Senior Paper
How marijuana harms a teenager and harms their everyday life
By, Makayla Rayn
Drugs, drugs, drugs.. It’s on everyone’s mind. Is marijuana really a
drug? Does it affect teenagers different than adults? Marijuana Fact: Most
teenagers do not use marijuana. Fewer than one in four high school seniors are
current marijuana users. In my opinion I think it’s more like three out of four
high school seniors are current marijuana users at least in our little valley.
There seems to be a new trend of smoking marijuana, more and more people are
starting to use it.
Many think smoking cigarettes are worst for you than smoking marijuana,
but in reality marijuana affects your lungs just as bad as cigarettes do, maybe
even worst. Since you hold a hit of marijuana in longer than you would just
taking a drag of a cigarette. Marijuana smoke contains some of the same and
sometimes even more (depending on how strong the marijuana is) cancer causing
chemicals found in tobacco smoke.
According to http://72.46.3.26/bayteam/MarijuanaTeenUse.pdfstudies have shown that someone who
smokes five joints a day may be taking in as many cancer causing chemicals as
someone who smokes a pack of cigarettes a day. Users of marijuana can develop
the same kinds of breathing problems that cigarette smokers have such as
coughing and wheezing. Users tend to have more chest colds than a nonuser. A
user has a higher risk of getting lung infections like pneumonia. According to
http://wiki.answers.comstudies are not certain if smoking marijuana
damages your immune system, but it does impair the ability of T-Cells in the
lungs immune system to fight off infections. There are many short term effects
of smoking marijuana daily. Such as problems with your memory, learning,
distorted perception (sight, sound, time, touch), troubles thinking and problem
solving, loss of motor coordination, and an increased heart
rate.
Saying that it impairs your ability to learn you must be wondering if
smoking marijuana effects school, sports, or any other activity. Well the answer
is YES it can affect certain parts of school for someone who is using every day
during and after school. Since marijuana affects your memory and judgment, you
may forget the things you learn in school and you might do something stupid
instead of being in school or you wouldn’t do while being sober. You may stop
caring about how you look or how you are doing in school. You could turn very
lazy and that will cause you to not want to or have the motivation to do well in
school. Smoking marijuana heavily for many years can affect the parts of your
brain that controls your memory, attention, and learning. Since a teenager’s
brain is still developing marijuana can damage or affect parts of your brain
that are still growing so it could make it difficult for your brain to develop
after smoking so much than once you are an adult you will probably be dumb and
have some bad memory.
The drug can affect everyone differently depending on some factors such as previous experiences, if
you had a bad experience the first time you tried it you may be scared to try it
again and if you do, do it again your mind will have bad thoughts about the drug
and your body could freak out on you. It could depend on how strong the
marijuana is; the marijuana you find these days is way stronger than the
marijuana you would find back in the sixties. Since it is much stronger now, you
have a higher risk of getting addicted to marijuana. Another
factor could be what the user expects to happen or weather the user is drinking
while smoking marijuana or doing other drugs. There are many ways a user can
consume marijuana. Some roll marijuana up in papers called a joint, you could
smoke it out of a pipe or a water pipe also known as a bong, if you wanted
something bigger than a joint you could use a cigar wrap to roll your marijuana
in it is also called a blunt. Another way you can consume the drug is through
eating it. People put it in different foods they eat or make things like butter
or tea out of it. Depending on what you smoke out of your high can be stronger
or weaker. Like if you smoke out of a bong you would get higher than smoking out
of a pipe. Marijuana can stay in a user’s body for weeks depending on how often
you smoke. THC is absorbed by fatty tissues in various organs through the body.
You can detect marijuana in someone’s body several days after smoking through a
pee test or a blood test.
Many people wonder why teens have such an interest in smoking weed these
days. The biggest influence on young people smoking is their peeps or those they
look up to. Those seeing other people smoking may make them think that it is ok
to smoke. Many rap artists and commercials on TV showing smoking weed as a good
thing or as a social thing to do. Kids see them doing it and every kid’s dream
is to become a rap artist right? So they want to do everything they see the
stars do. There are probably many more reasons why kids start smoking, but I
think these are the biggest reasons young people start
smoking.
I interviewed three people about the subject. I interviewed a non-user, a
user, and a user who quit smoking. I first interviewed a user to a non-user.
