Dank? No thanks

Yesterday was the illustrious 4/20 – April 20 – infamously known as a national day for smoking pot. Statistics say that it’s likely that up to half of campus lit up. The National Institute on Drug abuse published studies showing that 49.1 percent of college students smoke weed (although not necessarily regularly), which happens to be eight percent lower than the national average for college-age Americans. But why would so many college students smoke pot? I mean, isn’t it bad for you?

Yes, as a matter of fact, it is. Marijuana is very harmful. However, it should be noted that no one on record has died from a marijuana overdose. There are, in fact, few statistics available on the direct harmful side effects of marijuana. This is in part because of marijuana’s current status as an illegal drug, which makes it difficult to document things like car accidents, cancer and the like. People aren’t exactly trying their hardest to tell the police that they are on an illegal drug.

According to drugpoolicy.org, an organization concerned with making weed legal in the United States, in the short-term, marijuana causes a faster heart rate, loss of coordination, distorted sense perception, loss of memory, lessened problem solving skills and difficulty learning. Loss of motor coordination and distorted perception due to marijuana are the likely cause of many accidents. In one study, 33 percent of reckless drivers in Memphis, Tenn. tested positive for marijuana. Because of the way marijuana affects memory and learning, it is not surprising that a high percent of high school dropouts smoke weed, although it could be argued that their poor decision-making skills are the cause of both, and smoking weed is not causally related to failure in school. I would disagree with that argument, but I do grant it some merit. The short-term affects of taking marijuana certainly seem scary, but my progressive classmates have told me over and over that it has no long-term effects. That simply is not true. Some studies show that smoking marijuana over a long period of time causes brain damage. However, even if it does not, short-term memory and learning functions are needed to set the foundation for future learning. Without sufficient short-term brain function, non-physical brain damage is likely to take effect. Smoking weed also harms the lungs and puts users at risk for cancer, much as smoking tobacco does. In fact five marijuana cigarettes has the same harmful effect as an entire pack of normal cigarettes. Admittedly, there are more smokers who smoke a pack a day than pot smokers who smoke five blunts in one day.

And now for the positive effects of smoking weed. It makes a user feel calm, although it speeds up the heart. Some users say it helps them sleep, and many consider smoking weed a social event. It is, apparently, very cultural.

I’m sure most students have seen the flyers and sidewalk chalk around campus promoting the protest to legalize marijuana. “Legalize the Cure!” the chalk reads. They were, of course, referencing the use of THC pills to help AIDS sufferers and some cancer victims eat and strengthen their appetites, but something tells me that isn’t what they are after. The protest will meet on Saturday, May 3, to march down to the State Capital building and to tell them they want marijuana legalized. Of course, the Capital is under renovation, and legislature doesn’t meet on a Saturday, but I’m sure the protest will be a smash hit.

I’m sure there are some great arguments as to why marijuana should be legalized. Individual rights, the existing legalization of tobacco and alcohol, the existing drug-smuggling related crime throughout the Western Hemisphere. However, I do not see the illegalization of a drug as an infringement of rights, and I would like to see more stringent measures against tobacco and alcohol as well. I hope that marijuana stays illegal, but I hope even more that people will stop taking using it.

STEPHEN HELEKER
Opinion Writer

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