mothers who smoke cannabis suffers an enormous damage, leading to cancerous birth defects. Not only are the newborns of such mothers affected, but the mothers themselves also possess a great increase of DNA damage. (3) The above mentioned effects are just a few of the possible harms of marijuana. As is clearly illustrated, marijuana is a very dangerous drug and therefore should not be legalized. Along with the harmful effects of marijuana, there also lurk many long-term effects that greatly prove that the legalization of marijuana is not in the best interest of the public. "Every single scientific study that has been done in the last several years shows alarming increases in the toxicity and danger of using marijuana." (4) Many long-term users of marijuana have been known to develop psychological dependencies. This is when an individual feels the need to get "high" and has become reliant upon the drug to satisfy his/her psychological hunger. As time passes, the user also tends to require more of the drug to reach this satisfaction. (5) Another long-term effect, claimed by prohibitionists, is the further use of marijuana and other more deadly drugs. Marijuana is commonly known as the "gateway drug" creating yet another reason to halt the legalization of this drug. To put another roadblock in the path of legalization, researchers have also found the regular usage of marijuana to be considerably hazardous, leading to "memory, learning, and emotional disorders". (6) Adding to the list of long-term effects, the lungs of the user also take a great deal of abuse when marijuana is frequently inhaled. Effects such as emphysema, asthma, and lung cancer are just a few of the possible diseases of the lungs, which are inherited by smoking marijuana. For many more reasons, it is inevitable that the legalization of marijuana is not a very practical decision. However, when considering the legalization of marijuana, one must not only think of the long-t...