When asked what made you quit, his response was he just didn’t want to smoke
anymore. When asked do you think marijuana is a gateway drug he responded yes I
absolutely think it is a gateway drug. When asked would you ever start smoking
again he answered yes he would without a doubt. When asked did you like the way
smoking marijuana made you feel he answered yes he liked the way it made him
feel. When asked how often were,
you using his response was that he was using all day every day. When asked was
it hard to quit he answered no it was not hard at all to quit. When I asked him
if it was hard for him to be around other smokers now that he doesn’t smoke he
answered no it’s not hard for him at all to be around other smokers. When asked
do you feel healthier now that he no longer smokes his response was yes he
feels more awake than he did when he was smoking. When asked do you think
marijuana should be legalized he answered yes it should be legalized since no
one has ever dies from smoking it. Next I interviewed a user.
When asked what made you start smoking marijuana his answer was he was
curious about it and wanted to see why everyone liked it so much. When asked how
often you are smoking his answer was that he is smoking all day every day. When
asked do you think you can do your daily activities while you are high and his
answer was yes he thinks he can function just fine being high unless he smokes
to much then he just gets really hungry and tired. When asked do you smoke
cigarettes he responded yes he does smoke cigarettes and he has to normally have
one after he is done smoking marijuana. When asked do you think marijuana is a
gateway drug his answer was that he only things it is a gateway to your fridge
and to an awesome nap he thinks marijuana should not be considered a gateway
drug and the people who are blaming it for making them want to try other drugs
should just blame their selves for wanting to do other drugs. When asked has
marijuana made you want to try other drugs his answer was no he makes his own
decisions and he is not going to blame weed for anything. When asked do you get
sick often like chest colds or having a cough he answered yes he does have a
smokers cough, but does not feel he getting sick often at all. When asked do you
really enjoy smoking his response was yes I absolutely love smoking. When asked
what do you prefer to smoke out of his response was a water pipe A.K.A a bong.
When asked do you think marijuana should be legalized his response was yes he
does think it should be legalized and it would help out our economy a lot. Last
I interviewed a non-user. When
asked what made you not want to smoke marijuana his answer was that he had tried
it and didn’t like the way it made him feel and he didn’t like the way it
tasted. When asked do you like being around smokers his response was that he
doesn’t mind being around them he just doesn’t want to be around while they
smoke cause he doesn’t want to get in trouble for something he wasn’t doing.
When asked would you ever try smoking again his response was no because it is
not good for your body and he didn’t like the way it made him feel. When asked
do you prefer doing a different drug he responded quickly with a NO he does not
do any drugs. When asked do you smoke cigarettes his answer was no, he sure
doesn’t smoke anything. When asked do you no like smokers his response was he
doesn’t really care what others do with their lives he just doesn’t want to be
around cause he doesn’t like the smell of the smoke. When asked do you think
marijuana should be legalized his answer was that he didn’t really care if it is
or not it doesn’t really concern him at all. When asked have you ever tried
smoking pot he responded yes and will never do it again. When asked would you
ever try smoking again he answered no since it is not good for your body and his
body and health is very important to him. After my interviews I can now see the
different out looks on the subject from a user to a non-user, a user, and a
non- user.
In my opinion I think marijuana should not be considered a drug since no
one has ever died from smoking it. To die from smoking marijuana you would have
to smoke half of your body weight in one sitting and you would pass out before
you even got close to doing it. If the government wants to make something
illegal they should make alcohol illegal since millions if not billions of
people have died from it or accidents from someone being drunk. I think most
people are against marijuana because they think it is a gateway drug and for
some this may be true, but to me I think it’s up to you if you allow marijuana
to be a gateway drug in your life. I know people who have smoked marijuana for
many years and they have not wanted to try other drugs because they got bored of
smoking marijuana. The only bad thing is that marijuana is becoming stronger
and stronger as the years go on. It is definitely not the same drug it was back
in the sixties. Since people are finding different ways to grow it and clone the
drug to start different strains of it to make it stronger and now people are
becoming addicted to it. They will get with drawls if they do not keep the drug
in their system just like being addicted to any other drug. There are even
people who are starting to go to rehab to help them get off marijuana.
In my eyes if the government wants to make something illegal it should be
alcohol. In the U.S 71 people die every day due to alcohol related accidents.
Now have you ever heard of anyone dying from marijuana? No. There are no
reported deaths from marijuana over dose. For someone to die from smoking
marijuana they would have to smoke 800 joints in a short period of time to cause
death which is kind of impossible without passing out after the five or so
depending on how many joints you could smoke in a short period of time. I don’t
think anyone even the biggest smoker would even attempt to smoke that many
joints in a short period of time.
Now that there are new marijuana synthetics called K2 or spice that are
used for those who can’t smoke marijuana if they are on UAs or other drug tests.
