Will recreational marijuana soon be legal nationwide?



More than 20% of people over 21 years old in the country can smoke marijuana legally under state laws. Cristina Alesci explains what you need to know about …

45 Comments

  1. Cannabis prohibition was based on racial lies by Harry J Anslinger and circulated in William R Hearst’s tabloid newspapers over years until it scared the whole country. Think of all the death and harm this caused to individuals and families. Unforgivable and shameful.

  2. You think that legalization will be a boon to weed?? Guess again, once weed is legalized big brother will start taxing it. Government will crack down on non-tax paying weed. Fines and or imprisonment will occur. Think "Al Capone" my friends. You think uncle sam ain't gonna go after every tax dollar they can get?? Answer this, what happens every-freakin'-time the government gets their hands into something?? Put that in your pipe and smoke it (pun intended).

  3. 0 DEATH WELL WELL GOD MADE A PLANT THAT HELPS not HURTS AKA NATURE IT IS BIBLICAL GENESIS CHAPTER 1 Verse 29 SO IT GOOD then WHY not fix broken law the wrong that was done 1937 still sends good people to Prison in TX. FREE THE PLANT for what GOD MADE GOOD Do on two others as you would want done unto you FREE THE PLANT NOT A DRUG BUT A PLANT TRUTH GOD BLESS AMEN THIS LAW IS UNHOLY AND ALL HOW HURT BY IT made bad by a Mussolini A Dictator loving president all have to say to day

  4. psychosis

    POSTED MARCH 07, 2011, 11:03 AM , UPDATED NOVEMBER 30, 2011, 2:28 PM

    

    Ann MacDonald
    Contributor, Harvard Health

    Teenagers and young adults who use marijuana may be messing with their heads in ways they don’t intend.
    Evidence is mounting that regular marijuana use increases the chance that a teenager will develop psychosis, a pattern of unusual thoughts or perceptions, such as believing the television is transmitting secret messages. It also increases the risk of developing schizophrenia, a disabling brain disorder that not only causes psychosis, but also problems concentrating and loss of emotional expression.
    In one recent study that followed nearly 2,000 teenagers as they became young adults, young people who smoked marijuana at least five times were twice as likely to have developed psychosis over the next 10 years as those who didn’t smoke pot.
    Another new paper concluded that early marijuana use could actually hasten the onset of psychosis by three years. Those most at risk are youths who already have a mother, father, or sibling with schizophrenia or some other psychotic disorder.
    Young people with a parent or sibling affected by psychosis have a roughly one in 10 chance of developing the condition themselves—even if they never smoke pot. Regular marijuana use, however, doubles their risk—to a one in five chance of becoming psychotic.
    In comparison, youths in families unaffected by psychosis have a 7 in 1,000 chance of developing it. If they smoke pot regularly, the risk doubles, to 14 in 1,000.
    For years, now, experts have been sounding the alarm about a possible link between marijuana use and psychosis. One of the best-known studies followed nearly 50,000 young Swedish soldiers for 15 years. Those who had smoked marijuana at least once were more than twice as likely to develop schizophrenia as those who had never smoked pot. The heaviest users (who said they used marijuana more than 50 times) were six times as likely to develop schizophrenia as the nonsmokers.
    So far, this research shows only an association between smoking pot and developing psychosis or schizophrenia later on. That’s not the same thing as saying that marijuana causes psychosis.
    This is how research works. Years ago, scientists first noted an association between cigarette smoking and lung cancer. Only later were they able to figure out exactly how cigarette smoke damaged the lungs and other parts of the body, causing cancer and other diseases.
    The research on marijuana and the brain is at a much earlier stage. We do know that THC, one of the active compounds in marijuana, stimulates the brain and triggers other chemical reactions that contribute to the drug’s psychological and physical effects.
    But it’s not clear how marijuana use might lead to psychosis. One theory is that marijuana may interfere with normal brain development during the teenage years and young adulthood.
    The teenage brain is still a work in progress. Between the teen years and the mid-20s, areas of the brain responsible for judgment and problem solving are still making connections with the emotional centers of the brain. Smoking marijuana may derail this process and so increase a young person’s vulnerability to psychotic thinking. (You can read more about how the adolescent brain develops in this article from the Harvard Mental Health Letter.)
    While the research on marijuana and the mind has not yet connected all the dots, these new studies provide one more reason to caution young people against using marijuana—especially if they have a family member affected by schizophrenia or some other psychotic disorder. Although it may be a tough concept to explain to a teenager, the reward of a short-time high isn’t worth the long-term risk of psychosis or a disabling disorder like schizophrenia.

  5. believe at the very least medicalcannabis will be legalized between 2020–2024 when a Democrat wins the 2020 election. Why? 80% the opposite party wins the election so naturally a democrat will probably win. Also, it is the popular opinion of Americans to legalize it in some form. Therefore, it most likely will be a political platform of the democratic nominee.

  6. When Marijuana is legal, cops will arrest people for DUI Marijuana based solely upon their opinion, then convict them by using a test to verify the PRESENCE of Marijuana in their systems with absolutely proof, evidence or even indication of any INEBRIATION.

  7. What I and many other people struggle with is living in a state that allows it legally but still can't partake due to drug tests for work(which is my problem) or people receiving assistance from the state.

  8. This is one of the best articles I've seen on the subject but we must push for total legalization as to where anyone can grow and possess as much as they want, I am not anti business and tax but we want our freedom this is not Rome and we are not plebes

  9. Ban Herb, it’s Terrible
    But Governments let’s just keep all Churches legally open for Pedophile Preists to continue abusing our children
    an to fill the world an create war and hate amongst religions.
    To cause grief heartache and pain for family’s and create psychological problems for the Victims.
    Let’s Ban Marijuana’ as it is more than likely the cause of all this Suffering in the world..

    And people already had underlying issues before having physiological issues after taking Herb.
    Don’t Abuse it, use it with respect.

  10. US Patent #6630507# owned by DHHS.since 2002.
    DEA still classifies cannabis as a Schedule 1 Narcotic
    Even though it has 5,000 years of evidence that it has medicinal properties, impossible to overdose on,
    not physically addictive,
    whiskey tango foxtrot?

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