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Individual Essay Assessment Criteria Allotted Marks % Earned Marks % Contents : (Currency, relevance and attention to details) 20 Validity : (Consistency, strength of the arguments and validity of the reasoning) Suitable Conclusions drawn 10 Formatting (language, report format) 5 Total Marks Penalty for exceeding the word limit Final Marks Personal Development Profile Suitability and credibility of the sources 25 Application of critical thinking skills to filter valid and useful data 5 Integrate quotations into arguments. Apply an appropriate referencing format (Harvard Referencing Style) 5 Acknowledgement
First I would like to thank MS. Nazarene for delivering such valuable and effective lectures and the continuous support and guidance provided to us till the end of the assignment. Next I would like to thank PIPIT for providing me with facilities to carry out this assignment. Finally I would like to thank my group members and friends who helped me in accomplishing this assignment Critical analysis whether marijuana should be legalized Marijuana also called weed, herb, pot, grass, bud, ganja, and a vast no of other slang terms is a greenish- gray mixture of the dried, shredded leaves and flowers of cannabis sati the hemp plant.
Drug abuse 2014). This plant contains a psychoactive ingredient called TECH (delta-9-dehydrogenation’s) which passes through the lungs and carried to the brain and lead to euphoria or high sensation which users experience. This is an illegal drug in Sir Lankan and many other countries and if found in possession it is punishable by law. Usually it is smoked as a cigarette which is also called as a Joint or in a pipe or bong made of glass. Some users mix them with foods such as brownies and candies and also some brew it with tea.
This plant has long historical background which dates back to 2727 BC and first known SE of this drug is recorded during the reign of Chinese emperor Sheen Nuns. (edematous 2008) Although most of the people use this drug for fun or to satisfy themselves, there is also a medicinal value in this particular plant and many advantages in comparison to the other alcoholic beverages or drugs which people use to get the high sensation. Thus it lead to an argument whether this substance should be legalized or not. In critically analyzing this topic one of the major claim in favor of legalizing marijuana is about the miraculous medicinal value in it.
There is evidence that even in ancient times that this plant was used for various medical purposes. There is a cultural belief that even during the reign of king Dustman’s period that those 10 giant worriers have used this drug before taking the meals, which has enabled them to increase the appetite and thus it helped to stay healthy and strong. Moreover it is believed that ancient monks have consumed the leaves of this plant as it help to increase the concentration power. Along with all these sayings and believes today it is scientifically proven that there are certain medicinal values in this plant.
According to the national eye institute website (2012) ‘Studies in the early asses showed that marijuana, when smoked, lowered intraocular pressure (IIOP) in people with normal pressure and those with glaucoma. ‘ Thus it treats the disease called ‘Glaucoma’ slowing the progression of disease and preventing blindness. Moreover Kurt Blabs in his Journal article treating depression with cannabis’ shows how this drug help to reduce depression and burnout syndrome without complications. In supporting this argument many other institutions and professors like Thomas F.
Tendons, PhD, Professor of Psychology at the California State University ND The University of Washington Alcohol and Drug Abuse has pointed out similar arguments that marijuana helps in reducing syndromes like depression and other mood disorders. In brief researchers have found out that it treats many other illnesses like cancer, inflammatory bowel diseases arthritis discomforts and Alchemist’s disease. Thus there is a clamor across the world to legalize this drug and it is already legalized in many countries for medical purposes. Business insider 2014). Another major argument in favor of legalizing marijuana is claiming that marijuana is not a lethal drug and it is safer than alcohol and many other drugs. Thus it is examined that many people die from alcohol usage while it is very less or nil by marijuana usage. According U. S centers for disease control and prevention more than 37 000 U. S deaths are caused by alcohol and on the other hand it does not even have a category for deaths caused by marijuana. (Centers for disease control and prevention 2014).
