Without a doubt marijuana is one of the most controversial and debated issues throughout the past century. Many people seldom achieve a full understanding of the substance as they tend to fall into a pre-programmed false perception that marijuana is simply a drug, better yet a bad drug.
Part of the problem is that the facts of marijuana are not portrayed properly by individuals in a position of influence, such as government, which could be why people are vulnerable to false perception. It is inevitable that when given misinformation by supposedly trustworthy people, opinions will be swayed, thus why some never question for truth.
In order to obtain the truth on marijuana, one must go to accurate, informative sources, such as magazines devoted to the cause. Examples would be High Times and Treating Yourself, however there are several others available as well. Better yet, one could use the information highway, the internet, to obtain truth and facts on marijuana, especially what misleading governments don’t want you to know.
For instance, do you know:
There are NO known deaths from marijuana use! However:
1. According to the World Health Organization, around 6 million deaths a year are caused by tobacco.
2. According to the NHTSA web site (nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/RNotes/2006/810686.pdf), there were 43,443 alcohol-related traffic fatalities in 2005 in the USA. Overall 100,000 deaths occur each year due to the effects of alcohol.
3. According to NaturalNews.com, prescription drugs are responsible for more deaths than traffic accidents.
Yet tobacco, alcohol and prescription drugs are all legal substances. Furthermore, although there may be some monitoring of prescription drugs, alcohol and tobacco are not limited or monitored when it pertains to individual consumption.
Marijuana is much more cost efficient to produce than prescribed pharmaceuticals!
1. The Canadian Pharmacists Association reported to the Romanow Commission that between $2-$9 billion per year is wasted on the overuse and misuse of prescription drugs.
2. the cost to grow marijuana figures out to pennies a day. This would drastically lessen the burden on healthcare and insurance plans that currently cover the cost of pharmaceutical drugs.
Most common side effects of marijuana:
1. Munchies. People tend to snack more while consuming marijuana.
2. Calm. Mind and body become relaxed (perceived as lazy by some, however some people need to relax to alleviate pain). Think in depth. People tend to focus better on a topic or conversation. This extends to analytical thinking on a subject, suggesting that problem-solving could be better achieved while using marijuana.
3. Happy – care free attitude. Think about it – when was the last time that you heard of someone using marijuana who robbed a convenience store? Shot someone? Started a bar fight, etc.? It’s not surprising that you can’t remember – those examples don’t exist. The fact is marijuana does not create such violent behaviors. In fact, the only thing that marijuana users are guilty of is using marijuana to begin with (according to government restrictions – as they categorize it with hard drugs such as cocaine).
It is time that people realize that marijuana is NOT a lethal drug like cocaine, nor is it a “gate-way” drug to harder substances. The fact is, many people who use cocaine (and harder drugs), abuse prescription drugs, etc., have never as much as tried marijuana. This is a statement that anti-marijuana users want you to believe. On this same note, many marijuana users have never tried harder substances, or ever intend to for that matter.
Marijuana helps numerous medical conditions! To name a few:
1. Arthritis, Cancer, Epilepsy, Chronic Pain, Asthma – yes believe it, marijuana relaxes the bronchial tubes which opens air-ways. ADHD – It calms people so that they can mentally focus on a topic of conversation.
Although it is unknown exactly how many conditions marijuana can help, a more extensive list can be found by visiting: http://www.medicalmarijuanablog.com/benefits/conditions-helped.html
It’s funny how people don’t judge their mother when she uses dangerous pharmaceuticals like OxyContin (cause of almost 1000 deaths, 2000 related crimes & 20,000 ER visits, per year just in the US) or Fentanyl (one of the most powerful opioid analgesics with a potency approximately 81 times that of morphine) and yet they judge others for using marijuana? A bit hypocritical really.
It is time that people look at marijuana for what it is, a substance that can help and even heal people in some cases. It is not life-threatening, it doesn’t increase crime, and people categorize it with hard drugs only because our governments have done so for many years.
Possibly if people understand the miracle plant a bit better the government will decriminalize marijuana. However until the “old school thinkers” begin to think outside the box, the rules and regulations will only tighten, causing a bigger financial crunch within society. If marijuana was decriminalized, our law enforcement agencies could better spend their time and our money on real crime such as murder, rape, and child abuse rather than chasing, trialing (courts), and jailing people who posses or grow a bit of marijuana.