Our country is facing one of the worst dilemmas of the century, and it seems like the whole of the country is getting divided based on it. The discussions regarding whether to legalize the use of marijuana, although quite old, have found importance in recent years due to the increasing number of states that are legalizing it. Up to now around twenty states, have either legalized it, or are in the final stages of the legalization procedure. Recent polls that were conducted on the subject, all pointed at the changing perceptions of the average American citizen. It also spoke of a growing trend, favoring of the legalization of marijuana. Most news outlets and research analysts are saying that marijuana will be legalized all over the country within a decade or so. It must be noted that marijuana, although known primarily for its recreational uses, is a very effective painkilling drug.

Marijuana legalization is a highly contentious issue in the United States. Many states have passed the laws making its medical use legal, while Washington and Colorado made the recreational use legal, almost in defiance of the federal anti-marijuana laws. While federal government and state governments continue to interpret the facts about marijuana differently, the public opinion is changing in favour of its legalization. The increasing support for marijuana legalization The main reason all these states are ignoring the federal laws and are passing the marijuana laws, is because of the voters’ support for such measures. The politicians and the lawmakers cannot be criticized for heeding to the public’s opinion in their states, as recent polls show that most of the Americans are in favour of marijuana legalization in the country. Almost all of these state laws were passed after they were put to referendums where it garnered the majority votes.

The Justice Department is yet to take a decision on the laws passed by the states of Colorado and Washington, which made the use of recreational marijuana legal. However, the decision of the Justice department is likely to be influenced by the marijuana effects on children. According to the Attorney General Eric Holder, “When it comes to these marijuana initiatives, I think among the kinds of things we will have to consider is the impact on children,” and that “We are certainly going to enforce federal law”. The states of Colorado and Washington legalized recreational cannabis last November; however, the drug remains illegal under the federal laws. The Attorney general is yet to take a decision on whether to take the matter to courts or not. In addition, one of the congressional representatives has already asked Mr. Holder to defy the state laws in court. Last December, in an interview

When synthetic marijuana first hit the markets, many were under the wrong impression that the drug is legal and safe. Some of the synthetic cannabis was prepared using the artificial equivalents of the federally banned cannabinoids mixed with other chemicals making it a cocktail designer drug. Since the DEA ban The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) soon discovered that some of these drugs are even more harmful than the natural marijuana and contained many psychoactive chemicals that made it extremely addictive. The DEA promptly banned it from the market. However, these are still available under different names through different routes. An investigation conducted by the News Channel 5 confirmed this and to make the point loud and clear, the channel investigative journalists went ahead and bought two packets of the drug online. The illegal synthetic marijuana is mainly thriving in the online market where they are available in fancy packets and

Reefer, pot, herb, blanche, weed, sinsemilla, hashish, hash oil, chronic, dagga ganja, grass, old man, bhang, hash, tar- all these are names given to various cannabis derivatives. The major active psychoactive agent delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol or THC is responsible for the widespread popularity of this drug. The THC content varies in different grades of marijuana. While lower grade marijuana contains 1% to 3% of THC, higher grade marijuana known as sinsemilla contains 7% to 8% of THC. Hashish, one of the most popular derivatives of marijuana contains 7 to 20 percentage of the compound while hashish oil, the most concentrated form may contain up to 70% THC. In spite of the well-known recreational and medicinal facts about marijuana, the federal government still categorizes the drug as a Schedule 1 Narcotic. This means that the DEA does not approve of any of the medicinal qualities of the drug and classifies it as having

Marijuana, which had once been considered as a lethal drug, is now seen as a mild drug and the number of people demanding it to be legalized has skyrocketed over the last couple of decades. And all this thanks to the  media, which have played a pivotal role in bringing about a shift in people’s perception of marijuana. Long back, marijuana was considered as a typically lethal drug. Many movies, novels and celebrities were largely responsible for instilling in people such made up facts about marijuana. “Reefer Madness”, the 1936 cult hit, depicted marijuana as the primary cause for turning two teenagers into sex-crazed murderers. Novels such as “Badge of Evil”, “Casino Royale”, etc were used as strong propaganda against marijuana causing it to be considered as a violence inducing drug. Currently, marijuana does not have the lethal drug status anymore. If we happen to see someone smoking marijuana in

If someone asks you about the most popular illegal drug in the country, you could answer without a doubt that it is marijuana. Taking all the drugs together, legal and illegal, it holds the third position right behind alcohol and tobacco. A recent study found out that almost 100 million people have already tried marijuana at least once in their life. Even though eighteen states in the country have legalized the use of cannabis for medical purposes, the federal government has not taken steps to legalize the drug and it is still illegal to use them even in the states that have passed marijuana laws. In this article, we will find out the different facts about marijuana. The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 The Marijuana Tax Act enacted in 1937 was the first step to regulate Marijuana in the country. With this law, it became illegal to possess, manufacture, import

Marijuana, otherwise called cannabis, is smoked by millions of people insisting that it do not pose any side effects. But according to the researches that have been conducted, marijuana can cause several health hazards. Even using it for the very first time can affect the smoker, and its effects on the human body can last for one to three hours. You would even find food items in which marijuana is included, like cookies, biscuits and other items. They would have lasting effect when compared to smoking cannabis. The marijuana effects vary from person to person. Let us check out some of the effects caused by marijuana in the short term. Side effects of marijuana The perception gets distorted Memory problems Difficult to coordinate Poor problem solving skill and difficulty to think Low blood pressure and high heart rate Cause anxiety, fear or panic. Marijuana Effects on the brain THC is

The recent survey conducted by UNICEF has highlighted that most of the youngsters in Canada smoke marijuana. Dr. David Juurlink, an expert toxicologist and drug safety researcher at Sunnybrook Health Services Center, shared some of his views on this matter to the media. Dr. Juurlink feels that occasional marijuana smoking is far harmless than smoking cigarettes. “I am not surprised by the high prevalence of cannabis use in kids,” he added. Dr. Juurlink said that marijuana is in the news for the past 40 years, but the attitude of the people towards its use has become much more relaxed than what it was in the earlier days. When asked about the marijuana effects on health of the youth, Dr. Juurlink said, “Cannabis smoking may be a risk factor for lung cancer, but it is not clear how much of the increased risk reflects tobacco use among marijuana smokers.” Speaking on

Marijuana, the name of a drug which had long been considered as a taboo in many communities in the USA and many other parts of the world, is a common topic of discussion now. The topics of discussion include the public demand to legalize it for medical as well as recreational use. In this context, it is worth noting some of the scientific facts about marijuana, as well as marijuana effects in people. What is marijuana? Marijuana is general term used to speak of a combination of flower buds of the Cannabis sativa plant, its stem and shredded leaves. A number of terms are used to denote marijuana now, such as pot, weed, ganja or grass. Every language has got its own colloquial terms to refer to marijuana. Given that there are few states in America that have legalized marijuana for medical as well as recreational use, it remains an