MARCH 17, 2015

RWS 1302

LITERATURE REVIEW
Gerardo Antillon

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The drug Marijuana is a very controversial subject. With being led to believe by
mainstream media that the drug is harmful to human health and society, the majority of U.S.
citizens believe that it is so. But is it really? Many believe that the drug is nothing but bad news,
while others believe it can change the world in a positive way. The questions for this essay are 1.
What is the relationship between marijuana and the mental development of teens into adults? 2.
Does the legalization of marijuana lower crime rates, opposed to the states who have not
legalized marijuana? 3. Why do researchers believe that marijuana has a positive outlook in the
medical field? The purpose of this essay is to give the reader information that will help them
understand marijuana and the reasons that people use it and like/dislike it.
Audience
The audience targeted for question 1 are students grades 7-12, the parents of those teenagers,
who are going through depression, and who are using marijuana as a solution. Question 2 targets
both men and women, ages 20-60, wanting to know if marijuana causes crime, and are interested
in government politics. The audience for question 3 will be premed students and doctors curious
to use marijuana on their patients, those who suffer from disorders such as anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder, individuals who have a diseased such as cancer, and are ages 18-60.
1. What is the relationship between marijuana and depression among teens?
The transition between teenage years into adult life is a difficult one. As people get older, the
problems in life get bigger. With age comes responsibility. There are different outside factors that
can effect teenagers in their lives and eventually cause depression, many teens can turn to drugs
which includes marijuana to forget about these factors. According to research from the Office of
National Drug Control Policy smoking marijuana actually makes depression worse. Many teens

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around the U.S. report experiencing loss of motivation in performing daily activities, and instead
these depressed teens smoke marijuana. Majority of teens will believe if they smoke marijuana it
will relieve their symptoms. They also use the drug to make them feel better at that specific
moment in time to deal with their problems as explained in the article. It is important that
teenagers know depression and drugs is not a good combination. Long term use can even lead to
other dangerous disorders such as anxiety. Many teenagers might feel that depression is totally
normal, the thought of seeking professional help is very rare. If parents realize that their son/ or
daughter is acting strange they should keep in mind that drugs can be playing a factor.
According to the article Psychological Benefits of Marijuana Usage author Gloom disagrees
with the drug being negative. Gloom states that marijuana has in fact been used to treat
depression as an anti-depressant. When smoking marijuana the brain releases dopamine (making
the consumer happy) and anandamide relaxing the user. Almost all users report that marijuana
improves their overall mood. Compared to other anti-depressant drugs marijuana has very low
side effects.
In the article New Study Finds Marijuana to Be Effective against Depression author
Carolyn Gregorie agrees with Gloom, with marijuana being used as a treatment. Neuroscientists
from the University of Buffalo's Research Institute on Addictions found that endocannabinoids -chemical compounds in the brain that activate the same receptors as THC, an active compound in
marijuana -- may be helpful in treating depression that results from chronic stress. Says
Gregorie.
2. Does the legalization of marijuana lower crime rates, opposed to the states who have
not legalized marijuana?

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About ten years ago, the thought of recreational use was profound. In modern America
marijuana has been legalized in multiple states. One of the main reasons citizens believe that the
drug should not be legalized is the fact that it can impact the crime rate among the state. It has
been long rumored that if someone is under the influence, the individual is more likely to commit
a crime. So the question is, which is better? According to Alap Naik Desai, author of Is
Legalizing Recreational Marijuana Use Beneficial to the Society? the exact opposite happened
when the state of Colorado legalized marijuana. The crime rate of Colorado shockingly declined.
After being warned by many that legalizing the drug would have severe consequences, a risky
choice had been made. As a result of the legalization of the drug, research shows that violent
crimes in the state of Colorado had dropped.
A study done by the National Drug Control Policy examined male adults who had been
arrested in Sacramento California. 87% of the males were tested positive for at least one illegal
drug. The most frequent drug found was marijuana. While examining criminals from other states
such as Chicago and New York, results were similar with marijuana being the most popular drug
found. This data concludes that there is a relation with marijuana and crime.
3. Why do researchers believe that marijuana has a positive outlook in human health?
In the article The Benefits of Medical Cannabis Dr. Mercola interviews Dr. Frankel, who is
a physician and has experience in the medical field for about 35 years. By interviewing Frankel
he shows credibility due to the fact that he has so much experience and has used marijuana for
treatment on his own patients. Frankel has had cancer patients wanting to be treated with
cannabis oil. When treating patients with cannabis oil, there were great results. With the tumors
caused by cancer were virtually disappeared. Although cannabis does cause the tumors to shrink,
it doesnt actually cure the disease. Frankel says that completely curing cancer is out of our

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realm. Frankel says he has never used marijuana for his personal use but became interested
when his resources for helping his patients became too small. When giving marijuana to patients
there should be some rules, of course the drug should not be used by someone using it as a
gateway drug but for people with serious medical problems. I would not say that cannabis is
never indicated for minors I treat children with seizure disorders, however do I think 13 and 14
year olds should be smoking weed, no thats just not reasonable. Dr. Mercola mentions during
the interview that a study found that 800,000 people have died in the last 5 years due to
inappropriate recommendations of beta blockers while undergoing surgery, if marijuana were to
be used as a substitute many lives would be spared.
The article 23 Health Benefits of Marijuana also agrees that marijuana can be used to
benefit medical issues. While recreational pot usage is controversial, many people agree with
Gupta's new stance, and believe that the drug should be legal for medical uses. And even though
the benefits of smoking pot may be overstated by advocates of marijuana legalization, new laws
will help researchers study the drug's medicinal uses and better understand how it impacts the
body. Says Jennifer Welsh and Kevin Loria. Welsh and Loria list a total of 23 ways marijuana
helps the human body, which is a great number. Treating conditions such as siezures, slowing
down diseases such as alzheimers, and even boosting metabolism. An interesting treatment is for
lungs which can reverse the harm caused by tobacco. According to a study published in Journal
of the American Medical Association in January 2012, marijuana does not impair lung function
and can even increase lung capacity.

