Marijuana is said to be a “gateway” drug, but if you were to stand on a stage and say that in public I guarantee half would argue that’s its true and the other half would argue that the statement is completely false. There are NO deaths known to man caused by the use of marijuana in any way, shape or form. Marijuana, Alcohol and Tobacco are the three most readily available drugs to teenagers and young adults. Therefore, these three drugs are given the most blame to the gateway effect (Marijuana being at the top of that list). While it is easiest to blame the only true considered “drug” on that list (marijuana), maybe we should stop being so oblivious and open our eyes to the truth. Alcohol and tobacco are damaging our society, bodies and our brains 10 times more than marijuana. Everything went wrong when alcohol was legalized and marijuana was criminalized. Yes, alcohol is consumed by billions of people every single day and the profit from alcohol sales is tremendous. That is only because half of these people are consuming alcohol for recreational purposes and the other half can’t physically start their day without it. According to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) tobacco is the leading preventable cause of death. Key word: preventable; we can stop this drug from killing our body but it’s too addicting to even try? Worldwide, tobacco use causes more than 5 million deaths per year, and current trends show that tobacco will cause more than 8 million deaths by 2030 (Center for Disease Control Prevention).
The only illegal drug on this list is the least harmful and most beneficial to our society, yet we choose to believe it is a danger to our health. I believe something needs to change here.
Sources:
Center for Disease and Control Prevention website: http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/
Yes there are no proven causes of death involving marijuana use. But I do think marijuana is somewhat of a gateway drug. Think of it this way; If you were willing to try marijuana, what makes you think that you wouldn't be willing to try another drug? I completely agree that marijuana should be at the bottom of our list of problems. Irresponsible alcohol and tobacco use are probably the leading causes of death in our country.
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