for marijuana addiction than for primary addictions to heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine. Ambivalence regarding teens using marijuana is common where people feel that they could be doing a lot worse, yet the substance is responsible for damaging family relationships, school work, and other activities. The NIDA found that marijuana use by teenagers who have previous antisocial behavior can quickly lead to addiction.
The discussion of marijuana as a "Gateway" drug also stirs up its fair share of debate and controversy. The Gateway Theory is that people, in this case teens, start out experimenting with marijuana and then move into more serious drugs, like cocaine, heroin, or meth. On one side of the debate are groups like the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA), who report that marijuana users are 85 times more likely than non-users to try cocaine. The other side then picks apart these reports as making great exaggerations, claiming that these statistics are based on a calculation that divides the proportion of marijuana users who have ever tried cocaine by the proportion of cocaine users who have never used marijuana.
Regardless of personal feelings regarding marijuana use, it is a fact that teens are curious about controlled substances. Marijuana is an easily accessible drug with arguably fewer, and less serious, side effects than other drugs, like heroin. The seriousness of the problem is how the potency has significantly changed, as have the rates of addiction. Marijuana is just one more issue for parents and society to worry about in the lives of today's youth.
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