Marijuana, a Mexican term, is referred to as cannabis leaves in other countries which people think as something negative or associate it with the term high (Hajizadeh, 2016). As stated by United Nations (2018), in 2016, cannabis was the most commonly used drug with 192 million people around the world, and this press the issue about whether or not to legalize it. The use of marijuana in the Philippines is illegal as disadvantages are always been recognized by society. However, the use of marijuana is beneficial in a way that has impacts on the economy, social, and health as stated again by Hajizadeh (2016). Moreover, high levels of abuse in using marijuana show that there is an indication that it can administer consequences on health including physiological, cognitive, and psychological effects (Vidourek, King, Merianos, Burbage, and Oluwoye, 2018).
The journal entitled Legalizing and Regulating Marijuana in Canada illustrates that economic, social and health growth are the different factors that affect the use of marijuana as stated by Hajizadeh (2016). As stated by the report of the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, the validity of the use of marijuana would help to progress $10 billion through the increasing of revenues brought by marijuana. Moreover, people in Canada especially the youth show the highest users of the drug as mentioned in the report of the United Nations Children's Fund. It can prevent unhealthy surroundings due to the use of the illegal drug problem encountered with the black market. As claimed by the report of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, there are health problems regarding the application of the drug.
On the contrary, according to the study of Vidourek et. al., (2018), more and more college students use marijuana in the United States, a country where medical and recreational use of marijuana is legal. Although it is believed to be less harmful to society than alcohol, as cited in the article, being exposed for a long time causes bad effects. Long-term health consequences of using marijuana include physical, psychological, and mental health problems. Despite this, almost half of the respondents of the study agreed that marijuana should be legal for medical and recreational purposes. With the results, college health professionals can use the data to give prevention and intervention measures for the increasing use of marijuana among college students and reducing its overall use.
The ongoing talk about the legalization of marijuana for its medical use thus needed to be pondered upon as it has good and bad sides. It was deemed beneficial not only to a person's health but also to the economy and social aspects. However, it might also come with its negative effect which affects the physical, psychological, and mental health of the users especially when abused.
List of References
DrugFreeWorld.org. (n.d.). Marijuana Statistics. Retrieved November 8, 2019, from https://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/marijuana/international-statistics.html.
Hajizadeh, M. (2016, August 1). Legalizing and Regulating Marijuana in Canada: Review of Potential Economic, Social, and Health Impacts. Retrieved November 8, 2019, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4968247/.
UNITED NATIONS. (2018). World drug report 2018 (set of 5 booklets). United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Sales No. E.18.XI.9. Retrieved from https://www.unodc.org/wdr2018/prelaunch/WDR18_Booklet_1_EXSUM.pdf
Vidourek, R., King, K., Merianos, A., Burbage, M., & Oluwoye, O. (2018). Marijuana use among college students and attitudes towards legalization. American Journal of Health Studies 33 (2) 99-106. Retrieved from http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=6&sid=ba73e5b7-8d2a-4d48-85fa-aeb5aa9adb7f%40pdc-v-sessmgr05&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=132016892&db=a9h