You can’t detect spice in your urine. This is much more dangerous than the
natural marijuana. You can easily over dose off of it and it can send you into a
coma or can cause death. Since so
many people were dying from K2 they have remade it and tried to make it safer
for consumption, I don’t believe that it is any better. It’s still bad for you
no matter what.
There are so many teens getting in trouble for having marijuana and
paraphernalia on them which is a petty crime, but cops to seem to make a huge
deal about it. In 2009 alone over 200,000 people were charged with some kind of
crime involving marijuana charge. Those numbers have sky rocked since then. If
the government took control and made marijuana legal and just made it like
cigarettes I think our crime rate would tremendously go down and there wouldn’t
be so many people getting charged with petty crimes, and the cops would have to
find better things to do than stand around waiting for teens to mess up. They
could sell it to those who are 18 and up or 21 and up. Then our economy could
get better. We could use everything the plant give us and make a lot of money
for our country. Maybe if all that happened marijuana wouldn’t be such a big
issue in the United States. There are way worse things happening across the
country than people smoking marijuana, but for some reason the police officers
act as if marijuana is the biggest crime happening on the streets. It seems like
in our small towns the police officers search for teens smoking marijuana when
they could be doing better things like stopping people from drinking and
driving. I thought police officers were supposed to serve and protect not harass
teens and adult about something that isn’t killing us. If people smoking
marijuana, are not harming others than police officers should just let them life
their lives. I know that marijuana is harmful to a teenager’s body, they could
be doing a lot worst things that are way more harmful for your body and do way
more damage, but the government still makes marijuana a huge deal amount young
people.
I interviewed two people one person who was completely against smoking
marijuana and marijuana in general than I interviewed someone who was completely
for it and would want it to be legalized right away. I asked the person who was
against it a few questions. When asked what is it about marijuana that makes you
not like it so much their answer was that they don’t like it because they don’t
see the purpose in it, I know some people use it for medical reasons, but I
don’t think others should use it if they don’t have a medical condition
requiring them to use it. People who get high all the time normally don’t have
anything going for them in life they are to anti motivated to do anything. Some
may go far, but the ones who have let marijuana take over their lives are
normally just lazy people. I just don’t understand why people like it so much.
What is so fun about harming your body and your brain? When asked have you ever
tried smoking marijuana so you can see why people like it so much their answer
was no I have never tried it before I’m not stupid enough to purposely harm my
body. I like keeping myself healthy and active and smoking marijuana would ruin
all of that. When asked do any of your friends smoke marijuana their response
was yes many of them do and I don’t judge them for it, but when I try and keep
my distance when they are smoking because I don’t like the way they act when
they are high. I can see in many of my friends that marijuana is affecting them
in bad ways. They are always lazy and they eat constantly. I don’t want my life
to end up like that and I hate watching my friends ruin their life with this
drug. And yes I do think it is a drug. When asked do you ever voice your opinion
to your friends about marijuana their response was yes I tell them all the time
that it is bad for them and that it is going to make them lazy and that they
are not going to do anything with their lives if they keep smoking, but most of
them don’t listen to me they just keep smoking. I wish I could get through to
them so that they still might have a chance at making something of
themselves. When asked what made
you hate marijuana so bad if you have never tried it their answer was I have
seen what it has done to many of my friends and some of my family members and I
don’t want to end up like them. I don’t like how they act while they are stoned
and I realized I never want to be like that and I’m someone who has to have
control of myself and my life and I feel like marijuana makes you lose control
of everything. It changes people and I don’t want to let a stupid drug like
marijuana change me and get in the way of my dreams. Now I asked someone who
was all for marijuana a few questions. When asked what is it about marijuana
that makes you like it so much their answer was I like the way it makes me
feel. I like how it relaxes you and make you calm and I also love how it makes
everything funny and every food tastes good. I like how I can take the best
naps when I am stoned. When asked would you ever want to change anything about
it their answer was well first off I would want it to be cheaper but other than
that I would make it so it didn’t take so much to get high once your tolerance
gets high for it. I would make it so strong that it only took one hit to make
you stoned out of your mind. It takes so much for me to get high that I have to
spend a lot of my money on bigger amounts just so I can get the same high as a
beginner smoker does. When asked do you to be legalized to all or do you think
it should only be legal to people of a certain age like alcohol or cigarettes
and their answer was well I’m eighteen so I think it should be legalized to
anyone eighteen and older, but I don’t want our government to tax it and make
it expensive because if they do that there will still be crime since people
