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Amelia Hill

March 22, 2019

English 1201

Prof. Stalbird

What is Marijuana, and How Does it Effect Americans?

Does anyone really know what marijuana does and how it effects Americans? Marijuana

is a plant that has been used for thousands of years to ease pain and for important parts of the

world’s lifestyle. Marijuana has many misconceptions and the word, “legalization”, scares

Americans because of them. Marijuana is used for medical purposes, and while research is

limited, has been used for a lot of healing and easing of pain. While there are a lot of

misconceptions about recreational marijuana, there are just as many about legalization of

marijuana. Legalization is viewed that anyone can use marijuana freely. However, marijuana

legalization would still have rules and laws to use it. Research shows that, although marijuana

could be abused, it can also be used in wise moderation to ease pain and to spur healing. The

research also shows that marijuana legalization isn’t as scary and bad as America’s been told.

The word, marijuana, sparks the thought of a stoner or a group of teenagers passing a

joint. While these things happen, there is so much more to this plant then reckless behavior.

The plant itself is actually really intricate. Marijuana comes from the dried leaves and flowers of

the plant, Cannabis sativa. The fuzzy looking plant contains delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or

THC (Caulkins, 7). THC is the main psychoactive ingredient that is responsible for the
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intoxication (Caulkins, 7). This ingredient comes mostly from the flower and partially from the

leaves.

It also produces, hemp. Because hemp is not intoxicating, it has been used for thousands

of years to produce rope, paper, and cloth (Caulkins, 10). By the 1500’s, marijuana was being

used for rope and clothes. Because these textiles were from a plant, it was much cheaper to use

then other products (Earlywine, 4-5). Cannabis, sativa has always been used to cure or ease

pain. The book, “Understanding Marijuana”, by Mitchell Earlywine, says, “The plant consistently

appeared in pharmacopoeia and folk medicine as a treatment for pain, seizure, muscle spasm,

poor appetite, nausea, insomnia, asthma, and depression. Its potential to alleviate labor pains,

premenstrual symptoms, and menstrual cramps” (Mitchell, 9). Marijuana is a fascinating plant

that has been used as a necessity to people’s health for a long time.

Marijuana’s effect is commonly known by society as being high. Although this is true,

there’s more to the science. Marijuana is under the category of a psychoactive drug, which is a
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drug that alters your consciousness. A drug that alters your consciousness means it changes

your mood, arousal, thinking, sensations, and perceptions by increasing or decreasing

neurotransmitter amounts. Marijuana is defined under the psychoactive drug as a, psychedelic.

Psychedelics, “induce perceptual distortions, alter mood, and affect thinking” (Dr. Soltysiak,

personal interview, 2019). Because marijuana alters your consciousness, it can be dangerous to

drive or take on situations that risk safety when under the influence. While marijuana does

wear off on your consciousness, it will be in your body for a few weeks. However, marijuana is

not addicting and is impossible to overdose. The use of marijuana should be defined better than

being high.

Marijuana is used for both recreation and medical purposes. Studies have shown that

almost half of recreational users, who smoke a joint, use a bong, brownies, or other ways of use

are usually only experimenters. Caulkins says, “Relatively few people who try marijuana become

heavy users, but those heavy users consume most of the marijuana” (Caulkins, 29). This means

that marijuana is not usually used regularly, however, if someone continues to use marijuana, it

is in heavy dosage. Compared to the heavy use of other drugs, marijuana is not usually

addictive.

While recreational marijuana use is not advocated, medical marijuana is. Medical

marijuana has been tested to researcher’s best abilities. “Smoked marijuana also may have

fewer side effects than oral THC and many other drugs. Patients can smoke a small amount,

notice effects in a few minutes, and alter their dosages to keep adverse reactions to a

minimum.”, however, “smoked marijuana for brief interventions or as a treatment for the

terminally ill has no more negative side effects than many other popular drugs.” (Earlywine,
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171). This shows that marijuana is not more harmful than other drugs used for healing. Because

it is not as harmful, it is used to prevent or ease pain in, “seizures, tumors, insomnia, menstrual

cramps, premenstrual syndrome, Crohn’s disease, tinnitus, schizophrenia, adult attention deficit

disorder, uncontrollable violent episodes, post-traumatic stress disorder, and, surprisingly, drug

addiction.”(Earlywine, 171). Every drug between one for a cold or cancer has side effects. When

patients hear marijuana as a recreational drug, they become overwhelmed by the side effects,

even though they are just as similar as any other drug, and don’t focus on the benefits.