Moreover according to the researches done by Robert gable a professor psychology at Claremont graduate university he has proved that in relation to immediate death by toxicity, marijuana is about a hundred times safer than alcohol, cocaine and other recreational drugs. (The new Yorker times 2011) Table: 1. 1 Source: coffeehouse. Org Thus the above table 1. 1 shows the danger level of popular drugs and it clearly shows that it is much safer than other drugs in terms of various categories that they have listed. Thus it is argued that not legalizing marijuana restricts adults from using a safer mean to satisfy their needs. Aberrantly 2012) Along with these facts in favor of legalizing marijuana it is assumed that if these drugs are legalized and properly regulated that it would reduce the flow of money from economies to criminal gangs wrought black markets and instead it would create more Jobs and increase the employment rate and grow the GAP. Supporting this argument Arrant Dig a professor of economics at state university of New York has pointed out the vast economic benefits of legalizing marijuana in his blob. Moreover a regulated legal market in marijuana would reduce the flow of sales to teenagers and reduce the exposure to other lethal drugs.
Accordingly there is a huge clamor across the globe to legalize marijuana and there are so many celebrities representing various fields that publicly supporting for marijuana legalization. President Barack Obama has said that he doesn’t believe that marijuana is more dangerous than alcohol and he said ‘As has been well documented, I smoked pot as a kid, and I view it as a bad habit and a vice, not very different from the cigarettes that I smoked as a young person up through a big chunk of my adult life’ in an interview with David Irenics. (The new Yorker 2014).
Thus starting from President Barack Obama many other celebrities like Bill Maier, George Sores, Mormon Freeman, Richard Brannon, Jimmy carter, Woody Harrison, Megan Fox and many other celebrities representing various fields have openly lamed that they use marijuana or support marijuana legalization. (Chris Harry 2014) However even if there are many such arguments in favor of legalizing marijuana, in critically evaluating this topic there are many arguments against legalizing marijuana also. One of such major argument is about the risk of addiction. As in other recreational drugs marijuana also has a risk of addiction.
So even though we discussed earlier that there are many benefits if this drug is regulated and taken in the right dose, if someone get highly addicted and consume this recklessly there eight be lot of bad consequences in the long run . Researchers report that about 9% of the users of marijuana become addicted. (National institute of drug abuse 2014) So it is deeply argued that legalizing marijuana is merely an extra burden for the society. Another bad effect of using marijuana is its effect on health. Just like in any other recreational drugs marijuana also has many bad effects on health in short run as well as long run.
Such major effect on health is its effect on brain development and its function. Reports published by national academy of science shows that when his drug is used by teenagers it affect the thinking power and memory and thus they have shown that teens those who smoke marijuana heavily, lost an average of 8 points in ‘Q. This is further researched by Madeline Meier, a postdoctoral researcher at Duke University and he claims the rate depends on the capacity of the person but it certainly reduce the IQ level those who use marijuana at adolescence age.
Moreover it is mentioned that problems like reduced resistant to common illnesses, growth disorders, reduced sexual capacity can be arisen due to long term usage of marijuana. Time 2012) Another major argument against legalizing marijuana is about its effect on the society. Simply it is argued that legalizing marijuana gives a wrong message to the society and especially to the children as it try to impress the people that drug use is acceptable. Thus in a country like Sir Lankan where culture and norms and values are highly appreciated, pressure groups will be strongly against legalizing a drug.
Along with that it is argued that legalizing marijuana would create more consumers rather than rescuing the current ones and thus leading to another social problem in large. This point is further supported by the bad experiences faced by the countries which legalized marijuana and especially the consequences faced by Amsterdam where even children started smoking marijuana showed very clearly that this is not a subject that can be considered lightly.
Finally it is also reasoned that trying to legalize a drug is an unwanted burden or a cost to a country like Sir Lankan where there are lot more serious problems like poverty is prevailing. Conclusion Thus it is clear from above arguments that there are both advantages as well as disadvantages by legalizing marijuana. However if we analyze these arguments carefully it can be seen that most of the arguments against legalizing marijuana are already the draw backs that can be seen in other substances like alcohol and tobacco which are legal to use.
Thus a question arises if there are such drawbacks in those substances also how fair it is on deciding this boundary between legal and illegal substances. Above all it is clearly shown in the argument in favor, that it a safer substance than alcohol and other recreational drugs. Moreover it was discussed even in the group presentation that the people widely use this substance irrespective of whether they are illegal or not. So it is reasoned that if we legalize and regulated marijuana it would be able to produce more quality and safer products which the people can use satisfy their needs.