Controlling Marijuana Abuse among University Students in the US Research Paper

Controlling Marijuana Abuse among University Students in the US - Research Paper Example Marijuana abuse can, therefore, be described as the illegal use of marijuana to alter one’s mood, emotional state or state of conscience. In modern societies, the use and abuse of drugs creates a social paradox which includes the potential for good outcomes such as being used for medicinal purposes and bad ones such as addiction which can cause diseases, such as lung cancer. As a positive impact of marijuana, patients suffering from severe forms of cancers get a bit of reprieve from their anguish through controlled use of the drug, whereby with small doses they are able to undergo less suffering. However, certifications of clinical uses are still unavailable due to little known knowledge about the drug’s long-term effects, and scientists continue to do studies on its medicinal properties and how it can be used favorably and avoid its adverse effects (NIDA). Perhaps with increased research into the positive medical uses, patients can better enjoy the drug in a controlled environment. Despite the ban on use and trade of marijuana within the United States, there has been a surge in its use, particularly within colleges and universities. Marijuana abuse has mushroomed into both a social hazard for enforcing agencies and a steady social evil that is practiced with little caution or care of legal restrictions on its use and trade as its use has greatly spread over the years. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse (2010), the trade in marijuana has grown into a multi-million dollar industry globally; and this market seems to surpass social and demographic boundaries. Thus, this paper examines the causative agents for marijuana abuse in the United States with a focus on the user group consisting of college and university students and assessing the effects arising therein. The paper will discuss the causation and effects of marijuana smoking and this will help in enabling students know how it affects their lives, and provide awareness to those a t risk of smoking. Elaborating on the effects of marijuana use will help in deterring students from smoking marijuana as it will keep them informed on the negative effects it has on them and will provide awareness to potential smokers, hence, deterring them from starting the habit. Marijuana use has increased among the youngest age groups between the age of 12-17 in the United States and, especially, within the minority groups, such as Hispanics and African-Americans (NIDA). This also has been found to represent a shift upwards in both the abuse and dependency on other drugs (Gledhill-Hoyt , Lee and Strote 1657). Many studies, such as the one by The Drug Abuse Warning Network, have provided positive correlation towards this end, but I would draw a cautious line on this conclusion, since the consumption of marijuana might cause problems in the consumption of other substances. My own prognosis would be inclined towards the examination of this relationship based on the consideration th at marijuana and other cases of substance abuse arise significantly out of the underlying problems within a subset of the particular individual’s orientation, such as wanting to change moods, which will prompt an individual to smoke. The personality characteristics of the individual have been found to be attributable to marijuana use