The use of marijuana has defenitely changed from being used on a smaller scale of people to a larger scope. Even children in middle school are now being introduced to marijuana. Marijuana users don't necessarily look at the consequences until it is to late. As stated in the article one of the misfortunes that comes from smoking cannibis is the loss of I.Q points, and memory. But what really began this widdespread epidemic of mairjuana use? This question could be better explained through looking at the problem with an interactionist lense. As we know teenagers are infamous for following the latest trend, and unfortunately smoking cannibis is what is in now. We learn certain mannerisms or what we as a society consider as valubale with face-to-face interactions amongnst our social groups, such as school peers,family and friends. What if interaction with parents and family is limited? In our society today we are so busy, the family time, which was concidered amongst the most important time in the past generations is slowly getting eliminated. Parents of these adolescents are now busier then ever working. That leaves most of the interactions with your peers at school, and friends. Smoking pot has become the new trend and favorite past time with unfortunate consequences. Unfortunately marijuana is introduced through friends and peers. Sometime the younger people smoke b because it makes them look "cooler," and then the chain of introduction begins. A possible solution that could be introduced on a wider scale could be time set aside for family interaction. That way mannerisms, as well as different values could be taught that are looked through different eyes other than the adolescents.
Teni B. Going to school at a young age gives an advantage to a child since the brain is more capable of understanding and observing the taught material. But nowadays, has the level of education gone down or some circumstances are affecting the students and not allowing them to study and focus? Some may argue either way, but what’s the truth? The use of marijuana in young adults is defiantly a huge social problem since these young adults are the tomorrow’s doctors, engineers, attorneys, nurses, teachers and scientists. It’s unknowns whether the new generation is capable of affording or handling college. It’s no secret that pot can completely damage the developing teen’s brain and create future difficulties. But, why are teens still using it? Are we not educating the youth enough? Well, isn’t difficult to teach your child something and explain the harms of that certain product but when the child turn the television on or is on him computer and the breaking news on Yahoo is that Miley Cyrus just smoked and decided to writing a song about the “experience” or that Justin Bieber used pot on the plain. We always tell the young that school is important; it will help you to have a better future. Then all these kids see are the immature rich and famous teens “enjoying” their lives. Serenity this is the perspective of an integrationist, who believes that others influence their behavior and impact the society. Teens are mostly influenced by their “idols”, who are under the societies’ microscope, then their friends and the pressure of the market which has a dramatic effect. It’s difficult to argue that there isn’t a problem; pot is the creator of pleasure, the temporarily problem solver and the slowly destroyer of our tomorrow. Pot is like a cancer cell in society, we all know it’s bad, it’s deadly but it spreads throughout the body rapidly and kills slowly and painfully. I decided to write about this story because it’s a huge threat to our society today; some teens are enjoying their youth naively in expense of society. Many solutions can be suggested in order to solve this problem. Some might think that banning marijuana will stop some teens from using it; however, in my opinion everything in this life is about choice. It’s impossible to stop selling kitchen knives because some might decide to use it as a murder weapon. No one can disagree that medical marijuana can be helpful to adults and children too. So banning marijuana might actually hurt the ill. Besides the medical use and its positive effects on the unwell, banning pot might effect and hurt the society overall just like the Prohibition Act did. So the only think that is left to do is to educate our youth as much as possible, teach them to be their own person not the slaves of propaganda.
The social issue this article states is the negative affect marijuana has on a teen’s growing brain, and the number of teenagers using this substance on a regular basis. Studies have shown that regular use of marijuana has slowed down the development of a minor's brain, and as a result, adults that have smoked marijuana when they were young have damaged the part of the brain that helps with their memory, judgment, and critical thinking. The main issue I see in this article is that teens believe that this substance is not harmful; they do not realize that they are harming their brain development with marijuana. To me, this says that teenagers are not being educated on the reality of THC, an ingredient in marijuana that negatively effects a brain’s development. The other issue is that this drug is available in some states for medical purposes, and this gives teens an easier access to this it. An integrationist would see this social problem at a micro level. It is important for teens to “fit in” and do things that their friends are doing, such as drugs. Marijuana is the largest used drug by adolescents, and since teenagers are easily pressured by their peers to do what “everyone” is doing, it will continue to be the largest used drug by this age group. The minors who get their peers to try marijuana are the ones who are convinced and convince their friends that this drug is harmless. Therefore, after word has spread that smoking pot is safe, more and more teenagers try it and some start using it regularly. Marijuana has become socially accepted and sometimes even expected of this age group to start using. Once this drug is no longer popular, fewer students will be interested in it. Our goal as a community should be to better educate the youth about the effects of THC in marijuana. We need to form an organization to show teens that there is nothing “cool” about memory loss, misjudgment and lack of critical thinking. Once they are shown concrete facts about the harms caused by this drug, then they will be less likely to be fooled into trying it. They need to hear from the people that once thought that marijuana was not a big deal and have let this drug negatively impact their lives. This will help teens visualize the reality of this drug.