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Researchers looking for risk factors of heart disease tested the lung function of 5,115 young
adults over the course of 20 years. Tobacco smokers lost lung function over time, but pot users
actually showed an increase in lung capacity. Says Jennifer and Loria.
One use of marijuana that has certainly gained popularity due to its success in helping human
health is treating cancer. According to Medical News Today research shows that cannabis
reduces the size of tumors caused by cancer. The active ingredient in fighting the disease is
called tetrahydrocannabinol known for its acronym THC. "THC, the major active component
of marijuana, has anti-cancer properties. This compound is known to act through a specific
family of cell receptors called cannabinoid receptors," says Dr. Peter McCormick, from UEA's
School of Pharmacy.
Malcom Smith of the video Smoking Marijuana: The Long Term Effects states that
marijuana can have long term side effects, when smoking for recreational use and can harm
human health. The harmful side effects listed by Smith include an increase in anxiety, affects
spirituality, decrease in energy, disrupts life goals, and blocks emotions. Malcom first explains
that there are a primary and secondary reactions when it comes to the bodys reaction to a
substance. The primary reaction of marijuana is the high feeling, being able to concentrate,
being more creative, feeling as if there are no worries. One of the secondary reactions to
cannabis is completely opposite to the focusing effect, its a kind of scatteredness of thinking.
And there is an attention deficient issue that comes in from the use of cannabis. Says Smith.
One of Malcoms patients said she had been using marijuana as a pain reliever. Yes it can help
with pain at the moment, but the secondary reaction should be taken into mind.
In the article Marijuana May Hurt The Developing Teen Brain author Patti Neighmond is
interviewing Krista Lisdahl, who is the director of the brain imaging and neuropsychology lab at

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University of Wisconsin. Lisdahl states that the brain is actually bigger at childhood, and shrinks
as we get older. "Then, during the teenage years, our brain is getting rid of those connections that
weren't really used, and it prunes back. It actually makes the brain faster and more efficient."
Says Lisdahl. The brain will focus on making judgments, using critical thinking, and memory.
"It's the absolute worst time, because the mind-altering drug can disrupt development. Think of
the teen years, as the last golden opportunity to make the brain as healthy and smart as possible."
Says Lisdahl. Lisdahl states that marijuana can disrupt this process of the brain transformation,
the individual having consequences for the rest of his/her life.
Conclusion
The conclusion of the research done is that marijuana has an overall positive impact when
it comes to human health, that is if it is being used for medical reasons. The source with a
negative view towards marijuana being used as an anti-depressant was more factual and clearer.
Yes dopamine is released when smoking the drug, but after the effect of the high feeling wears
off the user goes back to square one. As a result the consumer will feel more of a need to depend
on marijuana to get rid of depression temporarily. As for the second question, marijuana has a
positive impact on crime rates. With Colorado legalizing the drug the result was that the crime
rates were lower. As I stated in the essay the source explained that marijuana might not have
been the cause of the drop in crime rate. According to stats the drug certainly did not raise the
crime rate so didnt have a negative effect. The National Drug Control Policys study did show
that the most frequent drug found in the subjects was marijuana, but did not show statistics that it
was the actual cause. Other drugs were also found in those subjects, so they were not only high
off marijuana. The sources for question 3 had good points and information. The source The
Benefits of Medical Cannabis explains that it is good for human health, when treating diseases

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and disorders such as cancer and anxiety. In the article Smoking Marijuana: The Long Term
Effects Smith states that using the drug will have its consequences. Both Dr. Frankel and
Malcom Smith prove their points with credible research. With research from all three questions,
the final conclusion is that marijuana can indeed have its benefits but can also have its
downsides. Cannabis will not have a negative impact on crime, it helps fight deadly diseases and
disorders in the medical field, but will cause damage to someone who is in perfect health.

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Work Cited

Gloom, (2013) Psychological Benefits of Marijuana Usage Retrieved on March 16th

Gregorie, C. (2015) New Study Finds Marijuana To Be Effective Against Depression Retrieved
on March 16th
Desai, A. (2014) Is Legalizing Recreational Marijuana Use Beneficial to the Society?
Retrieved on March 16th
Hotakainen, R. (2013) Marijuana Is The Drug Most Often Linked to Crime, Study Finds
Retrieved on March 16th
Mercola, (2014) The Benefits of Medical Cannabis Retrieved on March 16th
Welsh, J. Loria, K. (2014) 23 Health Benefits of Marijuana Retrieved on March 16th
Smith, M. (2014) Smoking Marijuana: The Long Term Effects Retrieved on March 16th
Neighmond, P. (2013) Marijuana May Hurt The Developing Teen Brain Retrieved on March
16th

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