Stacy Correa
Honors English II
6 April 2010
Is Marijuana Bad for Your Health?
Part I—What I Already Know
When I was in about 8th grade, our class was shown a PowerPoint presentation on harmful drugs and their effects on people. Marijuana was one of those drugs shown on the presentation. I remember it being described as a “gateway drug”, but I didn’t quite understand what that meant. This was the first time I was ever talked to about Marijuana. At that point, I wasn’t interested at all in the subject.
Around the time I graduated into high school, I started hearing about Marijuana more often. From the movie theaters to my parents’ voting ballots; it seemed like the topic of Marijuana was everywhere. Medical Marijuana even became legal here in Arizona. Marijuana can very clearly affect my life and the lives of the people I care about; therefore, I believe being informed about this subject is what’s best. All I really know about it is what I hear from second-hand sources.
Part II—What I Want to Find Out
My world is divided into two when it comes to the subject of Marijuana use; one side is the opposition and the other side was all for it. Since my knowledge about it is limited, I can’t fairly decide which side is right. This is what led me to wonder, how exactly does Marijuana affect a person’s health? I also want to know how smoking Marijuana makes a person feel and why so many people use it. What is a “gateway drug” and why is Marijuana classified as one? Why kind of medical benefits does it have?
I am hoping I can get some of these answers from a professional source, which might be hard to find because I don’t know exactly who would be a “professional” on the topic. I definitely want to get the views of a person who has used Marijuana. I personally believe some of the best knowledge you can obtain is from experience. I also want the views of someone who is against Marijuana.
Part III—The Search
Book
The book I used is titled “The Facts about Marijuana” by Ted Gottfried. The book seemed pretty complete with its information about marijuana; it covered the history of it to how it has affected our culture. What I liked about this book was that it included a variety of opinions from different organizations, such as the National Institute of drug abuse and the U.S. Drug Enforcement administration.
All marijuana contains THC (tetrhydrocannabinol), it is the main ingredient that causes the “high” for a person. How Marijuana affects a person health wise depends on a multitude of factors such as the person’s health, age, and weight; strength of the pot, amount of pot consumed, and extent of use, etc. This is why it is so difficult for scientists to test Marijuana’s reliability. Some common effects of Marijuana are feelings of hunger, relaxation, anxiety, paranoid thoughts, even hallucinations. Users of the drug are also prone to be more social. Since Marijuana’s effects are so unpredictable, this is probably why it is so hazardous.
The book describes gateway drugs as “a ‘soft’ drug, such as Marijuana, that leads to the use of a ‘hard’ drug, such as heroin.” Marijuana is classified as a “gateway drug” because it is typically the first drug people try before moving on to other drugs. Although people held on to this “gateway drug” theory as their main argument as to why Marijuana is bad, many studies done couldn’t back it up. The most probable cause for why people use Marijuana first is because it is much more available for them than other drugs.
Marijuana serves many medical purposes. Cancer patients under chemotherapy use it to avoid vomiting and nausea. People with glaucoma use it lower the pressure on their eyeballs. The most common medical use for Marijuana is pain.
This book was a great find for me. I think it really many questions I had about Marijuana and also questions that I wouldn’t have thought of. I learned a lot of new, interesting information from it.
Article
The article I decided to use is titled, “Is Pot Good for You?”, since it is asking the same question I am. I found it on Time magazine’s website, Time.com. It was written by John Cloud, a San Francisco writer, on November 4, 2002.
The article starts off by saying that the science of Marijuana isn’t clearly known because the research done on it is so relatively new. It needs much more review by scientists, and for now, can be manipulated easily. The article states,” You won't find clear evidence that pot is good or evil, but the research sheds light on some of the most important questions surrounding the drug.”
One of the first questions the article addresses is can marijuana kill you? According to Time, an average person would have to consume the amount of 900 joints for them to overdose on the drug. This is evidently impossible. Although Marijuana cannot directly kill you, it can put you and your health in danger for many other things. Because weed can temporarily impair your coordination and judgment skills, driving intoxicated off Marijuana can lead to a crash. A paper published in 2001 found that after smoking Marijuana, the risk for a heart attack increased by five times.