Daniel J. Marijuana contains over 200 chemicals that alter the brain and its use. It slows down the connections in our brain cells and studies have shown that it over time alters I.Q.'s. What studies don't tend to focus on is the habits it forms. When people use marijuana, they usually do thing unproductive for the next few hours while they enjoy the high. People smoke and then watch TV or play video games most of the time as the high wears off. What this does is it gives them habits and has them getting used to doing nothing all day. For someone to be introduced marijuana in their early teens, it not only harms their still developing brain but it cre4ates these bad habits. It has them getting used to sitting around all day and not doing anything productive. An interactionist would blame the peers in school for it. People offer it to their friends and that’s how it spreads. If my best friend was smoking it I probably would too, I don’t think I would just go find a new best friend. Some people think the youth isn’t educated enough and that’s why they are dumb and smoke it still. THIS IS NOT TRUE. I can’t even count how many times the sheriff came in to teach us about drugs and alcohol. Let’s take cigarettes as an example. It’s something that people smoke that is terrible for your health. it not only stunts your growth, it harms your lungs and mouth while giving you a higher risk for getting cancer. We see commercials on its harmful effects every day. The above the influence people really nailed down teaching people about it. Then why do people still smoke it? Don’t they know it’s bad? Yes, they do. They don’t care. They either don’t believe the hype or they don’t care about it. It makes them feel good and so they smoke it. People will always smoke weed and educating them about it won’t solve the issue. If all the cool kids in school smoke weed then other people will too. When marijuana was first taught to children in schools they lied about it claiming it would kill you and do terrible things for your health. Now we are learning about how it’s not as bad as they say and so being taught about marijuana has become a joke. I assure you that no one high from marijuana is reading these articles and saying to themselves, oh man this stuff is bad I should stop. They don’t care, it makes them feel high and they like it. Then they don’t do so well in school because they are too busy smoking and watching tv instead of studying. Then the long term effects kick in and the I.Q. drops as well as the memory. I don’t believe this is a danger to our society so much as it is a problem. It is something we need to avoid, those who give in are put at a disadvantage early on. We need to stop teaching people about marijuana itself and start teaching them the more realistic dangers it brings to its users. Physically, it doesn’t do too much harm on the body. Mentally, it affects the brain long and short term.
The social problem that is described in this blog is about how marijuana affects the developing brain of young teens. This is considered a social problem because too many young people are smoking pot without realizing the consequences it may have. When a person starts to smoke marijuana at a young age, by the time they are grown adults their memory and they IQ is much lower than those whom have not smoked. But why do teens feel it is alright to use this substance? It could be because of many reasons, one of the biggest reasons being that since marijuana is legal in some places and it is so easy for teens to get ahold of they decided it is ok for them to use it. This has become a greater problem because more and more teens are using. To better understand this social problem you can view it from an internationalist perspective. Teens are known for doing things to seem cool to their peers, or they do things to get attention because they are not receiving it from those adults in their life. A lot of teens could wanting be fit in so much they are willing to put their life and health at risk. An internationalist could also say that teens are smoking marijuana because it is a form of rebelling against the adults in their life that do not give them much attention. I think that teens are smoking pot because for some reason they are not very educated in the affects it may have in one’s life, or because they feel pressured by society to do so. The reason I commented on this topic was because I personally know many people whom started to smoke in middle school and now still have not graduated high school or they have moved up to a stronger drug. I feel that marijuana should be illegal and the government should try harder to make it harder to get a hold of it. A solution is needed because like many of my friends once marijuana is not enough they move onto harder and stronger drugs and they turn their lives upside down and cannot continue.
