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American teen Marijuana use has been an issue for many years. With recent polls showing 74% of Americans admit to using Marijuana at some point in thier lives the majority were using or have tried Marijuana during their teenage years. Over the past 10 years there have been a few States that have not seen this same increase in Marijuana use in teens. The lowest increase has been seen in California since Medical Marijuana was legalized in 1996.

While I was growing up Nancy Reagen was on TV all the time telling us to say no to drugs, we always saw the "This is your brain on Drugs" Commercials. The message we were receiving from everywhere was if you smoked Marijuana you would never succeed in life. You would make it to your mid thirties and still live at home with your parents. It did not take me long into my Highschool Career to realize that these messages were not entirely true. When I learned that Marijuana was being given to some patients to help them I started researching and asking around about Marijuana. These patients were not only being recomended Marijuana by their Doctors they were receiving Marijuana in the mail from the Federal Government. How could the First lady be sending the message that Marijuana is pure evil but at the same time the Government is growing Marijuana to provide to people that it was helping. This soon led me to some of those people in my school that looked like "Burn-outs" and I started asking around about Marijuana. What I soon found out was that a lot of these "Burn-outs" that the Teachers all thought were on Marijuana were actually Drinking Alcohol more than any Marijuana use. Then there was a change in my life when I went to one Party with my older Brother. This change happened because my brother was one that all the teachers like and thought was a great student. When I arrived at this party I was in shock when I saw all of his friends sitting around in the living room of his friends house smoking these pipes. These were all teenagers that had great grades and were very active in the Student body. This did not make sence to me at all.

The problem stems from the Federal Government locking down the American people with laws of how somone should think. Marijuana is a great example of this. The federal government wanted to make this Drug illegal and stop the temptation of using it. They embellished on what the truth was and the average American's realized this was happening. When you tighten your grip on someone they are going to fight back. When it comes to Teenagers they are going to fight even harder to prove that they are mature and can make their own decisions. This is why my belief that changing the way people are taught about Marijuana will lower the Marijuana use among teenagers because they have nothing to fight. This has been proven with not only States like California but also New York where marijuana has been Decriminalized. This has also been proven in the Netherlands where marijuana use is far less than the United States, and it is legal to use there.

I am not saying it is safe to use but for a Natural growing plant that has been used for thousands of years by many different cultures I believe that the Government needs to re-evaluate how it deters people from using it. People should be allowed to make their own choices as long as it doesn't hurt others, and the average teenager should be able to make thier own opinions from the experience and teachings of the community they live in. They should never be lied to or they will do everything in their power to rebel against those tightening their grip.

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