Legalize It

Legalize It

In 2000, George Bierson’s "Marijuana, the Deceptive Drug", was published by

the Massachusetts News. Bierson concludes that marijuana is harmful in many ways,

including brain damage, damage to the reproductive system, and weakening of the

immune system. He also attempts to convince the reader that marijuana is a "gateway

drug" that leads the users to venture into much harder drugs. I believe that research to

support anything can be found if one is looking hard enough, but that the fallacy of

Bierson’s conclusion is due to his research seeking facts to support an already-assumed

conclusion. Based on my research and my own personal experience, I have found that

several of his points, when looked at logically, do not reach his conclusion.

One of Bierson’s strongest supporting claims is of the physical harms of

marijuana. He argues that Heath's tests of the monkey's brain seemed to show conclusive

evidence of brain damage; however, he fails to mention that the tests were later

discredited: the monkeys were given extremely high doses, doses exponentially higher

than that of the average recreational or medical marijuana user, and the test’s sample size

was too small. More current studies of people who are heavy marijuana smokers show

no evidence of brain damage; in addition, the American Medical Association has

officially endorsed the decriminalization of marijuana. I find this to be quite a bit more

compelling than an outdated and poorly executed test. His claims of damage to both the

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reproductive system and the immune system are again based on invalid experiments of

nearly lethal doses administered to mice and other animals, not humans. Moreover,

several studies of the effects of marijuana on the human reproductive and immune

systems have failed to demonstrate adverse effects.

One of the longest standing arguments against the use of marijuana is that it gives

users a "gateway" to harder or more illicit drug use....