Why Do Young smoke Marijuana?
595219
Young people in general are finding themselves.  They are growing up and experimenting with all kinds of new things as they transition into adulthood.  They are discovering their sexuality, gaining responsibilities they did not have as a child, and finding out about drugs and alcohol.\n\nSome young people decide to try it, and some don't.  I don't buy the peer pressure thing.  I've never been pressured to smoke weed.  I've been around it and I've seen people refuse it and others smoke it.  I've never seen anyone get bent out of shape because one person does not want to smoke.\n\nPersonally I think the biggest danger of weed is that it can get people interested in smoking regular cigarettes which is a very dangerous and expensive hobby.  As to the direct danger of weed, there are more people die from peanut allergies.  It's no real danger in and of itself.
82307
Because they actually want privacy. Trust me. Ive seen tis be4. Either they are smoking pot, or they are just having sex(The one i saw was my daughter smoking pot).
1083410
lol people are stupid.. when it does become legalized, the US will have more money from marijuana taxes\n\nive been a stoner since i was 14.. im 21 now. ive graduated high school, never been arrested, never commited a crime, never got any vehicle violations, never forgotten anything important or crucial, ive been just like everyone else, maybe even better. \n\nmarijuana doesnt cause people to kill. its been proven. if you still believe that, then youre believing claims from back in the 1930's. its the 2000's. it helps with aids and cancer paitents. its a natural pain killer. tons of famous people smoke it.\n\nto each is her own, thats what i say :)\n\ngreat question :)
1013069
Im 18\nmarijuana is the most commonly uses illegal substance in the United States. it is used by many people, most of which aren't your stereotypical "druggie", with no life agead of them. Many of them hapen to be very successful, good people. Think about it almost if not every person who reads this paper will know (even if they don't realize it) at least one if not several regular users of marijuana. Its often made out to be much more harmful htan it really is, unfortunatly not every one realizes this. \n\nWhat many people don't realize is marijuana is much less harmful than alcohol or tobacco. Yet it's the one of the three that gets a bad rap and is illegal. Marijuana isn't even physicaly addicting. You certanly don't see meetings for marijuana like you do with alcohol and AA. Unfortunatly due to American culture the less harmful of the three is illegal.\n\nThe most common reason why marijuana can be harmful is that people can often come across laced marijuana without realizing it. Marijuana can easily be mixed with other more harmful drugs with out the buyer realizing it, until they have already used it. This is a dangerous thing that causes many people to do more harmful, hard core drugs without realizing it. If it were to be legalized the government could provide guide lines, like it does with alchol  to insure that people knew what they were putting into their bodies.\n\nMarijuana actually has many helpful benefits toward diseases / sicknesses. Marijuana can reduce nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite caused by AIDS. It can Reduce interlobular pressure, which alleviates the pain and slowing and sometimes even stopping the progress of glaucoma. Common side effects of chemotherapy are nausea, loss of appetite, and vomiting, all of which marijuana would help. It can limit muscle pain and relieve tremor nad unsteadiness of gait for multiple sclerosis patients. Marijuana can help prevent epileptic seizures in some patients. It can also alleviate chronic, often debilitating pain caused by myriad disorders and injuries. Each one of these applications have been deemed legitimate by at least one United States court, legislature, and/or government agency.\n\nDue to these reasons and many others many people are going to jail/prison on a daily basis due to simply smoking a little pot These aren't dangerous criminals that would kill or rape someone. Many of them are teachers, lawyers and respected members of their communities. But yet we still pay thousands of dollars of tax payers money to lock up non dangerous "criminals" yearly even though most aren't going to stop after they get out of jail. Don't you think the money spent here is a waste? Couldn't it be going to more useful things such as hospitals, disease research, or better schools? These are the things that would benifit the people of this country. Certanily you would rather benefit the people more than throwing a non violent pot head in jail who was only trying to smoke a joint and relax after a long days work in jail. There is up to forty million regular (note thats just the regular not occasional users) drug users in the United states. If we were to throw all of them in jail it would cost $500,000 per million people, plus the cost and space of building many more prisons. Couldm't that money be spent on building hospitals? There's already about 1.5 million people tax payers are paying to keep in jail over drugs. From 1990 to 2003, nearly 5.9 million people had been arrested for smoking marijuana. Thats a greater number than the entire population of Alaska, Delaware, The District of Columbia, Montania, North and South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming combined. This country simply can't afford to put 40 million more in jail.\n\nMarijuana should be legalized. It has many uses such as helping sick patients. People are going to smoke it no matter what the government sais, and with out govenment guidelines thi
427976
You're too young to smoke!!!
755458
People who use pot damage their brains. Because they are brain damaged, they don't know that they are brain damaged and think that pot is harmless. Then they try to get you to do it. Don't. you will see in time that people who do pot are in fact different and get more stupid by the joint. Please, don't destroy your brain in your youth. You will be able to look back, like me, and be so thankful you never gave in to the temptation.