Celina A. The social problem that is described in this blog is about how marijuana affects the developing brain of young teens. This is considered a social problem because too many young people are smoking pot without realizing the consequences it may have. When a person starts to smoke marijuana at a young age, by the time they are grown adults their memory and they IQ is much lower than those whom have not smoked. But why do teens feel it is alright to use this substance? It could be because of many reasons, one of the biggest reasons being that since marijuana is legal in some places and it is so easy for teens to get ahold of they decided it is ok for them to use it. This has become a greater problem because more and more teens are using. To better understand this social problem you can view it from an internationalist perspective. Teens are known for doing things to seem cool to their peers, or they do things to get attention because they are not receiving it from those adults in their life. A lot of teens could wanting be fit in so much they are willing to put their life and health at risk. An internationalist could also say that teens are smoking marijuana because it is a form of rebelling against the adults in their life that do not give them much attention. I think that teens are smoking pot because for some reason they are not very educated in the affects it may have in one’s life, or because they feel pressured by society to do so. The reason I commented on this topic was because I personally know many people whom started to smoke in middle school and now still have not graduated high school or they have moved up to a stronger drug. I feel that marijuana should be illegal and the government should try harder to make it harder to get a hold of it. A solution is needed because like many of my friends once marijuana is not enough they move onto harder and stronger drugs and they turn their lives upside down and cannot continue.
Smoking marijuana has become younger populations drug of choice. Is marijuana really so bad? This article claims yes, marijuana is a dangerous drug and has serious negative consequences for the IQ of marijuana users. This is a social problem because its can effect individuals as well as society as a whole. Some people love the idea of legalizing marijuana and think it has no downfall while other people are 100% against marijuana. The article states teenagers who smoke pot have a lower IQ than teenagers who don’t smoke pot and this is a problem because it’s affecting teenager’s ability and want to learn. From a functionalist perspective I would say marijuana is good. How much money do you think marijuana users spend on marijuana a year? My guess is A LOT. If people are spending money on marijuana then this means someone is gaining money and this helps stimulate a healthy economy when people are spending and receiving money. Another pro for marijuana from the functionalist perspective is medical use of marijuana. Medical marijuana clinics employ workers so this is beneficial because it is giving people jobs. A couple of uses for medical marijuana is to reduce nausea, and induce appetite for people going through chemotherapy, help glaucoma, and for people who have anxiety just to name a few. Also states like Colorado and Washington sell marijuana for anyone’s use, not just medically, and this is beneficial because they are taxing the marijuana and gaining state revenue. The reason I chose to comment on this topic is because personally I do not have a problem with marijuana. I have friends who like to smoke marijuana and although I do not know their IQ level, I do no know they are successful, they have jobs, go to school, and get good grades. I agree that marijuana can make you lazy but I believe if you are lazy that is your personal choice. A solution to this problem is to legalize marijuana and make it 18 or even 21 and over. Yes I know that this substance, marijuana, can harm your brain, but alcohol and cigarettes can harm your body as well. If you tax it then this state will gain revenue and will have more tax revenue to spend on our education system and reward students who want to go to college and learn. If people want to smoke marijuana and not challenge themselves educationally than this is a personal choice.
Teni B. Just as it’s been mentioned in the article, going to school at a young age gives an advantage to a child since the brain is more capable of understanding and observing the taught material. But nowadays some circumstances are distracting the students and not allowing them to fully focus on their education. The use of marijuana in young adults is very popular and has become a huge social problem these days since it’s not only affecting the students individually but also the overall society. These young adults are the tomorrow’s doctors, engineers, attorneys, nurses, teachers and scientists. It is unknowns whether the new generation is capable of succeeding in a much higher educational level since regular use of pot affects their IQ and memory. It’s no secret that pot can completely damage the developing teen’s brain and create future difficulties. But, why are teens still using it? Are we not educating the youth enough? Well, young adults do learn about drugs and alcohol in schools but the instant pleasure and misinformation given by their friends and media pressures them to believe in the incorrect facts. Serenity this is the perspective of an integrationist, who believes that others influence an individual’s behavior which impacts the society. Integrationist consider the interaction with others a huge source of influence, therefore, this theory perfectly fits for this social problem. It’s difficult to argue that there isn’t a problem; pot is the creator of pleasure, the temporarily problem solver and the slowly destroyer of our tomorrow. I decided to write about this story because it’s a huge threat to our society today; some teens are enjoying their youth naively in expense of society. Many solutions can be suggested in order to solve this problem. Some might think that banning marijuana will stop some teens from using it; however, in my opinion everything in this life is about choice. It’s impossible to stop selling kitchen knives because some might decide to use it as a murder weapon. No one can disagree that medical marijuana can be helpful to adults and children too. So banning marijuana might actually hurt the ill. Besides the medical use and its positive effects on the unwell, banning pot might effect and hurt the society overall just like the Prohibition Act did. So by heavily educate and informing our youth about the side effects of long time use of pot will possibly give them enough knowledge to make their own decision rather than blindly accepting the more attractive and incorrect information.