will know that people will still buy off the streets for a cheaper price. Just
like if people sold cigarettes on the streets I’m sure no one would buy them
from the stores since they are almost seven dollars a pack. When asked do you
think marijuana is harmful to your body their response was I don’t think
marijuana is THAT harmful to your body. I mean don’t get me wrong I have
noticed some changes in myself since I started smoking like I seem to only eat
when I am high, I can’t sleep at night if I’m not stoned, I’m tired if I
haven’t smoked yet, I get mood swings when I go for a period of time without
it, my memory is getting pretty bad. I can only remember things from when I was
sober and I seem to be breaking out a lot on my face, but that could be from
just being a teen. I have noticed that my grades in school have gone down. I
never have the energy to do my homework. I seem to have better things to do
like smoke than to get my school work done. My teachers are starting to notice
and so is my mom. They both think I should quit since it seems to be getting in
the way of me getting an education, but I like it so much that I don’t want to
quit. That’s the last thing I want to do right now. After seeing all the
changes in me I guess it could be pretty harmful to my body, but I am willing
to chance my body being harmed to get high. When asked do you only smoke
marijuana or do you add other drugs along with it to make it seem more fun
their answer was no I do not add other drugs to it. I have tried other drugs
but not at the same time as being high other than alcohol and I hated that it
gave me really bad spins. I try and just smoke weed. When asked do you think
marijuana is a gateway drug their answer was no. I don’t think it is a gateway
drug I think kids use that as their excuse for being stupid and trying other
drugs. I have never got so bored of marijuana to where I wanted to go try a
completely different drug that affects you completely different. I like having
control of myself and I feel like doing hard drugs like ecstasy and acid make
you lose control of your body completely. At least when you are high you can
still function and do your daily routines if you were messed up on acid there
is no way you could go do everything you do sober like you can when you are
only high off marijuana. I like to think it helps me get things done in my day.
If anything I think it is a gateway drug to your fridge. That’s where I’m
always heading when I am stoned I’m not heading to find other drugs. When asked
would you recommend for other teens to start smoking marijuana their answer was
well I mean I think everyone should try it so they don’t judge it before ever
trying it, but I don’t think young kids should be doing it like they are. I
don’t think them smoking a lot constantly like me is a good idea if they have
never smoked before, but I think in your life you should at least try
everything once well maybe not everything but most things. I tried it and loved
it and always will, but I hope I can give it up when I get older so my kids
don’t think it’s ok because I’m doing it.
After all the research I have done I have seen different views on
marijuana and the things it can do to a teenager’s body. Some like the way
marijuana makes them feel, but I know that everyone who does smoke marijuana can
see the changes it is doing to their bodies. Marijuana may not be the most
harmful drug out there, but it is obviously not good for you. It harms your body
in many different ways and it only harms a teenager worst since a teen is not
completely developed so the marijuana is harming organs and cells in a teen’s
body that are not even fully grown. The people who smoke at a young age will
soon see the changes and I’m sure they will see the harm it as caused once they
become adults. People will always be fighting to get marijuana legalized or to
keep it legal and if the government does decide to legalize it there will still
be people bitching about it. I don’t think anyone who is currently a marijuana
user is going to stop just because the government and the police are making
marijuana such a big deal they are just going to keep doing what they have been
doing for years. I don’t think even people finding out how harmful the drug is
will stop them from smoking. Everyone knows how back cigarettes are for the
human body and look how many Americans are still buying and smoking cigarettes
every day. Seems to me once you become addicted to a drug of any sort you will
never stop until you are forced to stop or something happens to make the person
want to stop by themselves. I have seen what marijuana can do to others and I
have seen what it has done to me, but honestly none of the information I have
learned really scares me since I am a cigarette smoker and all the info I read
said that cigarettes are worst for you than marijuana. I can honestly say I do
not like the things marijuana has done to me, but I like it so much I don’t want
to quit just like anyone else would say who is a user. I hope that marijuana
gets legalized just for the fact that it could help our economy. They could use
so much from the marijuana plant to make things that a lot of people would be
willing to use, but I don’t think it will ever be completely legalized and it is
just going to get harder and more complicated for people to get their medical
marijuana cards. There will always be something going on in our country
involving marijuana so I don’t see why so many people make it such a big deal.
People just like to have something to bitch about. No matter what happens with
the law involving marijuana people are still going to smoke marijuana they have
for many years and I don’t see any big reason for anyone who has been smoking
for most of their lives to quit no matter what the government does or has to
say. Marijuana will always fill our valleys and our
country.
