“In January-February, LA Youth reported that that teens are confused about the dangers of marijuana. Our mail-in survey of 357 Los Angeles teens showed that youth don’t seem to think marijuana is that bad for you. About 40 percent of respondents had tried marijuana. About 43 percent said marijuana is less harmful than tobacco, while 32 percent said it was more harmful. About 10 percent didn’t know, and a further 10 percent said they seemed about equal.
So we did some research on the topic. No wonder everyone is confused. Everyone seems to have a different set of facts on this controversial issue. We hope some of the material presented here will help you make up your mind about it.
We couldn’t decide if the story of the Olympic snowboarder, Ross Rebagliati, was pro or con on the issue. Did it show the negative side because he almost lost his medal? Or did it glamorize the drug, especially since Ross stands by his friends who get high? You decide.
A Canadian snowboarder, Ross Rebagliati, who almost lost his Olympic gold medal through what he called second-hand marijuana smoke, said on Friday he was planning to change his life but not his dope-smoking friends…
At a news conference on Friday, the 26-year-old was suitably contrite about past marijuana use but refused to lecture any of his friends back home in Whistler, British Columbia.
“I’m definitely going to change my lifestyle. Unfortunately I’m not going to change my past,” he said.
“My friends are real, I stand by them, I support them, I’ll never deviate from that. I might have to wear a gas mask now and then, but hell, whatever.”
—Feb. 13, 1998 Reuters news report from Nagano, Japan
CON
Impairs judgement
“Marijuana smoking affects the brain and leads to impaired short-term memory, perception, judgment and motor skills… Because of the drug’s effects on perceptions and reaction time, users could be involved in auto crashes.”
—U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
May cause cancer
“It is hard to find out whether marijuana alone causes cancer because many people who smoke marijuana also smoke cigarettes and use other drugs. Marijuana smoke contains some of the same cancer-causing compounds as tobacco, sometimes in higher concentrations. Studies show that someone who smokes five joints per week may be taking in as many cancer-causing chemicals as someone who smokes a full pack of cigarettes every day.”
—U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Keeps you from experiencing life
“There’s far too much to experience and to accomplish to waste a precious second drunk or hazed.”
— “Gomorrah’s Season Ends,” Earth Crisis
May have side effects
“I don’t mess with drugs, ’cause I think that you can go there, and you can take yourself anywhere without drugs… Don’t do it, because no matter how good it makes you feel, there’s always the side effects.”
—Marlon Wayans
Hurts others
“We communicate with them [our sons], we understood them. Where did we go wrong?”
—mother Jill on “Home Improvement,” after her husband Tim found a bag of marijuana taped to the bottom of a patio chair.
Sets a bad example
When asked whether he used drugs by Rolling Stone magazine, actor Chris Farley said, “I worry about talking about this, because I worry about kids who might think, ‘Whoa, man, that’s cool!’ Because in some ways, that’s what I did with my hero, Belushi. I thought that this is what you have to do to be cool. But all that s—- does is kill someone. It is a demon that must be snuffed out. It is the end.” Farley died Dec. 18, 1997 of a heart attack related to his drug use.
PRO
Has medicinal uses
“Marijuana is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known. No one has ever died from an overdose, and it has a wide variety of therapeutic applications, including:
• relieving nausea and increasing appetite
• reducing intraocular (“within the eye”) pressure
• reducing muscle spasms and spasticity; and
• relieving mild to moderate pain.
Thousands of patients and their doctors have found marijuana to be beneficial in treating AIDS, glaucoma, cancer, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, chronic pain and other serious conditions.”
—Marijuana Policy Project Foundation (www.mpp.org), in a report intended to encourage legislation to make marijuana available for medicinal purposes
Relieves pain
“Researchers reported that active chemicals found in marijuana could serve as an effective remedy for millions who suffer serious pain each yar, without the unwanted side effects of more traditional morphine-like drugs… it is not addictive, nor does it appear to carry the risk that patients may develop a tolerance for it.”
—Los Angeles Times, Oct. 27, 1997
Helps you face the uncertainty of life
“Why do I stay high?… How many more days on this old earth can you see? It’s blind to me, so we should get ready for Armageddon, ’cause I know God should be ready to roll… That’s why I get high… I’m holding onto my soul, but nobody knows when it all unfolds, and then when I go, I go.”
—”If I could teach the world,” Bone Thugs N Harmony
It’s enjoyable
“Forward motion
Make you sway like the ocean
The herb is more than just a powerful potion
What’s the commotion…”
— “I want to get high,” Cypress Hill
We should study whether to legalize it
“I don’t think I wanna legalize it yet… Right now we should legalize it for medical reasons…”
“I wouldn’t personally tell any youngsters to go do it. I do it, but that’s me. If I was gonna tell my son about it, I would be honest about it, so if he was gonna do it, he would do it responsibly, instead of going behind my back and doing some real bad shit with his friends. People need to be more honest with their kids. Parents need to trust their kids more.”
—B-Real of Cypress Hill”