The Effects of Marijuana
A look at our state marijuana laws and the effects of marijuana legalization. — Daden Dolajak, General Reporter According to the CDC, “marijuana is the most used illegal drug users. in the United States with 37.6 million users in the past year.” North Dakota voters rejected a marijuana legalization ballot but The legalization of medical marijuana have done a lot to help they will try for it again in 2020. North Dakota was the 25th state people by giving them a chance to treat To decriminalize marijuana. medical issues that they deal with. Supporters of legalization argue that In North Dakota we have marijuana it eliminates the harms of marijuana decriminalization which means for first prohibition: the hundreds of thousands time offenders of possession there is no of arrests around the US, the racial criminal record prison or jail time for disparities behind those arrests, and most cases of possession . the billions of dollars that flow from A good reason marijuana is legalized the black market for illicit marijuana to for medicinal purposes is that it can drug cartels that then use the money for help chemotherapy patients through violent operations around the world. their treatment; treating the patients All of this, legalization advocates say, nausea and vomiting. It also can treat will outweigh any of the potential peoples insomnia and pains caused downsides such as increased cannabis from nerve damage. use. According to the CDC, smoking Opponents, meanwhile, claim marijuana in any form can be harmful that legalization will enable a huge to lung tissue and can cause scarring marijuana industry that will market and damage to small blood vessels. the drug irresponsibly. They point to Being high all the time can have some America’s experiences with the alcohol Graphic by Daden Dolajak irreversible effect on ones mental and tobacco industries in particular, state. CDC said Marijuana specifically which have built their financial empires targets the part of the brain responsible for memory learning, in large part on some of the heaviest consumers of their products. attention, decision making, coordination emotions and reaction This could result in far more people using pot, even if it leads to time. negative health consequences. Marijuana abuse affects developing brains more than fully Locally we have gained ground on the legalization of marijuana. developed brains. Also affecting heavy users more than moderate We now have a local dispensary in Bismarck. This facility is there for the distribution of legal medicinal marijuana. This facility is helping a lot of people on their journey to treating different issues they may have. With dispensaries selling legal marijuana people have a better safer way to access the drug. Dispensaries will result in a great rise in the number of users around the nation. This is the vary reason opposers decide they do not want to fully legalize marijuana. Over time more studies will be available to show the affects of marijuana. Photo sourced from creative commons
Protesting rally takes place to fight the prohibition of marijuana in Canada.
20
October 2020
Feature