Http://www.abovetheinfluence.com
http://www.usatoday.com
http://72.46.3.26/bayteam/MarijuanaTeenUse.pdf
http://alcoholism.about.com
http://www.drugpolicy.org
http://www.acde.org
http://wiki.answers.com
I interviewed David
I interviewed Ryan
I interviewed Jaarek
I also interviewed two
people that would like to remain anonymous
By, Makayla Rayn
Drugs, drugs, drugs.. It’s on everyone’s mind. Is marijuana really a
drug? Does it affect teenagers different than adults? Marijuana Fact: Most
teenagers do not use marijuana. Fewer than one in four high school seniors are
current marijuana users. In my opinion I think it’s more like three out of four
high school seniors are current marijuana users at least in our little valley.
There seems to be a new trend of smoking marijuana, more and more people are
starting to use it.
Many think smoking cigarettes are worst for you than smoking marijuana,
but in reality marijuana affects your lungs just as bad as cigarettes do, maybe
even worst. Since you hold a hit of marijuana in longer than you would just
taking a drag of a cigarette. Marijuana smoke contains some of the same and
sometimes even more (depending on how strong the marijuana is) cancer causing
chemicals found in tobacco smoke.
According to http://72.46.3.26/bayteam/MarijuanaTeenUse.pdfstudies have shown that someone who
smokes five joints a day may be taking in as many cancer causing chemicals as
someone who smokes a pack of cigarettes a day. Users of marijuana can develop
the same kinds of breathing problems that cigarette smokers have such as
coughing and wheezing. Users tend to have more chest colds than a nonuser. A
user has a higher risk of getting lung infections like pneumonia. According to
http://wiki.answers.comstudies are not certain if smoking marijuana
damages your immune system, but it does impair the ability of T-Cells in the
lungs immune system to fight off infections. There are many short term effects
of smoking marijuana daily. Such as problems with your memory, learning,
distorted perception (sight, sound, time, touch), troubles thinking and problem
solving, loss of motor coordination, and an increased heart
rate.
Saying that it impairs your ability to learn you must be wondering if
smoking marijuana effects school, sports, or any other activity. Well the answer
is YES it can affect certain parts of school for someone who is using every day
during and after school. Since marijuana affects your memory and judgment, you
may forget the things you learn in school and you might do something stupid
instead of being in school or you wouldn’t do while being sober. You may stop
caring about how you look or how you are doing in school. You could turn very
lazy and that will cause you to not want to or have the motivation to do well in
school. Smoking marijuana heavily for many years can affect the parts of your
brain that controls your memory, attention, and learning. Since a teenager’s
brain is still developing marijuana can damage or affect parts of your brain
that are still growing so it could make it difficult for your brain to develop
after smoking so much than once you are an adult you will probably be dumb and
have some bad memory.
The drug can affect everyone differently depending on some factors such as previous experiences, if
you had a bad experience the first time you tried it you may be scared to try it
again and if you do, do it again your mind will have bad thoughts about the drug
and your body could freak out on you. It could depend on how strong the
marijuana is; the marijuana you find these days is way stronger than the
marijuana you would find back in the sixties. Since it is much stronger now, you
have a higher risk of getting addicted to marijuana. Another
factor could be what the user expects to happen or weather the user is drinking
while smoking marijuana or doing other drugs. There are many ways a user can
consume marijuana. Some roll marijuana up in papers called a joint, you could
smoke it out of a pipe or a water pipe also known as a bong, if you wanted
something bigger than a joint you could use a cigar wrap to roll your marijuana
in it is also called a blunt. Another way you can consume the drug is through
eating it. People put it in different foods they eat or make things like butter
or tea out of it. Depending on what you smoke out of your high can be stronger
or weaker. Like if you smoke out of a bong you would get higher than smoking out
of a pipe. Marijuana can stay in a user’s body for weeks depending on how often
you smoke. THC is absorbed by fatty tissues in various organs through the body.
You can detect marijuana in someone’s body several days after smoking through a
pee test or a blood test.
Many people wonder why teens have such an interest in smoking weed these
days. The biggest influence on young people smoking is their peeps or those they
look up to. Those seeing other people smoking may make them think that it is ok
to smoke. Many rap artists and commercials on TV showing smoking weed as a good
thing or as a social thing to do. Kids see them doing it and every kid’s dream
is to become a rap artist right? So they want to do everything they see the
stars do. There are probably many more reasons why kids start smoking, but I
think these are the biggest reasons young people start
smoking.
I interviewed three people about the subject. I interviewed a non-user, a
user, and a user who quit smoking. I first interviewed a user to a non-user.
