The Marijuana Debate Hasn't Gone Up In Smoke

    Nineteen-year-old Ciara Davis sits on the bench as she rolls the greenish-brown crushed leaves into a vanilla-flavored blunt cigar wrapper, “I’m not harming anyone so why shouldn’t I have the liberty to smoke what I’d like to?”  

    Marijuana is not legal, but it remains a popular drug among New Yorkers who smoke it in public or in the privacy of their homes.   

    Legalization of marijuana is highly discussed amongst certain organizations on both sides of the issue. Marijuana is often used to soothe a person and give the smoker a “high” state of mind. “The use of marijuana should be in the ambit of choices for adults,” said Allen St. Pierre, the executive director of National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. He believes the drug should be legal, just like alcohol is for adults 21 and over. 

    Marijuana is considered the most commonly used illicit drug according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. Although many have lobbied for legalization of the popularly uses drug, it hasn’t been a main legislative concern. Polling has shown that many Americans do not support legalization. According to a CBS News poll released in March of 2009, 58 percent of respondents said that marijuana should not be legalized, even if it could be taxed while 31 percent supported legalization. The number of supporters has increased over the years; up from only 12 percent in 1969 according to Gallup polling. But it isn’t just recreational use that is the subject of this decades-long debate; marijuana’s medicinal benefits have led to changes in some local laws.   

    Medical marijuana is currently legal in nine states including California, Hawaii, Maine and Vermont. It is said to be an effective treatment of nausea for patients affecting with illnesses like cancer or AIDS. For this reason, proponents favor legalization at least for medicinal purposes..“I don’t feel that marijuana should be legalized only for recreational reasons,” said nutritionist Lisa Muhammed, who has done some research regarding marijuana and its effects. “People need to focus on more positive things. Medical marijuana is used for people that actually have cancer and need to release stress.”   

    The active ingredient in Marijuana, THC, affects nerve receptors in the brain  and leads to a feeling of euphoria and causes the user’s heart rate to increase. Marijuana, which is considered to have a high risk for abuse by the DEA, can have some serious negative effects.  According to Above The Influence, an anti-drug organization young people who use the drug weekly have double the risk of depression in the future, and heavy marijuana users are more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia in the future.   

    But some users, like Davis, are not convinced by these warnings. “I highly doubt that I’ll die from marijuana,” she said as she exhaled smoke. “If I do though, at least I’ll be at peace and I had a good life while I smoked my marijuana.”  

     Many people worry that if marijuana is legalized, more people will use it without moderation. Essence Mason, a student at City College, 21, stated that people don’t have certain creative outlets, such as writing poetry, dancing or drawing to release stress so they resort to smoking illegal substances.  $0$0$0$0$0 A lot of people also feel that legalization would make more people want to go out and try the drug. Officer Jason Jambor of the Central Park Precinct said that some people believe legalizing marijuana would free up the police, allowing them to make arrests for more serious crimes like robberies and shootouts. 

    When found smoking marijuana, people are not always arrested; sometimes they get a ticket for smoking in a public area, depending on the amount of drugs they were carrying. Officer Jambor felt indifferent about whether the drug should be made legal or not; he just has to uphold the law.    

    The jury remains out on the exact repercussions of marijuana use, and its prospects for legalization. “Any psychotropic drug is not going to be harmless,” said St. Pierre, “[but] you just have to be responsible for how much you take in.”