In this day and age people throughout the world are looking for some way to escape the 'real world'. People seek medical advice in search of something to bring them up, down, relax, or even to help put them to sleep. Many turn to alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, marijuana, cocaine and /or other mood enhancing agents for a temporary break. .
"One of the most persistent and unusual aspects of human behaviour, observable in all cultures and through all of history, is man's dissatisfaction with his ordinary state of consciousness and the consequent development of innumerable methods for altering it. Our normal pattern of thought and feeling, useful in many ways, never seems to be enough for some people." 1.
Marijuana is in many ways not as harmful a break, in comparison to some drugs that have been made legal by our government, an institution in society responsible the for well being of their citizens. If legalized, benefits would include billions of dollars in revenue, additional employment, and medicine. Recreationally, marijuana could provide a safer alternative to using alcohol or tobacco.
Without question there have been criticisms of marijuana. An important concern is that marijuana maybe a gateway drug that causes progression to other drugs such as cocaine and heroin. More likely, however, is that people who experiment with one drug are more likely to experiment with another. I'd like to take it one step further by adding the real gateway drugs are in fact, alcohol and tobacco. The majority of youth experiment with alcohol and tobacco, first and foremost, then maybe continue on to marijuana and other substances. John P. Morgan of City University of New York Medical School has been studying the marijuana epidemic for approximately 40 years and is considered a prominent medical researcher. According to his studies that he presented to the U.S. Senate committee, he stated, "There is no credible gateway theory.
