Marijuana is a cultivated plant all over the world and can thrive in many varieties of climates and soils. Marijuana was first cultivated in China around 4000 B.C. It was mainly used as a sedative and analgesic, but today it is commonly used for the "high" or the euphoric feeling it causes. The most active ingredient in marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannibinal commonly referred to as THC. The discovery of this ingredient wasn't discovered until the 1960s.
Marijuana is illegal in America because of the Marijuana Stamp Tax Act passed in 1937. This act prohibited the use, sale, and growing of marijuana. It was made illegal because it was puzzling why smoking marijuana made people feel the way they did, and because it was associated with Indians and other so called "immoral people." Today, marijuana is illegal because research has shown there are some intoxicating effects. These effects include hallucination, anxiety, depression, extreme mood changes, paranoia, and schizophrenia lasting up to six hours. Physical effects include reddening of the eyes, dryness of the mouth and throat, a moderate increase in heart rate, tightness in the chest, drowsiness, .
unsteadiness, and uncoordinated muscular contractions. Marijuana buffers.
the central nervous system, but is not known to produce a considerable amount of tar in the lungs. Although marijuana has not been proven to be physically addictive, its use can be psychologically addictive. These are the unavoidable negative effects of marijuana and the primary reasons why average Americans, doctors, and politicians want to keep marijuana illegal. .
Supporters of legalizing marijuana state that some legal drugs are just as bad. For example, alcohol has many of the same side effects of marijuana. Alcohol buffers the central nervous system, much like marijuana, and is known to kill brain cells. A joint of marijuana is known to produce more tar than a cigarette.