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Brittney Johnson
Professor Latona
English 101
28 February 2017
Fly High
Marijuana is known to be a drug that alters your perception of reality and puts you in a
state of mind where you’re comfortable and happy. Marijuana, although illegal in majority of the
United States, can come in many forms. The most common form of marijuana is usually crushed,
dried, and smoked in pipes, bongs, or hand rolled into joints. Marijuana can come in forms of
wax; known as dabs, and in forms of cannabis oils which is used in drinks or food; known as
edibles. Marijuana comes in two main strains: cannabis sativa and cannabis indica. Cannabis
sativa is typically used for uplifting moods, physical activity, and is preferred around large
gatherings, cannabis indica is more of a relaxing and sedating high. Within the two strands,
indica and sativa, have two different targets. Indica targets symptoms like pain, muscle spasms,
anxiety, and insomnia, while sativa targets symptoms like ADD, mood disorders, fatigue, and
depression. Studies show when compared to other drugs, like alcohol, marijuana is considered a
safer drug and show that marijuana is less damaging to the body and is less hazardous to the
public health, and unlike alcohol, marijuana does not cause physical addiction. Marijuana has
been used for medical and recreational for thousands of years and it is time for marijuana to be
legalized throughout the United States for nonmedical and medical uses.
Marijuana Policy Project (MPP) is an organization whose mission is to have marijuana
legally regulated, spread education and the truth about marijuana, and aims to change laws
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eliminating prohibition of nonmedical and medical use of marijuana. MPP writes, “Research
Shows That Marijuana Use Is Safer than Alcohol Use”, speaking on the pros of marijuana and
argues marijuana, when in comparison to alcohol, is more favored. MPP also provides research
proving marijuana is less addictive than alcohol and proven to be less damaging to the body. The
Marijuana Policy Project promotes that marijuana usage does not cause the same harms to
society as alcohol does and in another one of their writings, “Medical Marijuana Should Be
Legalized”, they bring in significant evidence showing the wide spread of Americans and studies
showing support for medical marijuana. Paul Armentano, deputy director of the National
Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and the NORML Foundation, speaks
about the usage of medical marijuana being used for thousands of years for different purposes,
including food, a drug, as medicine, and as fiber. Armentano has a writing called, “Marijuana
Has Been Used for Centuries and Is Relatively Safe”. Armentano speaks about the overall
consumption of marijuana having a positive safety record and gives some history about the usage
of marijuana. The Drug Policy Alliance is a national support for drug law reform, which is
passionate about science, compassion, health, and human rights. “Marijuana Should Be
Legalized for Medical Use”, written by the Drug Policy Alliance, purpose was to show that
marijuana being safe and effective as a medicine and strongly believes the federal government
should not interfere with states and instead encourage research about medical marijuana. I.
Marwood, a freelance, wrote an article, “Long-Term Marijuana Use Is Not Harmful”, speaking
about the pleasurable intoxicating feeling of smoking and touches on the many people he
encountered throughout his life that smoke cannabis on a regular basis with no serious effects.
Marwood also talks about the positive effects of marijuana on family life and parents who smoke
are more likely to enjoy spending more time with their children.
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I. Marwood points out that the dope-smokers he knows, many of them being honest
Spectator-reading folks:
“range in age from their teens to their sixties and include bankers, lawyers, policemen,
doctors, entrepreneurs and blue-chip businessmen. But they’re certainly not going to let on
unless they can be sure that a) you won’t disapprove or, preferably, b) you’re going to whip
out your secret stash of prize-winning Californian sinsemilla and bond with them over a
celebratory reefer. That’s the problem with being a ‘head’: you can only talk about your
hobby with fellow heads” (1).
He speaks about that wide range of people who smoke marijuana. Marwood points out that many
doctors and lawyers like to partake in smoking marijuana and that most of the time nobody can
tell unless they speak on it. Marwood also brings a valid point in showing that most people who
smoke marijuana would rather not speak about it unless they know for a fact that the person they
are speaking with too enjoy marijuana. This is because marijuana is not as acceptable and is
illegal, which makes people who enjoy marijuana caution about who they express themselves
too. Marwood brings up another interesting fact when linking and encouraging marijuana into
family life:
“Another rarely cited virtue of dope is that it goes remarkably well with family life. I
know many young mothers who would surely have strangled their bawling offspring by
now had it not been for the numbing solace of a spliff. And though the same could be
said of drink, dope doesn’t impair your faculties to the same degree, so you can still
function perfectly well as a nurturing parent. Indeed, one remarkable side-effect I’ve
noticed in dope is the way it makes children so much more interesting. …. perhaps it’s
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because dope brings you down to their level and helps you rediscover your inner child”
(Marwood, 2).
Marwood, probably exaggerating on the fact that some mothers want to strangle their children,
brings up a valid point, marijuana is known to relax and relieve stress. Children, which we all
can agree on, can cause plenty of stress, frustration, and lack of patients to many parents.
Marwood expresses that marijuana can puts you in a state of childlike behavior which can help
improve relationships between child and parent, help parents understand their child’s behavior,
and can help increase their tolerance around their children. My mother enjoys eating edibles,
food infused with marijuana, rather than smoking and by doing so she has a better tolerance with
my baby brother. Many parents frown upon being high while around children, but its socially
normal for parents to casually drink around children and studies show that alcohol is way worse
