As various media have said, the Mile High City has finally lived up to its name; the city of Denver has made it legal for any adult, 21 or older, to carry up to an ounce of marijuana. This may be cause of celebration for some, but it would be best to pause before packing up and moving to Colorado: Even though the city says that marijuana possession is okay, the state says otherwise.
That’s right, the city law goes against the state law; police will continue to arrest and charge people for marijuana. Many who want to make marijuana legal across the country hope this Denver law will work as a stepping-stone for changing state laws and getting other cities to follow their lead.
There are many people and organizations that are making this argument for the free use of marijuana: The drug is not really harmful, at least not more so than alcohol and tobacco. My knee-jerk reaction to this issue, and more specifically to this argument, is annoyance. I have always believed that smoking pot is a bad thing, which should not be done, just like using any other illegal or harmful substance. I, however, decided that it would be best if I did a little research. There may be some truth to the argument that marijuana is not all that bad, but it has to be taken with a grain of salt when the words are coming from marijuana.com.
In this quest for knowledge, it is best to look at Web sites from both sides of the issue, and, it just so happens, a good portion of the arguments against drug use come from the U.S. government. Though many remain skeptical about our government, and that skepticism is often necessary, there is a level of truth and logic that can be found on government Web sites. There is a level of credibility to an explanation that comes from the Drug Enforcement Administration versus that which comes from a pothead running a Web site from his living room couch (or, better yet, dorm room).
This lack of faith in the words of a pot smoker is furthered when the arguments are not backed up by hard data, current studies or citations. Thought there may be pro-marijuana sites with good data, they are not easy to find. Many of them, such as cannabisnews.com, have dozens of articles praising the plant. In these articles there are plenty of “facts.” The articles refute the negative aspects of marijuana, but they do not cite specific studies or attribute their facts to a single source. There is no credibility to medical facts or statistics if there is no evidence that they come from a reputable source.
Considering the lack of support for the data provided by the pot promoters, it seems best to turn to the Drug Enforcement Administration. On the DEA Web site there is a slew of documented information about marijuana. The most compelling information is that which is linked to a specific study:
The short-term effects of marijuana include: memory loss, distorted perception, trouble thinking and problem-solving, loss of motor skills, decrease in muscle strength, increased heart rate and anxiety.
Smoking five joints a week is equivalent, in terms of cancer-causing chemicals, to smoking a pack of cigarettes every day.
In the hour after smoking marijuana, the risk of heart attack is five times higher than usual.
Smoking marijuana lowers the white-blood-cell count, which weakens the immune system and raises the risk of lung infections.
In the space of about 15 years, the strength of marijuana has increased.
The data is clear, and it is blatantly obvious that marijuana is a horrible drug. As it is, many Americans smoke marijuana and making it legal would just lead to wider use and abuse.
Some groups, such as Safer Alternative For Enjoyable Recreation, rightly point out that alcohol is the most commonly abused drug in America. SAFER argues that alcohol is also the most dangerous drug, leading to thousands of deaths, car accidents and crimes. Taking that into consideration, marijuana should be made legal because it leads to fewer problems. This argument is absurd; just because alcohol is bad doesn’t mean that pot is good. It is true that alcohol can be a devastating drug, but that does not mean that we should start making other drugs accessible because there is the possibility that they will cause less damage. Arguments against alcohol do not further the argument for the legalization of marijuana, they simply work as an argument for prohibition.
If marijuana were legalized, it would become more accessible, thereby making it a larger problem and a lager threat. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, 20.6 percent of teenagers (12 to 17 years old) have used marijuana; this number jumps to 53.8 percent for young adults age 18 to 25. If this many young people are already using a dangerous drug, imagine how the number could skyrocket if adults were allowed to legally possess the drug.
As dedicated as some college students may be to the consumption of alcohol and marijuana, they need to be aware of what these substances are doing to their bodies. And with that awareness they need to realize that there are restrictions on these substances for a reason. These dangers need to be presented to college students, teenagers and adults alike. Hopefully these individuals, especially as voters, will realize that the last thing this country needs is to have a dangerous drug legalized.

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