al barrier.In general, the occasional use of cannabis has no damaging effects on the body. As withmost of anything in life, moderation is certainly a key aspect of both marijuana use and alcoholconsumption. Although many changes may occur after marijuana usage, rarely do they have any clinical significance. One of the most reliable physiological changes associated with cannabis useis an increase in pulse rate, which has shown to be dose-dependent. In man, blood pressure andheart rate are reliably shown to increase. However these effects are also affected by various otherfactors such as posture. Another effect of marijuana is reddening of the eyes cause by dilation ofconjunctival blood vessels. As far as the eye itself is concerned however, marijuana has beenfound to cause a significant reduction in the fluid pressure within the eye (intraocular pressure),an effect that has been the subject of increasing clinical study because of its therapeutic relief ofcertain symptoms of glaucoma. In the lung, marijuana has no more harmful effects than tobacco,except for maybe users who hold smoke in longer attempting to get “higher.” Just like withtobacco, marijuana can be carcinogenic if it is smoked for extensive periods of time. However ifthis were an argument for its illegal status, then why are cigarettes not illegal?The most controversial aspect of cannabis’s actions on the body concerns how it affectsthe brain. A study in England during the 1970s said that irreversible brain damage had been doneon a sample of chronic marijuana users. However, these users were also chronic users of LSD, sothese results are not very reliable. Subsequent studies conducted on chronic cannabis users inJamaica give no support to the possibility of serious marijuana-related brain damage.From these arguments, legalization of marijuana seems like a safe and logical thing to do.However, all of these books that I obtained this knowledge were all written...
