Why??

Each day, on the drive home from school, I notice advertisements on an enormous billboard. The sign is so large that we can see it from half a mile away. For weeks now, the sign is always displaying ads for marijuana.

“THE BEST CANNABIS IN THE GALAXY!” as the signs read, is legal in Massachusetts for medicinal and recreational reasons.

These signs are not unique to Massachusetts. I’ve driven often to upstate New York this summer. We drive through Connecticut to New York, and the Connecticut highways are chock full of these signs.

It worries me. Legalized or not, marijuana is a drug, and a harmful one. It is a mind-altering drug, the most used of this class in the United States. Users of marijuana can become dependent on it, just as it is possible to be addicted to other drugs or even coffee.

For those without medicinal reasons to use cannabis, it can actually be very debilitating. Users will have problems thinking and problem solving. Driving under the influence of marijuana is incredibly dangerous.

Using or being addicted to weed can harm relationships with family and friends, cause excessive tiredness, lead to depression, and cultivate negative eating habits.

Foggy high school bathrooms that smell overpoweringly of weed are not an anomaly but a reality. Kids smoke everywhere – in cars, at school, while out shopping, grabbing food with friends, while studying, before and after sports practices, at parties. The main psychoactive component of marijuana, THC, which stimulates the part of the brain that reacts to pleasure – through the euphoric neurotransmitter, dopamine. Smoking weed can allow that THC to hit the bloodstream in seconds – sparking euphoric, relaxed feelings that quickly. The brain isn’t finished developing until after adolescence, and long-term use can cause serious problems. Athletes’ performance will be altered for the worse, with marijuana affecting timing and coordination of movements. Students smoking weed will have trouble concentrating and taking tests, which affects their grades. In fact, marijuana has been shown to cause IQ to be permanently reduced.

It is base manipulation of basic human biology. Since the human body is wired to become addicted to THC, companies and individuals selling marijuana know that they can count on there being a payoff. Legalizing the drug increases its exposure to the citizenry of our state. Why should drugs be promoted and sold? They debilitate our brains and our bodies. Why should it be any easier for addiction to fester and to harm lives?

Inhibition of motor skills and a distorted sense of time and perception make driving far more dangerous and potentially lethal under the use of marijuana. The legal age to use recreational marijuana is 21, in Massachusetts, which is the age of the average college junior. Many would say that they know college juniors who still make a few questionable decisions. The human brain is only considered fully developed during the mid to late 20s, though the brain continues to change and learn throughout our lives. It seems like a terrible risk to offer drugs easily when kids become the men and women who will shape the future of our country’s government, business, arts, and research.

High school is a time full of difficulties. Even at peak performance life can be stressful. To compound that difficulty with addiction is irrational. Why should our students and our people be exposed to the risk? 🌱