As for cancer, smoking anything, including pot, can put you at risk for lung cancer. Also, a study done on 173 head and neck cancer patients showed that smoking Marijuana could increase the risk of those cancers. However, scientists are still not sure whether Marijuana is a carcinogen (something directly involved in causing cancer). Recent research has found that while THC can cause cancer tumors through more free radicals, it could also shield against tumors.
Another question covered in the article was does marijuana make you dumb? In 2002, the Journal of The American Medical Association published a study where 102 former Marijuana users were shown to have worse memories and shorter attention span than non-users. Again, scientists are still uncertain whether Marijuana was to blame for this.
This article was one of the only ones I could find that seemed unbiased, since it gave both negative and positive research studies concerning Cannabis. The article quoted Mitch Earlywine from Oxford, "Interpretations [of marijuana research] may tell more about [one's] own biases than the data. Prohibitionists might mention that THC often appears in the blood of people in auto accidents. Yet they might omit the fact that most of these people also drank alcohol. Anti prohibitionists might cite a large study that showed no sign of memory problems in chronic marijuana smokers. Yet they might not mention that the tests were so easy that even a demented person could perform them." I thought this quote was interesting and has proved to me to be very true through the research I have done on this topic.
Interview
I interviewed my friend, Mia, for my paper. She is an old friend of mine, and were chatting on the phone when I told her about a paper I was doing for my English class. When I told her about the topic, she volunteered for the interview.
Stacy: All right, so first of all, what do you think about Marijuana?
Mia : I think it’s gross, and it’s a great way to ruin your life.
S: What makes you say that?
M: I don’t know, it’s just common sense. I’m sure no one successful smokes pot. I am for sure never trying it. I’ve seen it for myself too. My sister was one of those stoners, and now her life is pretty much a wreck. I mean, I love her and all, but she did some dumb stuff.
S: Could you explain about your sister for me?
M: Like, after she started smoking weed, she also started dealing. She got pregnant, had Gabe, and luckily me and my mom were there for him, ‘cause if not, who knows what would’ve happened. She’s just so unstable. She doesn’t have a job, she’s always living with different people, and we never know where she is. I don’t blame weed for her all her actions, but it played a big part.
S: How does your sister’s drug use make you feel?
M: It’s pretty hard, especially for Gabe. He hardly gets to see her. You should see how he gets the few times he does though. He loves her so much, and she’s just all over the place. I wish she would quit and realize exactly what she’s doing. My mom has been so patient with her and given so much chances, but she just throws them away. It makes me angry at her, it seems really selfish.
S: Do you think this is what Marijuana does to all people?
M: Not all, but it sure doesn’t seem to be helping anyone. Other than those people who use it for “medical” uses or whatever.
S: Do you think weed has any benefits?
M: No, not at all. People who get medical Marijuana are probably just potheads pretending to be in pain to get legal weed.
S: That’s a little harsh. Do you think the law for Medical Marijuana should be revoked?
M: Nope, I think we should just make it go extinct.
S: There’s an idea. Thanks for the interview.
M: No problem.
What I learned most from my friend was that even though Marijuana doesn’t have to be harmful to your health, it could be harmful to the ones you love. I also learned how rigid some people can be about their opinions, even when shown the facts.
Part IV—What I Learned
Overall, I thought this paper was a great experience, and I highly greatly dislike writing papers. I feel like there are so many topics in the world I want to know about, and it is fairly simple to gain knowledge and experience about them. I started this paper knowing little about Marijuana, and now I at least got the myths and rumors out of the way. I still feel like I didn’t get a direct answer to my main question, but I got enough information to make the right choices. There are many people I know who have decided to become involved with Marijuana. I hope that from the knowledge I have gained, I can help those people by making them more aware of exactly what they are consuming.
Works Cited
Cloud , John. "Is Pot Good for You." Time 04 Nov. 2002:Web. 9 May 2011. <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1003570-1,00.html>.
Gottfried , Ted. The Facts About Marijuana. Tarrytown, Ny: Benchmarck Books, 2005. 109. Print.
Vasquez, Mia. Personal Interview. May 7, 2011
