.105).It is important to understand why someone uses marijuana and why he or she would use it in the first place. “Millions of Americans have tried marijuana, but most are not regular users. In 1996, 68.6 million people—32%of the U.S. population over 12 years—had tried marijuana or hashish at least once in their lifetime, but only 5% were current users” (Unknown, Nov. 18, p. 6). There are several reasons why an individual would begin using marijuana and in some cases develop a dependency. One of the reasons why a user would develop a dependency is due to peer pressure “Nearly all human activities at least indirectly involve other people, and being introduced to marijuana offers no exception to this rule; in fact, marijuana use in general is exquisitely a group phenomenon” (Unknown, Nov.18). Could it be that the transition from non user to user is a result of the comfort in belonging to a group? Or is it more peer pressure than anything else? I feel that the decision to try it for the first time is directly affected by the way you feel about your peers and your connotations of the drug itself. If your circle of marijuana users are people that you respect and think highly of, then you’re a lot more likely to try it than if you looked down upon everyone you know who tried it or uses it. Once the marijuana is used for the first time a sense of openness to the drug is developed. The user then fails to realize any consequence in using it in moderation. The next thing happening is that user begins to substitute normally enjoyable occasions such as parties, as a reason to smoke and enhance the pleasure. Now the want for that enhancement becomes not so moderate. Pleasure might be the most obvious and common factor that creates a dependency on the drug for a user. Everyone is in search of pleasure and enjoyment. This is not to say that no one is ever happy and only the use of a drug will d...
