World of Cannabis
"Hey, come hit this. Don't be a girl and just hit it. It won't hurt
you, actually it will make you feel much better. Please just once for
me. Everyone does it so why don't you just try it" (Kawchack). More
people in America smoke marijuana today than any of the past
generations. Our society thinks that it is a major problem in the
youth of our country and it needs to be stopped. The rate of teenage
marijuana abuse, mostly in junior and high school levels, has climbed
to the top of the chart, but recent discoveries may have put an indent
in those ratings.
First, before the 1960's no one really knew about marijuana or knew
what it was. It wasn't a trend to smoke marijuana as it is today.
The kids that did smoke marijuana were seen as outcasts or the rebels
of the generation. The drug use was not publicized to the community
in ways it is today. No songs on the radio talked about smoking pot
or about the feeling it gives you. The newspapers also didn't talk
about marijuana. When a child did something bad and marijuana was the
cause, the media kind of left that factor out of the story. They did
that so that the American people wouldn't think that their children
were heading down wrong paths that involved *** and drugs (Center for
Substance Abuse Prevention).
Hippies came into play in the 1960s. The government feared the
uprising of the hippies because they questioned the government and
their views. Many hippies held protests against the government for
many reasons concerning the world. Many protested about testing on
animals, not letting people be free to do what they want, and how the
government are the bad people, not the common people. Many hippies
used marijuana and some other harder drugs. Peace was the main belief
of a hippie and many found peace in smoking marijuana with their
friends. These people were looked down upon because they were users
of marijuana and other drugs. Some were said to be rebelling
against authority by using marijuana (Stone).
Marijuana was used a lot in veterans of the war. Not many people
knew about it, but they smoked marijuana to relive the stress from the
war. PTSD or posttraumatic stress disorder is what most of them
suffered from. Many of the veterans smoked marijuana to go against
what the government said. They say that they used the drug because
they were angry at the government for making them go and fight in a
war when they didn't want to. The veterans said that when they smoked
marijuana it helped them forget about the horrific things they had
gone through during the war. It helped them sleep and also helped
some with their lack of appetite. The veterans kept their drug abuse
on the down-low because if word got out about them then they would get
into huge trouble (Indicators of School, Crime, and Safety).
Marijuana abuse is much more high now days. More people than in the
past couple decades combined smoke marijuana on a daily basis. In
junior high and high school, studies show more than seventy million
kids over twelve years old have smoked marijuana at least once in
their lives. Five million smoke marijuana at least once a week. Twenty
percent of eighth graders have tried the drug. By tenth grade, twenty
percent of kids are daily users and by twelfth grade fifty percent
have tried it more than once and twenty-two percent are daily users.
In other studies, kids have said that most of them tried marijuana for
the first time around the age of thirteen. More kids use marijuana
daily in high school than they do in junior high (FoM).
With this in mind, there are many reasons why kids even try the drug
in the first place. Some reasons are that they want to fit in with
their friends, peer pressure, curiosity, parental drug use, rebellion
against parents or authorities, and kids that have been ***ually
abused. Most kids who have used the drug say it is very easy to find
and that it isn't very cheap. They save up lunch money or even steal
so that they can buy a "sack" for after school. Statistics show that
teenagers abuse the drug within the hours from the time they get home
from school to the time their parents get home. The kids who have
stay at home parents say that they would go over to a friend's house
to smoke. More high school students smoke the drug before school or
even during school than those users in lower grades. Maybe they do
this because they have a car and off campus lunch or that by the time
they get into high school, their parent's don't care that they smoke
marijuana (Center for Substance Abuse Prevention).
Second, there are many causes of marijuana use. The media is probably
the most im****tant reason in our society at the moment. Children hear
about the drug almost everywhere now days. Almost every song played
on some radio stations are about doing drugs and having ***. Kids
idolize these people and all they are doing is sending them messages
that doing drugs is ok. Hollywood is also a big factor in marijuana
use in teenagers. They see their favorite actors in movies smoking
weed. They think that it's okay for them to do it because the people
in the movies do it. Some kids even think that they will be cool if
they smoke it or that they will become liked by even a couple more
people (D'Agnostino).
Family is also a key component in drug use. Kids who have parents
that use drugs are more likely to use drugs themselves. They think
that it is okay to do it because their parent's do. Kids who have
older siblings are also more likely to use drugs. They look up to
their siblings and want to be just like them so they do it thinking
that their brother or sister will like them more if they do it. Most
times the elder sibling still doesn't like their younger sibling
whether they are smoking pot or not. Many kids who have troubled home
lives seem to resort to smoking marijuana. They say that it helps
them cope with their pain. It doesn't help them get rid of their
anger, but it helps them at the time. Many kids who are abused by
their parents also say that they use marijuana as a way of rebellion
against their parents. They say that it is the only thing they can
control in their lives (Longa).
Many teenagers use marijuana because their friends do it. In some
cases they say that they were pressured into trying it the first time
and have done it ever since. Peer pressure is the main cause in use
in teenagers. Going to a party and being the only one not smoking
isn't fun to kids, so they smoke it also to fit in. They think that
if they are doing what the other kids are doing, they will fit in and
the other kids will like them more. That isn't the case, but they
think it will work. A lot of kids, who don't have any friends at all,
resort to drug abuse because they think that is the only thing they
can do to fit in (Longa).
