Marijuana's opponents are disappointed by the results of new scientific research

At a time when support for medical marijuana hits all time high across the nation, the opponents of the legalization are also stepping up their campaigns, efforts and lobbying to dent the growing public support for the weed and influence governments to refrain from decriminalization of this wonder plant. 

The opponents of marijuana legalization can broadly be divided into two categories: those who are genuinely concerned about the presumed harms that decriminalization of cannabis would bring to the society, and others who have vested interest in suppression of marijuana such as big pharma, alcohol industry.

In order to garner support for their cause they propel two main arguments: one any such move would bring devastating affects especially for kids. The anti-drug argument was particularly based on the fear that marijuana would “literally dumb down the precious minds of generations of children”.

The second argument is based on gateway theory which says it begins with marijuana and finally moves to what we call ‘harder drugs addict’. It is feared that once marijuana is decriminalized, it would fuel all drug related problems from crimes to addiction to harder drugs. In this way it would enormously damage the war on drugs; crimes and myriad of other social issues would be a logical outcome of any such move of legalization.

Apparently, such claims contain some face-value; however, the scientific research turns down all such fears and claims.

With 13 states passed medical marijuana laws while Colorado and Washington became first states to fully legalize recreational pot use, question is did the fear it would spoil the precious minds of children turn out to be true?

A recent study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis answers this query. Richard Grucza and his colleagues found exactly opposite: the number of American teens with marijuana related problems – such as dependency on drug, or trouble with family and school due to marijuana use - dropped by 24 percent between 2002 and 2013. The overall number of teens using marijuana fells too.

"We were surprised to see substantial declines in marijuana use and abuse," Grucza said in a statement. "Whatever is happening with these behavioral issues, it seems to be outweighing any effects of marijuana decriminalization."

Now we turn to the argument of ‘gateway drug’ to analyze if it is fair to dub marijuana with this label. A recent study conducted by researchers at University of Florida empirically scrutinized this argument. Their findings show that alcohol is a far more of a ‘gateway drug addict’ than medical use of marijuana is.

According to the study’s co author, Adam E. Barry, the later in life that a person consumes alcohol, the less likely they are to abuse drugs addict.

“By delaying the onset of alcohol initiation, rates of both licit substance abuse like tobacco and illicit substance use like marijuana and other drugs addict will be positively affected, and they’ll hopefully go down,” Barry said in an interview with Raw Story.

Clearly, one can see that propaganda and myths against marijuana use are just alive to protect some vested interests. The scientific research clearly turns down the fears and claims propelled by the opponents of marijuana decriminalization.