Recreational Marijuana

Different types of people enjoy their leisure time in various ways. Few people like to participate in athletics, and others prefer to attend social gatherings. Any individuals, however, want to use substances like marijuana for recreational purposes. In recreation, medications are used to relax the brain for recreational purposes rather than medical purposes. The medications relax the subconscious, causing the user to have hallucinations. Marijuana usage for medicinal purposes subjects the patient to the risk of health consequences such as withdrawal and senses modification. Such incidents have a negative impact on the consumers' lives, especially in terms of their wellbeing. Legalization of marijuana smoking as a form of recreation presents the potential danger of the health of the smokers as well as the people around them. Marijuana should not be a recreational option for individuals in the United States because it can negatively affect our overall health.

Research Questions

1. What are the health implications of smoking marijuana?
2. Should marijuana be a recreational drug?

Adverse effects of Marijuana

Smoking marijuana affects the normal functioning of the brain. The chemicals in the drug stimulate the brain leading to hallucinations by the smoker. Smokers of marijuana risk experiencing heart attacks from the drug. The heart attack occurs through the ability of the drug to increase the heartbeat of the consumer. Apart from the increased heartbeat, the blood of the user reduces the capacity to transport oxygen into the body. With a high flow of blood and low supply of oxygen, the performance of the heart increases in pumping the blood although the oxygen content is low. Therefore, the conditions ease the chance of a heart attack on the consumer by reducing the size of the veins in the heart. The small veins with a high flow of blood risk triggering a heart attack that originates from marijuana usage.

The largest consumers of marijuana are teenagers (Williams et al. 483). Most of the teenagers smoke the drug due to peer pressure and influence from the people around. Consumption of marijuana from a tender age risks exposing the patient to testicular cancer. Testicular cancer occurs when a cell tumor generates in the testes. The cancer development and growth originate from a continued usage of marijuana by the teenagers. Just like other forms of cancer, the cost implication of treating the conditions is very high making it hard for the population to access medical attention. Therefore, smoking marijuana exposes the smokers to a chance of getting testicular especially with prolonged use. Introducing the drug as a chemical element for recreational purposes would endanger the lives of the smokers. From the health implication, marijuana should not be a recreational drug due to the adverse health issues.

Smoking marijuana leads to coughing and excretion of mucus by the body. The human body has a mechanism used in eliminating the chemical elements that the body does not need. The process keeps the body safe from harmful items that threaten the stability of the body. While smoking marijuana, the air channel such as the lungs and the throat experience a feeling of irritation. The irritation is due to the chemical element in marijuana that accesses the lungs during the process of smoking. To eliminate the feeling, the body excretes mucus which collects the unwanted material such as the ashes in the throat. The consumer gets the urge to cough for a period after smoking the product. Therefore, any continued smoking represents another opportunity for the supply of chemicals into the throat and lungs and a potential health challenge through coughing.

The process of growing marijuana involves a lot of chemical processes such as spraying of insecticides. Due to lack of chemical expertise in ensuring the marijuana is not risky to the health of the consumer, the smokers use the product without proper cleaning of the chemicals in the plant. Consumption of the chemicals by the smokers leads to hypersensitive reactions of their bodies to the chemical elements. Some of the consumers develop allergic reactions with characteristics such as red eyes and intense headaches. The chemicals used in preparing the fertilizer are not fit for human consumption. However, the illegal use of marijuana makes it hard for the people to determine the products that are safe for consumption. Therefore, encouraging recreational use of marijuana raises the chances of having a higher part of the population experience the allergic reactions that do not lead to a positive health status.

Just like cigarette smoking, marijuana consumption leads to a poor state of the lungs. The continued smoking leads to accumulation of tar in the lungs. Each inhalation of smoke from marijuana usage leads to accumulation of the tar in the lungs when the particles stick together. When the layer of smoke becomes thicker in the lungs, the consumer develops breathing problems. The lungs fail to ensure a total intake of oxygen into the body since the smoke blocks the pores used in absorbing the oxygen from the lungs. Smokers of marijuana undergo the same health challenges due to smoke accumulation in the brain. Any proposal of encouraging marijuana usage as a recreational drug increases the risk of respiratory problems for the active and passive users. The risk will increase with any increase in the number of consumers.

Marijuana is very addictive. Continuous usage leads to addiction and dependence on the chemical elements in the plant products. Smokers of marijuana leave under the constant influence of the plant in their brain. Therefore, the consumer believes in a virtual world created by the effects of the drug. Users of marijuana get to the point of total dependence on the drug where the consumer cannot be functional without the drug. Many people use the drug as a trigger to dealing with particular environmental and psychological challenges. Whenever the users experience challenging situations, they smoke the drug to trigger the brain into coping with the situation for the best result. Therefore, the body becomes addicted to marijuana and makes it hard for the users to perform any actions efficiently without the chemical elements of the drug in the body system.

