The facts are that the three general areas where people opposed to the legalization of marijuana center their argumentsis on health care, increased crime, and social aspects. Marijuana is more dangerous than cigarette smoking. Two Marijuana joints create more airway impairment than do an entire pack of cigarette. One joint contains three times more tar than do cigarettes and is considered four times more dangerous. It dramatically increases the pulse rate and blood pressure during use. If marijuana is legalized, many project that lung cancer will increase as the amount of marijuana use increases. These are all valid arguments, but cigarette smoking is legal, a booming business, and causes the same exact problems. (Guideline #5)There are a number of myths associated with the use of marijuana and its effects on your body which people who are opposed to its decriminalization repeatedly cite. One of these in that Marijuana causes brain damage. This claim is based on a study of the rhesus monkey performed by Dr. Robert Heath in the late 1970's. Heath's work was criticized for its insufficient sample size (only four monkeys), its failure to control experimental bias, and the misidentification of normal monkey brain structure as "damaged". Actual studies of human populations of marijuana users have shown no evidence of damage to the brain. In fact, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) conducted two studies in 1977 and they showed no evidence of brain damage in heavy users of marijuana. Later that same year the AMA came out in favor of the decriminalizing of marijuana. It seems to me that the AMA wouldn't do that if it thought marijuana was damaging to the brain. (Guideline #3, #6) Another myth is that marijuana damages the reproductive system. This is based on the work of Dr. Gabriel Nahas, who experimented with tissue cells isolated in petri dishes. The cells were dosed with near lethal levels of cannibinoids (the i...