85723
420(pronounced four twenty, not four hundred and twenty), was police code for smoking marijuana in a feature on pager codes that teenagers use to "talk" to each other. I began researching the number again and it seems I was wrong. Read on to learn the myths, the truth about the origin and what this term means for parents.\nKnown Myths\n\n\nPolice dispatch code for smoking pot is 420. The number 420 is not police radio code for anything, anywhere. Checks of criminal codes suggest that the origin is neither Californian nor federal. For instance, California Penal Code 420 defines as a misdemeanor the hindrance of use of public lands. \nThere are approximately 420 active chemicals in marijuana. Actually, there are approximately 315 active chemicals in marijuana. This number goes up and down depending on which plant is used. \nApril 20th is National Pot Smokers Day. Well, it is now; but that wasn't the origin. \nApril 20th is Hitler's birthday. Yes, it is his birthday. But, as 420 started out as a time, not a date, his birthday had nothing to do with it. \nApril 20th is the date of the Columbine school shootings. This happened after the term was already in use. \n4:20 is tea time for pot-smokers in Holland. Tea time in Holland is at 5:30 pm, or is it 2:30 pm? Seems no one is quite sure when the wonderful people of Holland drink their tea. \nThe Origin Revealed \nAccording to Steven Hager, editor of High Times, the term 420 originated at San Rafael High School, in 1971, among a group of about a dozen pot-smoking wiseacres who called themselves the Waldos, who are now pushing 50. The term was shorthand for the time of day the group would meet, at the campus statue of Louis Pasteur, to smoke pot. Intent on developing their own discreet language, they made 420 code for a time to get high, and its use spread among members of an entire generation. While our teens feel that they know something we don't, you can let them in on the fact that it was your generation that came up with the numbers. \n\nA quote from one of the Waldos in the High Times article states, "We did discover we could talk about getting high in front of our parents without them knowing by using the phrase 420." Fortunately, your teenagers will not have that same option. \n\nWhatever! \n\nSimply put, 420 is a symbol of cannabis and its culture. Today, April 20th events are international, and 4:20 pm has become sort of a world wide "burn time". It certainly doesn't matter too much where the term came from because for us parents, it's a flag, a warning sign that our teenagers may be into something that could harm their future. When you see the symbol 420, be aware of what it represents.
204019
It can mess with your head(well duh) but I mean more than just at the moment.  It can cause or make depression worse, it doesn't cause mental disorders but can make them worse.  It kills motivation, causes cancer, causes impotence.  Its emotionally addicting, which can be just as bad as a physical addiction.  What you really have to think about is why do it in the first place, there aren't many reasons to smoke pot other than at the moment it feels good, but there are a lot of reasons not to.  I have smoked pot for years, and honestly I wish I had never started.  I wonder where my life would be if I hadn't.
339509
teens- smoke pot, cus at eachother, steal, die in a few years.
264358
Because the last thing this country needs is a bunch of Pot Heads walking around smoking that stinky marijuana. This country already has enough problems and does not need anymore. They could ban smoking cigarettes from restaurants and bars.
178824
Because they want to b1tch about something.   Seriously, smoking outside isn't going to give anyone cancer any more than that car they drive.  It's getting completely out of hand.
1084926
I have theories, but they're just theories. Cigarettes and alcohol are legal because they bring big dollars to the government. And they are entirely too common. Marijuana legalized would bring big bucks too, but they would rather use it for keeping the prisons full. The towns that have prisons, typically the prison is their primary source of income. More prisoners equals more free labor, and more jobs within the prison for town residents.  There's also the race thing. Minorities are the ones caught with marijuana charges. After being imprisoned, they're lives are over. Possession of marijuana is grounds for denial of financial aid for college and for employment. Therefore usually after being released they are found doing the exact same thing all over again, or worse. And the cycle continues. There are deeper reasons why marijuana is kept illegal, your proof lies in the fact that cigarettes remain legal no matter what. Several cities are banning the indoor smoking in all public places because of the hazards of secondhand smoking but the thought of making it criminal to smoke at all never came up.