Without the drug, the brain loses the ability to recall important points leading t memory loss. Armand (1) states, “It can also impair thinking, judgment, coordination, and memory.” Such are the effects of the chemical elements found in marijuana which get into the body of the consumer and takes such effect. The dependence of the brain on the chemical elements found in marijuana risks the lives of the users. Users cannot und undertake simple functions such as driving because their ability to coordinate their senses is challenging without the drug. Therefore, it is safe to ascertain that marijuana is not safe for human consumption especially due to the addictive nature and control of the brain. Promoting recreational marijuana risks the health of the users because of the possible addiction, memory losses, and impaired thinking. Developing such a product shows a lack of concern for the generation through exposure to dangerous material with uncertain outcomes after usage.

The smoke produced by marijuana has a high likelihood of causing cancer (Hall and Louisa 42). A comparison between the smoke generated by tobacco and that produced by marijuana shows that marijuana has a 70% higher chance of the condition. Therefore, apart from the respiratory challenges associated with smoking, there is an increased risk that involves getting cancer. Cancer is a medical condition without a cure, especially at later stages. The essence recreation is to make positive use of a free time in relaxing. Any process performed during relaxation that risks the life of the consumer goes against the original essence of leisure. It fails to make simple logic by introducing a recreation process that risks the life of a human being through exposure to cancer. Therefore, recreational usage of marijuana in entertainment is not a good idea due to the negative health implications.

Analysis

Marijuana is very accessible on the streets of the United States. Many people encounter their first experience with marijuana while still in high school. Over 6.5% of students in high school use the drug daily (Volkow et al. 2222). Such a high usage, in particular among the younger generation, creates a very challenging environment in controlling the effects of the drugs in the population. The high usage is due to the legalization of the drug in many states in the country. The accessibility, especially for students, creates a fragile state of the country concerning controlling the effects of the drug in the population. However, some of the states legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes and not recreational use. It is the community that goes ahead to misuse the drug through consumption for non-medicinal purposes.

Marijuana use in recreation exposes the users to physical, mental and emotional challenges. Physically, the lungs suffer from constant exposure to suit. The suit covers the inside of the lungs, and additional inhalation of the smoke leads to respiratory complications. Further, the chemical elements in the smoke are synonymous to causing cancer. Cancer is a dangerous medical condition with hazardous medical and financial implications. A recreational activity is one that should help the user to relax and regain an active state. Any recreational event that risks the life of a human being fails to perform the essential function of recreation. Therefore, using marijuana exposes the users to physical health issues over continued usage. For teenagers, most of whom begin consumption at a tender age, the exposure leads to testicular cancer. Lung cancer and testicular cancer are health issues that arise from marijuana usage hence not fit for a recreational drug.

Emotionally, the drug triggers the mind to comprehend different situations. The associated health implication is a dependency on the drug (Richter and Sharon 399). Users of the drug undergo addiction to the point of failing to concentrate on simple issues without the drug. The brain fails to make stable decisions as well as informed choices. The drug affects the storage of information in the memory of the user. In addition, the user fails to pay attention to any event without consumption of the drug. The users become paranoid and seem to exist in a world that other people cannot understand. Schizophrenia is another medical condition associated with marijuana usage. Here, the consumer of the drugs hallucinates making it hard for the people around them to understand their actions. Using such a drug for recreation is misleading. It presents an opportunity where many people will get exposure to the several medical conditions making the population suffer.

Conclusion

Marijuana has the ability to relax the nerves of people and keep them at ease. However, the addictive nature of the drug makes affect the health of the users negatively. The drug is very addictive and affects the memory of the users leading to the stunted development of the brain. Secondly, marijuana exposes the user to lung cancer and testicular cancer which result from continuous usage of the drugs. The population accessing marijuana in the United States is high. Others begin consumption of the drugs from a tender age exposing them to an infinite number of dangerous risks. Therefore, allowing the population to use marijuana as a recreational drug would result in unprecedented outcomes that will affect the health of the users negatively. A higher population will be addicts to the drug, experience psychological health challenges such as schizophrenia and memory loss. Besides, the addiction will require the users to rely on the drugs for any emotional stability and ability to conduct activities positively. Due to the health risk, marijuana should not be a recreational drug at all costs.

Works Cited

Armand, Wynne. "Marijuana: Health Effects of Recreational and Medical Use - Harvard Health Publications." Harvard Health Blog, Harvard Health Publications, 2016, www.health.harvard.edu/blog/the-health-effects-of-marijuana-from-recreational-and-medical-use-2016081910180.

Hall, Wayne, and Louisa Degenhardt. "The adverse health effects of chronic cannabis use." Drug testing and analysis 6.1-2 (2014): 39-45.

Richter, Kimber P., and Sharon Levy. "Big marijuana--lessons from big tobacco." The New England journal of medicine 371.5 (2014): 399.

Volkow, Nora D., et al. "Adverse health effects of marijuana use." New England Journal of Medicine 370.23 (2014): 2219-2227.

Williams, Arthur Robin, et al. "Older, Less Regulated Medical Marijuana Programs Have Much Greater Enrollment Rates Than Newer ‘Medicalized’Programs." Health Affairs 35.3 (2016): 480-488.