Marijuana has changed our society as a whole. Young individuals that aren't in need of the drug, take advantage, abuse it, and do not see how it affects their cognitive / critical thinking as they grow. The article states that one of the disadvantages of smoking a cannabis substance, can possibly lower your I.Q. The use of marijuana by teenagers is a social problem due to the exposure from the media, becoming an applicant for medical uses, and experiencing peer pressure from fellow friends or other influential factors in the environment. From the interactionist perspective, young smokers become that person they are today because they may not have face to face interactions with their family. Without the interactions, it gives the individual a higher risk of making poor decisions and not critically thinking on the wise side. With that being said, it gives others the opportunities to lead them into a path that will impact their life and mind. A solution to this problem can be, to continue distributing marijuana as a medical substance, but over the age of 21. Also to enforce stricter rules and regulations for those who try to obtain consent for access of the drug. The distribution under medical circumstances is an easy way to take advantage of the use in legal terms , but can be given to anyone without permission of using it. At the end of the day, I see smoking marijuana as a personal choice. I chose this topic because , I personally know individuals who smoke weed daily, and I can easily compare them to the information being shared.
I agree with what Daniel J. says. Teens are taught throughout their lives that doing drugs is bad. There have been teachers, parents, and even the media influencing and teaching what these drugs can do. Ultimately, the ones who will make the decision and suffer the consequences will be those who choose to use the drug. If they choose not to care for their health its up to them.I think as a society we should keep teaching them the dangers that marijuana can cause and be the support they need. In the end we all learn through our mistakes.
Alexander M. I agree with Danielle, Marijuana has a plethora of positive functions in society. The part of her post that most stood out to me was “If people want to smoke marijuana and not challenge themselves educationally than this is a personal choice.” I do not believe marijuana use is the cause of academic failings but more so a coping mechanism used to cope with some other problem that plays a larger role in their academic success. I chose this entry to comment on because it had a clearly stated point of view/opinion. The posting also gave great insight into the functionalist perspective. The topic of the original blog posting is an interesting one. But I feel like it is addressing the effects of a deeper societal problem. Marijuana’s effects on development are not the problem. Why teens are increasingly using marijuana on a regular basis is the problem Conflict theorist would evaluate this and state the following The corporate elite would take the study illustrating cognitive damage caused by marijuana in teens and use it to justify the war on drugs. This functions as a means of maintaining social stratification. The premise being criminal records make finding employment more difficult. If marijuana was legalized a conflict theorist would explain this as beneficial to the Bourgeoisie because they own the means of production and are the group that would be able to finance the growing and sale of marijuana on a larger scale. Thus growing their wealth and maintain their status as the Bourgeoisie. Another conflict theorist view could be that the different groups trying to either legalize or prohibit marijuana are in conflict with each other and because of this they are not able to unite to overthrow the Bourgeoisie. I think their proposed solution of legalizing and taxing marijuana is the best solution. Taking into account the public’s willingness to legalize marijuana I see this solution as both feasible and realistic. I however do not think this would be the entirety of the solution, only a part. Legalizing then taxing marijuana would produce more tax dollars that should be directly spent on harm reduction education about drugs and social services that help drug users who want to sober up. I also belive this money should go towards addressing mental health as a social problem. The inclusion of these other parts will address the “why do teens use more marijuana more regularly”
Commenting on what Vanessa E. said I totally agree with her about the reason why so many young people begin to smoke marijuana is because it is the new trend. Young people do it because their friends are also doing it. This topic hit me close to home and kind of reminded me of when I was in middle school and I would see my friends doing marijuana and I would ask them why they would do it and they would tell me that it felt so good and it would help me forget about the problems. I never tried it but what was more surprising to me was that not only were my peers encouraging but, my peers parents were encouraging it too. At some point I think even my dad encouraged me to smoke marijuana as a stress releaser but I never tried it because I saw what smoking did to my friends and I didn’t want anything like that to happen to me. What stood out to me the most about Vanessa’s statement was when she said the influences came from only their peers and friends which in many cases was not true because most of the friends that I had growing up would actually get high in the presence of a parent and the parents would sometimes even provide them with the drugs. I’ve even heard of some of my friends growing them in their very own back yard where their parents live. I think that this is a social problem because they may be doing it to run away from their problems that end up becoming an addiction to them and does not really solve the problem. It is also a problem because if they are doing it while they are young, they are not allowing their brain to fully develop. They will never reach their full potential intellectually. By not reaching their full potential they will not be able to get a “good job” and they will probably end up working in a minimum wage job where they could not really afford anything and that could cause them to be in poverty and even homelessness. It can also cause people using marijuana to have a lack of responsibility, which could lead to problems in the workplace and even with the law.