When asked what made you quit, his response was he just didn’t want to smoke
anymore. When asked do you think marijuana is a gateway drug he responded yes I
absolutely think it is a gateway drug. When asked would you ever start smoking
again he answered yes he would without a doubt. When asked did you like the way
smoking marijuana made you feel he answered yes he liked the way it made him
feel. When asked how often were,
you using his response was that he was using all day every day. When asked was
it hard to quit he answered no it was not hard at all to quit. When I asked him
if it was hard for him to be around other smokers now that he doesn’t smoke he
answered no it’s not hard for him at all to be around other smokers. When asked
do you feel healthier now that he no longer smokes his response was yes he
feels more awake than he did when he was smoking. When asked do you think
marijuana should be legalized he answered yes it should be legalized since no
one has ever dies from smoking it. Next I interviewed a user.
When asked what made you start smoking marijuana his answer was he was
curious about it and wanted to see why everyone liked it so much. When asked how
often you are smoking his answer was that he is smoking all day every day. When
asked do you think you can do your daily activities while you are high and his
answer was yes he thinks he can function just fine being high unless he smokes
to much then he just gets really hungry and tired. When asked do you smoke
cigarettes he responded yes he does smoke cigarettes and he has to normally have
one after he is done smoking marijuana. When asked do you think marijuana is a
gateway drug his answer was that he only things it is a gateway to your fridge
and to an awesome nap he thinks marijuana should not be considered a gateway
drug and the people who are blaming it for making them want to try other drugs
should just blame their selves for wanting to do other drugs. When asked has
marijuana made you want to try other drugs his answer was no he makes his own
decisions and he is not going to blame weed for anything. When asked do you get
sick often like chest colds or having a cough he answered yes he does have a
smokers cough, but does not feel he getting sick often at all. When asked do you
really enjoy smoking his response was yes I absolutely love smoking. When asked
what do you prefer to smoke out of his response was a water pipe A.K.A a bong.
When asked do you think marijuana should be legalized his response was yes he
does think it should be legalized and it would help out our economy a lot. Last
I interviewed a non-user. When
asked what made you not want to smoke marijuana his answer was that he had tried
it and didn’t like the way it made him feel and he didn’t like the way it
tasted. When asked do you like being around smokers his response was that he
doesn’t mind being around them he just doesn’t want to be around while they
smoke cause he doesn’t want to get in trouble for something he wasn’t doing.
When asked would you ever try smoking again his response was no because it is
not good for your body and he didn’t like the way it made him feel. When asked
do you prefer doing a different drug he responded quickly with a NO he does not
do any drugs. When asked do you smoke cigarettes his answer was no, he sure
doesn’t smoke anything. When asked do you no like smokers his response was he
doesn’t really care what others do with their lives he just doesn’t want to be
around cause he doesn’t like the smell of the smoke. When asked do you think
marijuana should be legalized his answer was that he didn’t really care if it is
or not it doesn’t really concern him at all. When asked have you ever tried
smoking pot he responded yes and will never do it again. When asked would you
ever try smoking again he answered no since it is not good for your body and his
body and health is very important to him. After my interviews I can now see the
different out looks on the subject from a user to a non-user, a user, and a
non- user.
In my opinion I think marijuana should not be considered a drug since no
one has ever died from smoking it. To die from smoking marijuana you would have
to smoke half of your body weight in one sitting and you would pass out before
you even got close to doing it. If the government wants to make something
illegal they should make alcohol illegal since millions if not billions of
people have died from it or accidents from someone being drunk. I think most
people are against marijuana because they think it is a gateway drug and for
some this may be true, but to me I think it’s up to you if you allow marijuana
to be a gateway drug in your life. I know people who have smoked marijuana for
many years and they have not wanted to try other drugs because they got bored of
smoking marijuana. The only bad thing is that marijuana is becoming stronger
and stronger as the years go on. It is definitely not the same drug it was back
in the sixties. Since people are finding different ways to grow it and clone the
drug to start different strains of it to make it stronger and now people are
becoming addicted to it. They will get with drawls if they do not keep the drug
in their system just like being addicted to any other drug. There are even
people who are starting to go to rehab to help them get off marijuana.
In my eyes if the government wants to make something illegal it should be
alcohol. In the U.S 71 people die every day due to alcohol related accidents.
Now have you ever heard of anyone dying from marijuana? No. There are no
reported deaths from marijuana over dose. For someone to die from smoking
marijuana they would have to smoke 800 joints in a short period of time to cause
death which is kind of impossible without passing out after the five or so
depending on how many joints you could smoke in a short period of time. I don’t
think anyone even the biggest smoker would even attempt to smoke that many
joints in a short period of time.
Now that there are new marijuana synthetics called K2 or spice that are
used for those who can’t smoke marijuana if they are on UAs or other drug tests.
You can’t detect spice in your urine. This is much more dangerous than the
natural marijuana. You can easily over dose off of it and it can send you into a
coma or can cause death. Since so
many people were dying from K2 they have remade it and tried to make it safer
for consumption, I don’t believe that it is any better. It’s still bad for you
no matter what.