Third, there are many effects of using marijuana on the mind. Many
scientists say that marijuana is a gateway drug to many other drugs.
Statistics show that most kids who use other drugs used marijuana
first, but most kids who do smoke marijuana don't do any other drugs
at all. It is hard to say whether it is a gateway drug or not because
every person is different and thinks different. The effects depend on
how high the THC level is. THC is the main component in marijuana
that gets one high and all marijuana has different levels. Some users
become dependent but the majorities say that they never get cravings
or anything of the sort. Brain cells can be lost in smoking marijuana,
but not many are lost and one has to have been smoking for a long
period of time before anything of the sort starts (Center for
Substance Abuse Prevention).
Also, there are many effects on the body. Most common effects are
one getting the giggles, red-eye, cottonmouth, slow reactions, and
tiredness. Just like tobacco, marijuana can cause chronic bronchitis
and inflamed sinuses. It can also cause cancer. It has some of the
same cancer causing agents that tobacco has. It causes breathing
problems in the lungs causing one to cough daily, to produce phlegm in
the air passage ways, to get chest colds more often, and it increases
the risk of lung infection. It can also cause cancer in the mouth and
the throat of the user (Center for Substance Abuse Prevention).
Fourth, each problem in America has a solution or two. Some problems
have a couple and some have unlimited amounts of help that one can
find. It is hard to find treatments for marijuana use because society
focuses more on other problems. Some solutions used are jail,
probation, and counseling/rehabilitation. Each solution has its good
points and its bad points, and some don't even work at all (Purple
Strain 46).
Past solutions to the problem have worked to a certain extent. One
solution used was probation. Probation is given to people who have
been caught doing something bad. That person is given a probation
officer who they go and see once a week. Sometimes they get drug
tested and sometimes they go and see them to just tell them about
their week and what they did. Probation works on some people but most
people still do what they were doing while they are on probation.
Some kids who are on probation even out run their officers and never
see them (Purple Strain 47).
Counseling is also used to help prevent people from doing the drug
again. It kind of goes along with probation because most people on
probation have to go to counseling as well. Counseling doesn't help
at all though because it only has the kids talk about why they did it
or how they felt while doing it. It doesn't focus on not getting them
to do it anymore. Rehabilitation or rehab is given to those who are
thought to have a big problem with drugs. Some of the programs are
longer than others, and some are for detoxing the people. Most rehabs
make the person stay there in the building for about a month. If the
person does well enough, they may go home, but if they aren't doing
well, they stay for as long as it may take. Like counseling, rehab
doesn't work that well either. Once the people get out, they go back
to their old ways. (Purple Strain 46).
Jail is a solution used for those who are caught with large amounts
or those that are smuggling or even just dealing the drugs. The
person caught goes to jail for a couple of years and is then let out.
Most people who are let out of jail are given probation and
counseling, but it still doesn't work that well. Prisoners can find
more drugs inside than they can find out on the street. How is
America supposed to stop drug use if they can do it in a place watched
more closely than a three years olds favorite cartoon (Purple Strain
45)?
Current solutions include the same options as the past solutions.
People still get put on probation. Although now, they get put on for
longer periods of time thinking that it will help more. It doesn't.
It only makes people want to do it more because they are told not
too. Probation now days are supposed to be stricter than in the past,
but kids who are on probation are still smoking marijuana on a daily
basis. Jail is also used. More of our jails are filled with the
people who are caught with drugs than rapists and murderers combined.
The government seems to think that locking someone up in a place where
they get treated good, sometimes better than how they were treated
before, will help them with their drug abuse. It doesn't work because
once they get out they go back to what they were doing before (Purple
Strain 45).
Making the drug legal has been a solution that is taken very
seriously. Marijuana is illegal in almost all states, yet millions of
people use it daily. Even people on police forces or other im****tant
jobs in our country use the drug. In some states it is legal to have
up to an ounce of marijuana in their possession with out getting in
trouble and going to jail. It is allowed to be smoked in closed doors
and not allowed to be smoked in public or in one's car. Fines can be
given to those who are caught, but not sent to jail. In the states
that it is legal, fines are given to those caught with more than the
legal amount. The fines aren't high, but if one doesn't pay then
drastic measures are taken. One might be sent to jail for a couple of
nights and given a larger fine. In the states where it is illegal,
huge fines are given and most people are sent to jail. If the person
caught doesn't pay the fine then they are sentenced to jail for six
months to a year depending on the severity of the case (Purple Strain
47-48).
In conclusion, marijuana use in teenagers has gradually gotten
larger. Due to recent discoveries though, marijuana use ratings shall
drop in the future. Studies have shown that in the states where the
drug is legal, less kids want to do it. They say that one of the
reasons they did it was because they weren't supposed to. The sad
point is that there is no way to stop teenagers or even anyone from
using the drug marijuana because as long as it is around they are
going to use it.
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