In the eyes of the functionalist, they would say that young people using marijuana would create jobs. It would be create job because the people harvesting marijuana would have to grow and prepare more in order to keep up with the high demand. It would also create job because since it is illegal for young people to smoke marijuana when they are caught doing it they are sent to the court system. So then they are given a case and they have to go through the legal system, which creates jobs for attorneys, judges, police officers. The government also gets money out of it because of all the fees that play into place during the trial. They would also say that it is a good thing that these teenagers aren’t going to reach to their full potential because not everyone can be a doctor or a nurse someone has to do the dirty jobs no one wants to do. Otherwise society would not function the way it is suppose to. Someone needs to be the one to serve our food at fast food restaurants.
I don’t think that their solution is realistic because regardless of whether the teens have their parents around or not if they want to smoke marijuana they will do it. Another issue that arises with the solution is what if the parent agrees with the teenager about smoking marijuana and allows them to do it at the house. How is family time going to help them stay away from marijuana when it is found at their very own home? A possible solution to this problem could be to educate people about how marijuana affects their body. I bet half or even more people don’t even know how marijuana works and how it affects our body. They should create a campaign just like they did with tobacco where they would show the long terms effects of smoking tobacco on billboards and TV commercials. Those have helped lower down the rates of users. If they have seen that it helps why not try the same method with another type of drug.
I agree with most of what she said about how marijuana use is becoming widespread among teenagers and young adults today, and her assertions that marijuana slows brain functions are correct. However, I disagree with her when she said that young people are not being educated enough about marijuana use and its potentially harmful side effects. I personally know many young marijuana users, and the vast majority of them are fully aware of the negative effects of THC on the body and the brain. The real problem here is that these people don't care. For young people, fitting in and seeming cool is much more important than worrying about health risks, because young people often feel invincible and immune to consequences of their actions. I chose to reply to Nairie because I think she's right about how fewer people will be interested in marijuana once it's less popular, but I think she didn't detail exactly how that could happen, and I wanted to input my thoughts on that. I think marijuana use is a growing social problem because more and more people are accepting it, despite the harsh criticism from medical professionals.
If you look at this from a functionalist perspective, many people who use marijuana use it as a way to relieve stress, as an alternative to alcoholism or more serious drug use. In this way, these individuals are still able to function as productive members of society. In addition, compared to other drugs, marijuana's effects are less harmful overall, so if a person is going to use a drug, marijuana just might be the safest bet. The tax revenue generated from selling marijuana also goes to support our government and the economy, providing jobs in dispensaries and other related places.
As far as Nairie's proposed solution, I think she's on the right track. However, to actually de-popularize marijuana, another fad must be introduced in its place, which might not be so feasible after all, since fads are unpredictable and just might change for the worse. In a way, many of the anti-drug messages of the past have failed because young people do not take them seriously. If I were going to fix this problem, I would suggest working in schools to create an integrated community in which kids can be involved in clubs and sports, and thus have closer relationships to teachers, parents, and other adults who can guide them in the right direction. In addition, I would create outreach programs that focus on many issues, not just drug use, to encourage more students to attend and participate. In this way, teens can be taught not only about the adverse effects of marijuana use but also come to actually care about their health as growing individuals.
13 comments:
Vanessa E.
The use of marijuana has defenitely changed from being used on a smaller scale of people to a larger scope. Even children in middle school are now being introduced to marijuana. Marijuana users don't necessarily look at the consequences until it is to late. As stated in the article one of the misfortunes that comes from smoking cannibis is the loss of I.Q points, and memory. But what really began this widdespread epidemic of mairjuana use?
