Recreational marijuana is an intoxicating and addictive drug that poses serious medical risks similar to nicotine and alcohol.
By the early 1990’s the scientific community concluded from rigorous laboratory and epidemiological studies that marijuana is both physiologically and psychologically addictive. A person could get addicted to recreational marijuana if they smoke it regularly twice each week.
Some research suggests that recreational marijuana is a gateway drug to more destructive illegal drugs such as heroin and cocaine.
Recreational marijuana has the potential to be as or more harmful than cigarettes, by the carcinogens smoked. The National Institutes of Health estimates that a person who smokes five recreational marijuana cigarettes weekly is likely to be inhaling as many cancer causing chemicals as one who smokes one pack of cigarettes daily.
Cannabis use increases the risk of heart attack, increases the heart rate, alters blood pressure, can induce an irregular heart beat, increases heart stress, decreases oxygen levels in the circulatory system and exacerbates angina.
Recreational marijuana has negative effects on cognitive functioning, including memory, learning and motor coordination. Recreational marijuana use adversely affects an adolescent’s brain development.
Two recent advanced statistical procedures concluded that recreational marijuana use during adolescence or young adulthood significantly increases later involvement in criminal activity and criminal arrest. The risk of criminal involvement was determined to be 1.5 to 3.0 times greater for cannabis users than nonusers.
In my court, some juveniles confessed that they burglarize homes or rob their victims in order to pay for recreational marijuana.
The incarceration rate in New York State for people convicted of possessing recreational marijuana in the past few years has been significantly reduced, in the last 20 years. Authorities are working with diversionary services and drug courts to decrease the caseloads of prisons where convicts are nonviolent felons.
Billions of dollars of revenue are generated from the New York State lottery, but we are still one of the highest taxed states. Similarly, any tax revenues raised by legalizing recreational marijuana will be squandered. Tax revenues can be raised by creating jobs, not legalizing a debilitating drug.
In short the negatives far outweigh the positives and that is why recreational marijuana should not be legalized in our State.
credit:democratandchronicle.com
