Cons of Marijuana

Cannabis Sativa is a dangerous drug due to the difficulties in regulating all the chemicals contained in the plant and the increase risk for disease that it causes. In "The Use of Marijuana as a Medicine," the California Narcotics Officers Association says the reasons against medicinal marijuana use are common sense, using reasons such as “ingested by smoking, made up of hundreds of different chemicals, not subject to product liability regulations, exempt from quality control standards, not governed by daily dose criteria, offered in unknown strengths (THC) from 1 to 10+ percent, and self-prescribed and self-administered by the patient"(CNOA). No current medicine on the market today is offered by the act of smoking. The harmful chemicals and carcinogens that are a byproduct of smoking cause it’s own health hazards. Marijuana is said to be composed of more than four hundred known chemicals of which, stated in “Marijuana as Medicine: Consider the Pros and Cons”, it contains “50 percent to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than does tobacco smoke and has the potential to cause cancer of the lungs and respiratory tract”(Mayo Clinic). The ACP (American College of Physicians) backs the fact that marijuana smoking increasing the risk of cancer, lung damage, and bacterial pneumonia despite the fact that the ACP supports the idea of marijuana for medical use.

Marijuana effect on the brain, short-term impairment and long-term effects add to the danger of using marijuana medicinally. The short-term affects of marijuana include problems with memory, difficult problem solving, loss of coordination, and increased heart rate. As stated in "Exposing the Myth of Medical Marijuana," Marijuana affects many skills required for safe driving: alertness, the ability to concentrate, coordination, and reaction time” (DEA). Users of marijuana put the lives of not only themselves but also others at risk when getting behind the wheel. While supporting the use of medical marijuana “The International Association for Cannabis as Medicine” reported “Most studies found no effect of cannabis on psychomotor function after 4 hours... a waiting period of about three hours after smoking a medium to strong social dose (15-20 mg) will be sufficient to reduce a driver's impairment” (IACM). The affects of marijuana need time to wear out to be able to drive functionally (similar to how the body needs time to filter out alcohol.) As said by Alison Mack and Janet Joy in Marijuana As Medicine?: The Science Beyond the Controversy, “"[C]annabinoid-induced euphoria or sedation may simply mask symptoms, leading some users to the false belief that marijuana improves their medical conditions. That is a problem if it causes patients to choose marijuana over more effective