rent ingredients. This suggests the strong possibility that marijuana, like tobacco, could lead to lung cancer, or create respiratory distress. Smoking marijuana also causes changes in the heart and circulation that are characteristic of stress (Marijuana and Health 72). Evidence supports that marijuana increases the work of the heart, usually by increasing the heart rate, and in some people that is a threat (Marijuana and Health 73). Current evidence has shown marijuana also causes some chemical changes in the brain. After exposure to this drug, there have been reports of effects on brain electrical activity in human beings and in animals. Marijuana also has been found to produce an acute brain syndrome. This is a more severe mental problem consisting of confusion and loss of contact with reality (Marijuana and Health 129). The main reason that the United States Drug Enforcement Agency doesn't want marijuana use to be legalized is because there is no evidence to date that proves that marijuana is an effective drug when used for medicinal purposes. Scientists have researched this drug for twenty years and have yet to produce reliable scientific proof that marijuana has medical value. The American Cancer Society, the American Glaucoma Society, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and the American Medical Association all agree that there is some evidence that use of marijuana as a medicine has merit (High Times). The agencies also argue that no other drug prescribed is smoked. New findings show that marijuana is acutely harmful to AIDS and cancer patients because the active ingredient in marijuana acutely reduces the white blood cells that fight off infection. The United States Drug Enforcement Agency agrees with police departments that if marijuana use is legalized, crime could increase due to a higher number of users. Statistics have proven that eventually these marijuana users could becom...