There are so many teens getting in trouble for having marijuana and
paraphernalia on them which is a petty crime, but cops to seem to make a huge
deal about it. In 2009 alone over 200,000 people were charged with some kind of
crime involving marijuana charge. Those numbers have sky rocked since then. If
the government took control and made marijuana legal and just made it like
cigarettes I think our crime rate would tremendously go down and there wouldn’t
be so many people getting charged with petty crimes, and the cops would have to
find better things to do than stand around waiting for teens to mess up. They
could sell it to those who are 18 and up or 21 and up. Then our economy could
get better. We could use everything the plant give us and make a lot of money
for our country. Maybe if all that happened marijuana wouldn’t be such a big
issue in the United States. There are way worse things happening across the
country than people smoking marijuana, but for some reason the police officers
act as if marijuana is the biggest crime happening on the streets. It seems like
in our small towns the police officers search for teens smoking marijuana when
they could be doing better things like stopping people from drinking and
driving. I thought police officers were supposed to serve and protect not harass
teens and adult about something that isn’t killing us. If people smoking
marijuana, are not harming others than police officers should just let them life
their lives. I know that marijuana is harmful to a teenager’s body, they could
be doing a lot worst things that are way more harmful for your body and do way
more damage, but the government still makes marijuana a huge deal amount young
people.
I interviewed two people one person who was completely against smoking
marijuana and marijuana in general than I interviewed someone who was completely
for it and would want it to be legalized right away. I asked the person who was
against it a few questions. When asked what is it about marijuana that makes you
not like it so much their answer was that they don’t like it because they don’t
see the purpose in it, I know some people use it for medical reasons, but I
don’t think others should use it if they don’t have a medical condition
requiring them to use it. People who get high all the time normally don’t have
anything going for them in life they are to anti motivated to do anything. Some
may go far, but the ones who have let marijuana take over their lives are
normally just lazy people. I just don’t understand why people like it so much.
What is so fun about harming your body and your brain? When asked have you ever
tried smoking marijuana so you can see why people like it so much their answer
was no I have never tried it before I’m not stupid enough to purposely harm my
body. I like keeping myself healthy and active and smoking marijuana would ruin
all of that. When asked do any of your friends smoke marijuana their response
was yes many of them do and I don’t judge them for it, but when I try and keep
my distance when they are smoking because I don’t like the way they act when
they are high. I can see in many of my friends that marijuana is affecting them
in bad ways. They are always lazy and they eat constantly. I don’t want my life
to end up like that and I hate watching my friends ruin their life with this
drug. And yes I do think it is a drug. When asked do you ever voice your opinion
to your friends about marijuana their response was yes I tell them all the time
that it is bad for them and that it is going to make them lazy and that they
are not going to do anything with their lives if they keep smoking, but most of
them don’t listen to me they just keep smoking. I wish I could get through to
them so that they still might have a chance at making something of
themselves. When asked what made
you hate marijuana so bad if you have never tried it their answer was I have
seen what it has done to many of my friends and some of my family members and I
don’t want to end up like them. I don’t like how they act while they are stoned
and I realized I never want to be like that and I’m someone who has to have
control of myself and my life and I feel like marijuana makes you lose control
of everything. It changes people and I don’t want to let a stupid drug like
marijuana change me and get in the way of my dreams. Now I asked someone who
was all for marijuana a few questions. When asked what is it about marijuana
that makes you like it so much their answer was I like the way it makes me
feel. I like how it relaxes you and make you calm and I also love how it makes
everything funny and every food tastes good. I like how I can take the best
naps when I am stoned. When asked would you ever want to change anything about
it their answer was well first off I would want it to be cheaper but other than
that I would make it so it didn’t take so much to get high once your tolerance
gets high for it. I would make it so strong that it only took one hit to make
you stoned out of your mind. It takes so much for me to get high that I have to
spend a lot of my money on bigger amounts just so I can get the same high as a
beginner smoker does. When asked do you to be legalized to all or do you think
it should only be legal to people of a certain age like alcohol or cigarettes
and their answer was well I’m eighteen so I think it should be legalized to
anyone eighteen and older, but I don’t want our government to tax it and make
it expensive because if they do that there will still be crime since people
will know that people will still buy off the streets for a cheaper price. Just
like if people sold cigarettes on the streets I’m sure no one would buy them
from the stores since they are almost seven dollars a pack. When asked do you
think marijuana is harmful to your body their response was I don’t think
