Every time the topic of marijuana comes up, there will be one party that says, “Marijuana is so much better for you than alcohol!” whilst another party will say, “But there’s a reason why it’s illegal!” I always said the latter, and I always knew it was such a terrible point of argument mainly because I never even knew the reason.
So, I decided to do my own research instead of having close-minded notions based on what others tell me about marijuana.
Just remember, I am not trying to persuade anyone to do or do not do anything. I just wanted to research all this for myself so I have a better understanding, and I thought it would be cool to let others know too.
I did a lot of research (mainly just shallow Googling), and all my links and references are at the bottom of the blog. I hate reading long paragraphs of stuff so I did my best to try and summarise everything I read (but it’s still quite long sorry). Also, because it was shallow Googling, the reliability and stuff of the websites I guess aren’t very good, but I do have quite a lot of research from my Psych textbooks and stuff too.
SO HERE GOES:
The Innocent Days:
Marijuana has spent the majority of time being legal and even a critical resource
The hemp plant was used for food, cloth, rope and sometimes even as tax payment
The first American law related to marijuana was actually one requiring it to be grown by all farmers
Mexicans, Mormons and Musicians:
Crossing the border, cheap labour and The Depression caused Americans to hate the Mexicans
The Mexicans brought marijuana to smoke
Mormons were influence by the Mexicans and started smoking marijuana too
“In Texas, a senator said on the floor of the Senate: “All Mexicans are crazy, and this stuff [marijuana] is what makes them crazy.””
Shortly after, “preparations of hemp” were prohibited in states with large Mexican-American populations
Marijuana was also popularised by Latin-America and black jazz musicians which led to weird and fearful rumours of kidnappings and assassinations carried out by these so-called drugged maniacs
“Newspapers in 1934 editorialized: “Marihuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men’s shadows and look at a white woman twice.””
Blatant Racism:
Some guy called Harry J. Anslinger manipulated the facts about marijuana in the attempt to boost his career. This quote pretty much sums up everything:
“There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others.”
This guy had a friend called William Randolf Hearst who owned a chain of newspapers and absolutely hated Mexicans, a convenient combination.
I’m a bit lazy so let’s skip to…
Marijuana in Australia:
Pretty much the same innocence as in America
Only known as ‘cannabis’, it became popular during the Victorian times, with Queen Victoria herself a noted user
THAT SAME GUY Harry J. Anslinger spread his campaign to Australia, resulting in the drug to be outlawed in 1938
“For this generation of Australians, cannabis was to be "the dreaded sex drug marihuana". It was an "Evil Sex Drug" which causes "it's victim's to behave like raving sex maniacs."”
Americans renaming it to ‘marijuana’ helped mask the fact that this “Evil Sex Drug” was the very same one they had been using their whole lives
Down the line in 1975, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam condemned this US policy and intended to legalise marijuana in Australia, yet was dismissed in one of the most controversial events of Australian history
After this, the Conservatives brought back the “War on drugs”
So that’s basically the history of it. There’s little to no scientific influence or legitimate health concerns that have resulted in the outlawing of marijuana, so here is a summation of the good and bad of marijuana:
Physical problems:
Smoking marijuana can damage your lungs in the same way smoking tobacco can, including respiratory diseases and maybe even lung cancer (but the data and results for lung cancer are quite inconsistent)
It is unclear whether marijuana reduces one’s immune response as marijuana smokers do not appear to get infectious diseases any more than non-users
Research suggests that there isn’t really any harm relating to male fertility or sexual functioning
Addiction:
Marijuana is second to alcohol when it comes to substance dependence in the U.S.
It shares some features of addictive drugs, including tolerance (needing to take more to get the same effect) and withdrawal symptoms in heavy users (and by heavy, I mean users that are pretty much taking it every day) that have similar levels of discomfort as tobacco withdrawal
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Mental Problems
(But there is more research needed in this area):
Regular use doubles the risk of developing a psychotic episode or long-term schizophrenia
Regular use increases the risk of depression, with daily users being five times more likely to develop depression and anxiety later in life
The earlier and more you use marijuana, the more likely you are to develop schizophrenia. This is particularly relevant in those under 15 years old and even continues on through teenage years because brain development and neural pruning still occurs
Those with family backgrounds of mental illnesses would have a genetic vulnerability and thus are more likely to develop mental health problems such as schizophrenia
Other Problems:
Drug-impaired driving can increase the chances of being involved in car accidents resulting in injuries or even deaths
Marijuana is used as an “entryway drug” which means that it could lead to testing of other more severe drugs which may be extremely dangerous
There is a very weak connection between marijuana use and poor school or work performance, but marijuana use does result in more mistakes at work
Generally the problems marijuana users get are only for those who are very heavy users and these problems include attention and memory impairments even when users are not high, however these problems are “modest and certainly not disabling, and one study found that the deficits vanished after a month of marijuana abstinence”
There’s some stuff about tax that I don’t really understand but seems interesting if you want to check it out yourself
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Medical Uses:
It can be used as medicine in a variety of ways other than smoking because of the tetrahydrocannabinol or THC present in it
It is effective in relieving chronic pains and symptoms of diseases such as cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, and HIV and is also good for treating nausea, migraines, appetite loss, and other illnesses
Comparison with Other Drugs:
Here is a lovely table from my Psych textbook:
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As you can see, marijuana is not as bad as alcohol and other drugs like cocaine (stimulant) and heroin (narcotic).
If we look at the drug-related deaths, we see that marijuana actually has the lowest percentage of deaths. Note that it does not actually cause fatal overdoses and that the 6% of deaths are mainly because of drug-impaired driving:
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Also, this table on drug-related harms shows that cannabis is in the middle, lower than legalised alcohol, tobacco and even some prescription drugs:
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Here are two unrelated images, but they do make you think a bit more about this stuff:
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In conclusion, I hope this has helped you understand a bit more about marijuana and its effects. I personally wouldn’t take marijuana because it’s illegal. But in saying that, piracy is illegal and I know a lot of people who pirate things and chewing gum is illegal in Singapore but obviously there’s not much that’s wrong with chewing gum. Sometimes things are illegal for good reasons and sometimes they’re not. I think we’ve established that marijuana falls into the latter. Even if it were legalised I don’t know what I would do, but even with all this newfound knowledge it’s really hard for me to change my mind about certain things. However, I am much more open-minded to this sort of thing, but I would still frown upon anyone who would want to take marijuana on a regular basis (because this actually does lead to negative health effects and such). I honestly have no idea where I stand with this and I just wanted to present all these facts to you guys so you can make your own informed opinions.
Hope you enjoyed this =]
Bibliography:
(Click on links to open in new tab)
A lot of research was obtained from my Psych textbook “Psychology Themes and Variations” pages 214 and 216 of the 9th edition for those who have it. The tables and diagrams came from the textbook, the CD that came with the textbook and my Neuroscience lecture notes.
Why is Marijuana Illegal?
The History of Cannabis in Australia
Why We Should Not Legalize Marijuana
Learn About the Advantages and Disadvantages of Marijuana Use
Medical Marijuana
Legal Marijuana’s Advantages and Disadvantages
Cannabis and Mental Health
