How Should Marijuana be Categorized? | Teen Ink

How Should Marijuana be Categorized?

October 28, 2010
By Kaytee Trithart BRONZE, Hartville, Ohio
Kaytee Trithart BRONZE, Hartville, Ohio
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

"There goes that drug head!" That's what people say about her. They say she's screwing up her life, killing brain cells, and she'll have no future. Why is this? All of this unfair judgment because she smokes marijuana. Is marijuana all that bad? People say yes, but studies say different. Marijuana, or pot as people call it, is not a hardcore narcotic. It is not a physically addictive drug. It takes many years to kill brain cells but people don't know that. We shouldn't throw marijuana in with the other drugs and narcotics like cocaine and meth because studies show its not as bad.

In the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine's federal study it says, "Millions of Americans have tried marijuana but most are not regular users, and few marijuana users become dependent on it." Even science medicine institutions say that pot isn't the highly addictive drug everyone makes it out to be. It also doesn't ruin your life like people say. Smoking marijuana is like watching television; you love to do it and you hate to give it up but its not impossible. Although it is a drug, dependence isn't as great as many other drugs other there. Also, there are little to no withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawing from marijuana is painless, irritating, but painless. You go through greater pain withdrawing from alcohol or tobacco then marijuana and those are legal for adults according to law.

People who smoke pot love it. They don't need it, but they love it. The "addiction" to pot is all in your mind. The withdrawal from pot is all in your head The "need" for pot is all in your head. Using marijuana is basically the same as people having a hobby! They love it so much and it gives them great pleasure. But do they need it? Do they get sick of it if the don't continue on with it? With it kill them without it? Of course not, think about it!

If marijuana is so bad then why do doctors prescribe it? Medical marijuana has many uses and it helps many people. When cancer patients smoke marijuana it helps tremendous amounts. Since it helps, are we exaggerating the negativity of it? It can help and it can hurt but it doesn't effect you like you think. Most pot smokers can willingly stop smoking whenever they want, and it barely affects their well-being. Many chronic marijuana smokers can do as much as a non-smoker with little to no restrictions to physical or mental ability. If you let pot bring you down, it will. If you let pot make you dumb and tired and lazy, it will. If you choose to smoke it and not let it ruin your social and educational life, it wont.

In a world where people use logic and reason they wont say, "There goes that drug head!" They would know that the girl gets good grades and participates in many sports and still uses marijuana. She can walk down the halls okay with herself because she knows that marijuana isn't like the other horrible, life consuming drugs out there. She's read the studies and she understands. I personally don't think people should look at marijuana as a drug taking over millions, but more life a recreational activity that lets teens get awat for awhile and have fun. Im not saying we should all go blaze up, only that maybe we should rethink the way we look at marijuana smokers.


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This article has 6 comments.


Caravana GOLD said...
on Feb. 20 2012 at 11:11 am
Caravana GOLD, Joplin, Missouri
11 articles 1 photo 14 comments

Favorite Quote:
Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through him who gives me strength."

If used for medical use it may not be bad but you must remember that many do abuse its use they use it for selfish reason and though it is not physically addictive it is a habit that is formed and can change a person. I see your point and like your writing style it was very well written.

on Nov. 2 2011 at 10:14 am
ilove thiis story

on Apr. 18 2011 at 10:06 am
ohsopoisonous GOLD, Salisbury, North Carolina
11 articles 0 photos 16 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I don't care if it hurts, I want to have control. I want a perfect body, I want a perfect soul. I want you to notice when I'm not around." -Radiohead.

I agree with you.

I don't smoke it, I've tried it, but I didn't fancy it too much. But I believe it can harm you more than you think, but obviously not to someone like you. People who smoke should read studies and understand it's contrast with pot and other drugs, because like Josephines friend, many consider it as a gateway drug. My brother started smoking weed. He is an idiot, and got into more hardcore stuff. He is 18 now but he still is about as immature as the kids at my middle school.

Lesson to learn; if you're an idiot, do not smoke weed. <3


Jubilee BRONZE said...
on Nov. 16 2010 at 12:48 pm
Jubilee BRONZE, Brainerd, Minnesota
3 articles 0 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
If your not in, your out.

Totally agree. People need to get the facts straight and notice that things they have legal today are worse then even pot truly is! Just my personal opinion on this which i  know many parents and just people woiuld disagree on but Alcohol is worse then Pot. On many levels.  truthfully at lease pot makes you happy.  i'd explain more on my point but have to go. stick to your point. truth hurts thats why you get haters

on Nov. 16 2010 at 7:18 am
Josephine SILVER, Omaha, Nebraska
6 articles 0 photos 3 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot; Remembering is always about some degree of forgetting. The task is to keep reminding ourselves what is worth remembering.&quot; &quot;Help those who cannot help themselves and protect those who cannot protect themselves.&quot;

Ive thought bout most of that before. But my friend smokes pot, she can't live without it. When she has a withdraw shes a total bit**. I wish she would at least smoke after school, not before, and after all her work is done. Instead of going to work high. Shes to that point where she doesn't care anymore. She thinks all the other drugs will be okay for her since pot didn't harm her. I don't want her to end up in rehab like my previous friend. So is it true that wed is a gateway drug? probably. Weed it self isn't bad, until you base your whole life around it

on Nov. 8 2010 at 6:39 pm
jessenielsen BRONZE, Candler, North Carolina
2 articles 0 photos 17 comments

Favorite Quote:
&quot;other men said they have seen angels, but i have seen thee, and thou art enough&quot;- g. moore

many of your thoughts have crossed my mind, but i think there are some holes in your reasoning. the main reason educated people put down marijuana is that it is in fact a gate way drug. it may be very well true that marijuana in controlled use can be safe, but the potential of it leading to the use of other more harmful drugs is not only prodicted, but proven. know that im not saying if you smoke some weed, you will go on to shoot heroin. just that in many cases, the use of marijuana has opened people to more power and more damaging drugs. that is the main concern. brain cells are not lost over years, they can be lost in a matter of seconds. brain cells also regenrate quicky, but not nearly as quick as they can be lost. anything that ulters your sense of reality is haveing a direct and negative affect on your brain. docters give marijuana to cancer for no other reason then to lesson there pain, marijuana is not helping them get better. its a better alternative to morphine. now i agree that people should not judge for what many do for recrational purposes, but marijuana is bad for you. maybe not to the point of destroying your life, but non the less bad. the human brain and its mind are so complex, even or best research doesnt even touch the compexity and excellence of the brian. thats why it is dangerous to expeirment with mind ultering substances.