Marijuana Is A Cult In Itself

 Jaylaxmi Trivedi

The recent finding of a well established and longest cross border tunnel between San Diego in the US and Tijuana in Mexico once again brings to light the growing and ugly face of addiction in the US. The tunnel which was 2,400 ft long and 30 ft deep and properly ventilated was being used to smuggle Marijuana across the border.

Drug abuse has become one of the biggest challenges America is facing today. Only a day prior to this haul, President Barak Obama urged the American people to abstain from substance abuse and also announced certain measures to fight the menace.

Rampant use of marijuana

Meanwhile, a recent report by Bridget Grant of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and his colleagues on Marijuana use has come up with some shocking facts. The group interacted with 80,000 Americans to arrive at their findings.

Marijuana use has more than doubled since the year 2000. In fact, 58 percent of the US citizen seek legalization of cannabis. What is interesting is that despite its intoxicating ability, many people do not find Marijuana to be harmful. This can be attributed to the fact that Marijuana use has been legalized in 4 states of US for recreational use. Also, 23 states have laws related to medicinal use of Marijuana.

It was also found that along with the increase in drug use, the number of people suffering due to its side-effects has also gone up substantially.

Three out of every 10 Marijuana user suffer from the drug-related disorder. This translates into 6.8 million Americans! Going by the age and community, the young people are at a higher risk of side-effects of Marijuana and blacks are more likely to take to the addiction.

Meanwhile, another study had shown that the young users usually show a smaller brain and the effect of the drug makes them more prone to conditions like schizophrenia. Such youngsters also grow up having short memories and find it difficult to remember things.

Besides, there is a need to study the effect of intake of Marijuana with alcohol – as this is a rampant practice throughout USA. This will give a more deeper and clearer understanding of the drug abuse and its side-effects.