Just like any other medical or recreational drug, marijuana does have effects. When

marijuana is smoked, cannabinoids evaporate and will cause respiratory damage. However,

there are other ways like vaping, or by pills. It is impossible to overdose and die on marijuana,

however, a very high overdose can put an individual into the hospital. Marijuana does not

cause cancer, however, smoking could possibly cause it, but it has not been proven yet.
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Secondhand marijuana smoke can be dangerous, but only to those who are actively around

heavy smokers. Marijuana, just like any other drug, has risks.

Medical marijuana’s effects are harder to research and sell than recreational marijuana.

Because recreational marijuana is sold illegally, research is done on those who use it illegally

because the researchers are not distributing it. Mitch Earlywine says, “People tend to publish

and remember the successful treatments but forget the failures. Without a placebo control, we

do not know if improvements arose simply from expectation”. (Earlywine, 170). These studies

are expensive to do because marijuana is so cheap and the studies are too expensive to take on.

In addition to this, companies know they will not make as much money off of marijuana, and

don’t want to sell it.

Although all of this information is real and supported, society still has concerns about

what marijuana does. One major concern of marijuana’s effects is, amotivational syndrome. This

means society is concerned that marijuana will cause a lack of motivation or depression due to

how marijuana alters consciousness. Because researchers don’t want to cause any pain to

humans, it is difficult for them to measure what marijuana does. Researchers measured work

ethic under the influence of marijuana. The results showed that although people weren’t apt to

do the boring things, they were much more active in other regions. For example, while they

didn’t sit at a desk well, their physical labor improved. “Depressed people might perform poorly

and choose to use cannabis. People with certain personality characteristics might choose to use

marijuana and make school or work a low priority.” (Earlywine, 204). Results showed that,

amotivational syndrome or depression is really up to the individual and how they choose to

respond.
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Another concern is underage use after legalization. Pew Research Center says, “(54%)

say legalizing marijuana would lead to more underage people trying it.”, 44% said it would not

lead to underage people trying it, and 2% said they didn’t know. This is a fair concern when a

developing brain could have difficulties while under the influence.

While these are genuine concerns, society is quick to get stuck on them and not find a

way to solve them or better understand them. Each of these concerns are small compared to

what good marijuana can bring for people. However, the other part of society needs to be using

marijuana to its beneficial abilities, and not risking these concerns.

Just as there are misconceptions about marijuana, there are just as many about

marijuana legalization. But, what is marijuana legalization? Anti-marijuana laws started in 1910,

and marijuana was banned in 1937. Laws now say that, “Possession, transportation, cultivation,

sales, offering to sell, and driving under the influence all qualify” for fines (Earlywine, 225).

Caulkins says that drug legalization is, “allowing production, distribution, and selling of a drug.
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Possession and use would be legal for all or most adults” (Caulkins, 103). This shows that

marijuana legalization would not mean anyone could get a hold of marijuana. Legalizing

marijuana would be similar to how alcohol is restricted and distributed, and with very similar

laws.

Legalization has varying opinions on its results. A study from Pew Research Center says

“When asked which is more harmful to a person’s health, 69% of Americans say alcohol, while

just 15% consider marijuana to be more harmful. Similarly, 63% say that if marijuana were as

widely available as alcohol, the latter would be more harmful to society; 23% say marijuana

would do the most harm.” What’s wrong about what these Americans think is, that alcohol is

not more dangerous than marijuana, and if a person is going to use something to calm

themselves, marijuana would be better for them.

Another opinion about legalization from the Pew Research Center, is that, “63% would

be bothered if people used marijuana in public, including a sizable minority (39%) of those who

say marijuana use by adults should be legal for personal use.” This is a very controversial

question. The numbers show that it is a wide range of people who want the marijuana to stay in

homes, away from them and their family members, and people who don’t mind and only want

it used personally. This is an important factor that should be considered into legalization.

Another important opinion and question about marijuana is, “where will it be sold?”. If

marijuana was legalized, it would have to be distributed from somewhere, whether it was

grown in their backyard or sold in a store. An issue the government would have to research and

decide is where and how it would be distributed. Pew Research Center says that, “When asked
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if it would bother them if a store or business selling marijuana legally opened up in their

neighborhood, about six-in-ten (57%) say they would not be bothered, but majorities of those

who say marijuana use should not be legal (76%) and those who say it should only be legal for

medicinal use (57%) would be bothered by this.”