marijuana is THAT harmful to your body. I mean don’t get me wrong I have
noticed some changes in myself since I started smoking like I seem to only eat
when I am high, I can’t sleep at night if I’m not stoned, I’m tired if I
haven’t smoked yet, I get mood swings when I go for a period of time without
it, my memory is getting pretty bad. I can only remember things from when I was
sober and I seem to be breaking out a lot on my face, but that could be from
just being a teen. I have noticed that my grades in school have gone down. I
never have the energy to do my homework. I seem to have better things to do
like smoke than to get my school work done. My teachers are starting to notice
and so is my mom. They both think I should quit since it seems to be getting in
the way of me getting an education, but I like it so much that I don’t want to
quit. That’s the last thing I want to do right now. After seeing all the
changes in me I guess it could be pretty harmful to my body, but I am willing
to chance my body being harmed to get high. When asked do you only smoke
marijuana or do you add other drugs along with it to make it seem more fun
their answer was no I do not add other drugs to it. I have tried other drugs
but not at the same time as being high other than alcohol and I hated that it
gave me really bad spins. I try and just smoke weed. When asked do you think
marijuana is a gateway drug their answer was no. I don’t think it is a gateway
drug I think kids use that as their excuse for being stupid and trying other
drugs. I have never got so bored of marijuana to where I wanted to go try a
completely different drug that affects you completely different. I like having
control of myself and I feel like doing hard drugs like ecstasy and acid make
you lose control of your body completely. At least when you are high you can
still function and do your daily routines if you were messed up on acid there
is no way you could go do everything you do sober like you can when you are
only high off marijuana. I like to think it helps me get things done in my day.
If anything I think it is a gateway drug to your fridge. That’s where I’m
always heading when I am stoned I’m not heading to find other drugs. When asked
would you recommend for other teens to start smoking marijuana their answer was
well I mean I think everyone should try it so they don’t judge it before ever
trying it, but I don’t think young kids should be doing it like they are. I
don’t think them smoking a lot constantly like me is a good idea if they have
never smoked before, but I think in your life you should at least try
everything once well maybe not everything but most things. I tried it and loved
it and always will, but I hope I can give it up when I get older so my kids
don’t think it’s ok because I’m doing it.
After all the research I have done I have seen different views on
marijuana and the things it can do to a teenager’s body. Some like the way
marijuana makes them feel, but I know that everyone who does smoke marijuana can
see the changes it is doing to their bodies. Marijuana may not be the most
harmful drug out there, but it is obviously not good for you. It harms your body
in many different ways and it only harms a teenager worst since a teen is not
completely developed so the marijuana is harming organs and cells in a teen’s
body that are not even fully grown. The people who smoke at a young age will
soon see the changes and I’m sure they will see the harm it as caused once they
become adults. People will always be fighting to get marijuana legalized or to
keep it legal and if the government does decide to legalize it there will still
be people bitching about it. I don’t think anyone who is currently a marijuana
user is going to stop just because the government and the police are making
marijuana such a big deal they are just going to keep doing what they have been
doing for years. I don’t think even people finding out how harmful the drug is
will stop them from smoking. Everyone knows how back cigarettes are for the
human body and look how many Americans are still buying and smoking cigarettes
every day. Seems to me once you become addicted to a drug of any sort you will
never stop until you are forced to stop or something happens to make the person
want to stop by themselves. I have seen what marijuana can do to others and I
have seen what it has done to me, but honestly none of the information I have
learned really scares me since I am a cigarette smoker and all the info I read
said that cigarettes are worst for you than marijuana. I can honestly say I do
not like the things marijuana has done to me, but I like it so much I don’t want
to quit just like anyone else would say who is a user. I hope that marijuana
gets legalized just for the fact that it could help our economy. They could use
so much from the marijuana plant to make things that a lot of people would be
willing to use, but I don’t think it will ever be completely legalized and it is
just going to get harder and more complicated for people to get their medical
marijuana cards. There will always be something going on in our country
involving marijuana so I don’t see why so many people make it such a big deal.
People just like to have something to bitch about. No matter what happens with
the law involving marijuana people are still going to smoke marijuana they have
for many years and I don’t see any big reason for anyone who has been smoking
for most of their lives to quit no matter what the government does or has to
say. Marijuana will always fill our valleys and our
country.
Http://www.abovetheinfluence.com
http://www.usatoday.com
http://72.46.3.26/bayteam/MarijuanaTeenUse.pdf
http://alcoholism.about.com
http://www.drugpolicy.org
http://www.acde.org
http://wiki.answers.com
I interviewed David
I interviewed Ryan
I interviewed Jaarek
I also interviewed two
people that would like to remain anonymous