378943
How Marijuana Smoking Affects the Body \n\nAdversely affects normal cell formation. \nProduces feelings of isolation and depersonalization. \nProduces shakes, lack of coordination and headaches. \nMakes any mental or emotional problem worse. \nIncreases the heart rate. \nHas 50 percent more tar per ounce than tobacco. \nDecreases air flow and creates loss of lung capacity in little more than a month of regular smoking. \nProduces chronic irritation of nasal and lung passages. \nCreates precancerous changes in the lungs of smokers in their 20s. \nSuppresses sex drive and sexual performance with prolonged use. \nCan lead to impotence. \nHarms the developing fetus. \nIs associated with increased still births, neonatal deaths, decreased birth weight and abnormal reactions in children born to mothers on marijuana. \nDecreases brain response, affects thinking and brain function, creates confusion and problems with short and long term memory, and distorts perception of time. \nCauses blackouts. \nImpairs driving skills. Studies show brake response time is increased, concentration is decreased and risk taking is increased. \nDistorts peripheral vision, especially in the first two hours after using. \nPeople who smoke marijuana generally have reduced energy, reduced motivation and decreased drive. Marijuana twists the mind with false moods, chemically induced distortions and unreal perceptions of people and life. Marijuana distorts what is stored in the memory. It lies to the user.\n\nSmoking marijuana decreases the chance for a naturally satisfying life. It is an especially harmful drug for young people. Just when teens and young adults are searching for motivation and the best way to achieve their dreams, marijuana robs them of motivation. Young people do less, learn less and become less capable when they smoke marijuana.\n\nSmoking marijuana drains self-confidence and arrests the development of confidence in a person's own ability to get natural rewards out of life. Because marijuana introduces people to altered perceptions and feelings, and an "I don't care" attitude, the drug encourages use of other drugs and sinks its users into an ever-deepening dependence on drug lifestyles. Drawn into the illegal drug culture, users are then available to those who are pushing other drugs.
523558
It is a harsh penalty; I don't agree with it, but it is reality. Given that, any teenager (or adult who might want to later get educational loans) who smokes pot is knowingly taking that risk.
1021616
marijuana is the most commonly uses illegal substance in the United States. it is used by many people, most of which aren't your stereotypical "druggie", with no life agead of them. Many of them hapen to be very successful, good people. Think about it almost if not every person who reads this paper will know (even if they don't realize it) at least one if not several regular users of marijuana. Its often made out to be much more harmful htan it really is, unfortunatly not every one realizes this. \n\nWhat many people don't realize is marijuana is much less harmful than alcohol or tobacco. Yet it's the one of the three that gets a bad rap and is illegal. Marijuana isn't even physicaly addicting. You certanly don't see meetings for marijuana like you do with alcohol and AA. Unfortunatly due to American culture the less harmful of the three is illegal.\n\nThe most common reason why marijuana can be harmful is that people can often come across laced marijuana without realizing it. Marijuana can easily be mixed with other more harmful drugs with out the buyer realizing it, until they have already used it. This is a dangerous thing that causes many people to do more harmful, hard core drugs without realizing it. If it were to be legalized the government could provide guide lines, like it does with alchol  to insure that people knew what they were putting into their bodies.\n\nMarijuana actually has many helpful benefits toward diseases / sicknesses. Marijuana can reduce nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite caused by AIDS. It can Reduce interlobular pressure, which alleviates the pain and slowing and sometimes even stopping the progress of glaucoma. Common side effects of chemotherapy are nausea, loss of appetite, and vomiting, all of which marijuana would help. It can limit muscle pain and relieve tremor nad unsteadiness of gait for multiple sclerosis patients. Marijuana can help prevent epileptic seizures in some patients. It can also alleviate chronic, often debilitating pain caused by myriad disorders and injuries. Each one of these applications have been deemed legitimate by at least one United States court, legislature, and/or government agency.\n\nDue to these reasons and many others many people are going to jail/prison on a daily basis due to simply smoking a little pot These aren't dangerous criminals that would kill or rape someone. Many of them are teachers, lawyers and respected members of their communities. But yet we still pay thousands of dollars of tax payers money to lock up non dangerous "criminals" yearly even though most aren't going to stop after they get out of jail. Don't you think the money spent here is a waste? Couldn't it be going to more useful things such as hospitals, disease research, or better schools? These are the things that would benifit the people of this country. Certanily you would rather benefit the people more than throwing a non violent pot head in jail who was only trying to smoke a joint and relax after a long days work in jail. There is up to forty million regular (note thats just the regular not occasional users) drug users in the United states. If we were to throw all of them in jail it would cost $500,000 per million people, plus the cost and space of building many more prisons. Couldm't that money be spent on building hospitals? There's already about 1.5 million people tax payers are paying to keep in jail over drugs. From 1990 to 2003, nearly 5.9 million people had been arrested for smoking marijuana. Thats a greater number than the entire population of Alaska, Delaware, The District of Columbia, Montania, North and South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming combined. This country simply can't afford to put 40 million more in jail.\n\nMarijuana should be legalized. It has many uses such as helping sick patients. People are going to smoke it no matter what the government sais, and with out govenment guidelines this can b
639103
Not to shed some strange light into this but flavored cigars are smoked by people other than teens smoking marijuana.  If kids want to smoke pot, they can do it with zig zags which are used for rolling cigarettes.  Why doesn't congress go after that business?  Because CORRELATION IS NOT CAUSATION.\nI think I'd be more worried about how the kid got the pot in the first place than how he smoked it.
705192
Killed their brain cells..Forgot to pick up a little brother or sister therefore putting them in harms way...caused accidents that claimed people's lives...clouded their own judgement and made them do crazy things....now the question is when is smoking marijauna ACTUALLY funny??? I think NEVER!! Let life pass them by...oh wait that's not funny either.\n\nBest Wishes...and GROW UP!