Marijuana legalization has many things the government would have to figure out for

states, including Ohio. In previous years, Ohio has initiated legalization and has failed. “In 2012,

Ohio officers arrested or cited 14,374 people for marijuana-related offenses, 94% of which were

for possession only” (Marijuana Policy Project). Since then, Ohioans have been gathering

signatures for legalization and have been denied. Marijuana legalization in Ohio would be, “The

measure would legalize the use, possession, and sale of marijuana for persons age 21 or older in

Ohio. The measure would authorize the Ohio General Assembly to enact a tax on retail sales of

marijuana” (Ballotpedia.com). By the next vote in 2019, Ohioans will probably continue their

petition to legalize.
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The research done in other marijuana legalized states, show neutral results. Obviously,

number of use went up. However, because the usage percent went, researchers wanted to

know how this affected crime rates in Colorado. While aggravated assault rose, other rates

lowered. (Caulkins, 222). Legalization seemed to lower crime rates in Colorado and Washington.

While this drug was being illegally sold and cause crimes to occur, legalizing it gave easier access

and prevents crime. Caulkins says, “Not all illegal transactions are alike. Supplying those under

21 remains entirely illegal, and about 20 percent of the marijuana consumed in the United

States is consumed by people under the age of 21. In some technical sense that is all illicit

supply, although when a 21-year-old purchases marijuana legally and then gives some to a 19-

year-old friend, no criminal organization profits, and no one is likely to get shot or arrested.”

(Caulkins, 219). While this is unethical, this is safe than before. The 19 year old would have a

higher risk of crime before it was legalized for the 21 year old to give it to him. Surely changes

like these in states are difficult, but if they reduce crime rate in Colorado and Washington, it

may reduce the rate in other states as well.

Reflecting this information, marijuana should be used to heal and ease pain. Because

marijuana is a helpful drug that comes from natural resource, it should be used in safe

moderation to heal. Marijuana should not be used only to alter consciousness, like alcohol is,

but to heal. Society portrays marijuana as a bad thing, but Americans should do more research

and use marijuana wiser.

Legalization has many possibilities. It could be used to ease pain easier, but it could also

leave easier to access to unwise individuals who could use it dangerously. Before voting for or

against legalization, society should bring themselves to awareness about what legalization really
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will do and build their opinions from there. In addition to this, the government should form a

better system to sell and distribute marijuana to prevent issues to the best of their ability.

In conclusion, marijuana is a healthy plant with a lot of good causes. The use of

marijuana has been beneficial for centuries for textiles, and healing. However, because certain

use in this century can be harmful, use of medical marijuana is the best way of use to prevent

irrational behavior that could result in sickness. Legalization should be rationally thought about

before enacted. Legalization will not mean that anyone can use marijuana, legalization would

result in controlled distribution, and would be treated similarly as alcohol. Research shows that,

although marijuana could be abused, it can also be used in wise moderation to ease pain and to

spur healing. The research also shows that marijuana legalization isn’t as scary and bad as

America’s been told.

Works Cited
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All images are from shutterstock.com

Project, Marijuana Policy. “Ohio.” MPP, Feb. 2019, www.mpp.org/states/ohio/.

Caulkins, Jonathan P., et al. Marijuana Legalization: What Everyone Needs to Know.

Oxford University Press, 2016.

Earleywine, Mitchell. Understanding Marijuana. [Electronic Resource] : A New Look at

the Scientific Evidence. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, [2002], 2002.

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

irect=true&db=cat01128a&AN=scc.b1694101&site=eds-live.

Jacobsen, Brian, et al. “Cannabis Science: How Marijuana Affects Health.” Top

Documentary Films, 9 Nov. 2013, topdocumentaryfilms.com/cannabis-science-how marijuana

affects-health/.

Kilmer, Beau. “Marijuana Legalization.” RAND Corporation, 2018, www.rand.org/well

being/justice-policy/centers/dprc/marijuana.html.

Marijuana: Health Effects. [Electronic Resource]. Tempe : Do It Now Foundation, 2007,

2007. EBSCOhost,sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?

irect=true&db=ca01128a&AN=scc.b1624195&site=eds-live.

Pew Research Center. “Public Views of Marijuana – Legalization, Decriminalization,

Concerns.”Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, Pew Research Center for

the People and the Press, 18 Sept. 2018, www.people-press.org/2014/04/02/section

2views-of-marijuana-legalization-decriminalization-concerns/.