by Nels Griffin

Created on: July 26, 2009

A Requisition For Reason

The subject of the legalization of marijuana has been so belabored over the course of the last five decades, that the notion of reading another banal paper on the topic may seem akin to watching static on a dead cable station. The history of the drug, and its relatively recent placement on the notorious Federal Schedule One, is where many find that their eyes glass over from the miasma of legal and political nonsense. Regardless, there are still areas of the topic that can be rolled out, and may blow a puff of life back into the discussion. It is a now fairly common understanding that the political and economic motivations are as dicey as a bad cut of the substance, and about as noxious too idealists. Still, a fascinating aspect of the topic, at least in the minds of some, are the biological implications, the true nature of the drug, and its physiological outworkings. Despite the rhetoric, it seems this drug may don some characteristics that belie the hyperbole, and constitute a trenchant argument to reasonable minds, for its controlled legalization.

The first, and maybe foremost affect that has long vilified the substance THC, or marijuana, is its notorious association with loss of memory. This has prodded masses away from its use, including this author, for the likely betterment of their health. The notion is based a few recondite biological facts. In 1988 researchers identified cannabinoid receptors in the brain. The psychological and behavioral byproducts of marijuana depend on these receptors. These receptors that are subject to the effects of marijuana, are abundant in much of the brain, with a higher concentration in the hippocampus, which is a center for the production of short term memory (Kalat 458). In tandem with this fact researchers have observed significant memory impairment in heavy marijuana users. Another fact that is beyond argument is the significant increase in the potential for respiratory and cardiovascular health risks, such as bronchitis, emphysema, lung cancer, and the aggravation of heart disease, all of which are also characteristic of smokers of tobacco. On these two pillars, and upon several social factors, rests the decisive argument against the legalization of marijuana. Why though, are these arguments impotent when it comes to a summary ban on all uses of the substance, including medicinal purposes?

Let's readdress the subject of memory. Out of context the fact remains that many

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>