nd addiction. Despite widespread decriminalization of marijuana in the United States in the 1970's, this concern has remained the basis for federal law and policies regarding the use and study of marijuana. But the discovery of THC receptor sites in the brain refutes that thinking and may force scientists to re-evaluate their positions.The next opinion we are to look at is that marijuana should not b legalized. Still people seem to think that marijuana is a gateway drug because, supposedly bacouse it "feels soo good" , that people might want to try "biger and better things". Many important brain functions which affect human behavior involve the neurotransmitter dopamine. Serious drugs of abuse such as heroin and cocaine, int with the brain's use of dopamine in manners that can seriously alter an individual's behavior. A drug's ability to affect the neural systems related to dopamine production has now become the defining characteristic of drugs with serious abuse potential. The discovery of a previously unknown system of cannabinoid neural transmitters is profound. While century-old questions such as why marijuana is nontoxic are finally being answered, new fascinating questions are emerging. In the words of Israeli researcher Raphael Mechoulam, the man who first isolated the structure of THC, "Why do we have cannabinoid receptors?"The second opinion that people have is that marijuana should not be leagalived. They have some very strong points to back this up too. An April, 1994 report titled "Violent Drug-Related Crime" compiled by the Drug and Crime Data Center and Clearinghouse indicates that drugs are used by many offenders committing crimes. In 1991, the following percentages of state prison inmates involved in violent offenses reported that they had used drugs at the time the offense was committed: Violent Offenses: 28%, Homicide: 28%, Sexual Assault: 20%, Robbery: 38%, and Assault: 23%."Legalization proponents ignore the fact t...