This question could be better explained through looking at the problem with an interactionist lense. As we know teenagers are infamous for following the latest trend, and unfortunately smoking cannibis is what is in now. We learn certain mannerisms or what we as a society consider as valubale with face-to-face interactions amongnst our social groups, such as school peers,family and friends. What if interaction with parents and family is limited? In our society today we are so busy, the family time, which was concidered amongst the most important time in the past generations is slowly getting eliminated. Parents of these adolescents are now busier then ever working.
That leaves most of the interactions with your peers at school, and friends. Smoking pot has become the new trend and favorite past time with unfortunate consequences. Unfortunately marijuana is introduced through friends and peers. Sometime the younger people smoke b because it makes them look "cooler," and then the chain of introduction begins.
A possible solution that could be introduced on a wider scale could be time set aside for family interaction. That way mannerisms, as well as different values could be taught that are looked through different eyes other than the adolescents.
Teni B.
Going to school at a young age gives an advantage to a child since the brain is more capable of understanding and observing the taught material. But nowadays, has the level of education gone down or some circumstances are affecting the students and not allowing them to study and focus? Some may argue either way, but what’s the truth? The use of marijuana in young adults is defiantly a huge social problem since these young adults are the tomorrow’s doctors, engineers, attorneys, nurses, teachers and scientists. It’s unknowns whether the new generation is capable of affording or handling college. It’s no secret that pot can completely damage the developing teen’s brain and create future difficulties. But, why are teens still using it? Are we not educating the youth enough? Well, isn’t difficult to teach your child something and explain the harms of that certain product but when the child turn the television on or is on him computer and the breaking news on Yahoo is that Miley Cyrus just smoked and decided to writing a song about the “experience” or that Justin Bieber used pot on the plain. We always tell the young that school is important; it will help you to have a better future. Then all these kids see are the immature rich and famous teens “enjoying” their lives. Serenity this is the perspective of an integrationist, who believes that others influence their behavior and impact the society. Teens are mostly influenced by their “idols”, who are under the societies’ microscope, then their friends and the pressure of the market which has a dramatic effect. It’s difficult to argue that there isn’t a problem; pot is the creator of pleasure, the temporarily problem solver and the slowly destroyer of our tomorrow. Pot is like a cancer cell in society, we all know it’s bad, it’s deadly but it spreads throughout the body rapidly and kills slowly and painfully. I decided to write about this story because it’s a huge threat to our society today; some teens are enjoying their youth naively in expense of society. Many solutions can be suggested in order to solve this problem. Some might think that banning marijuana will stop some teens from using it; however, in my opinion everything in this life is about choice. It’s impossible to stop selling kitchen knives because some might decide to use it as a murder weapon. No one can disagree that medical marijuana can be helpful to adults and children too. So banning marijuana might actually hurt the ill. Besides the medical use and its positive effects on the unwell, banning pot might effect and hurt the society overall just like the Prohibition Act did. So the only think that is left to do is to educate our youth as much as possible, teach them to be their own person not the slaves of propaganda.
Nairia A.
The social issue this article states is the negative affect marijuana has on a teen’s growing brain, and the number of teenagers using this substance on a regular basis. Studies have shown that regular use of marijuana has slowed down the development of a minor's brain, and as a result, adults that have smoked marijuana when they were young have damaged the part of the brain that helps with their memory, judgment, and critical thinking. The main issue I see in this article is that teens believe that this substance is not harmful; they do not realize that they are harming their brain development with marijuana. To me, this says that teenagers are not being educated on the reality of THC, an ingredient in marijuana that negatively effects a brain’s development. The other issue is that this drug is available in some states for medical purposes, and this gives teens an easier access to this it.
An integrationist would see this social problem at a micro level. It is important for teens to “fit in” and do things that their friends are doing, such as drugs. Marijuana is the largest used drug by adolescents, and since teenagers are easily pressured by their peers to do what “everyone” is doing, it will continue to be the largest used drug by this age group. The minors who get their peers to try marijuana are the ones who are convinced and convince their friends that this drug is harmless. Therefore, after word has spread that smoking pot is safe, more and more teenagers try it and some start using it regularly. Marijuana has become socially accepted and sometimes even expected of this age group to start using.
Once this drug is no longer popular, fewer students will be interested in it. Our goal as a community should be to better educate the youth about the effects of THC in marijuana. We need to form an organization to show teens that there is nothing “cool” about memory loss, misjudgment and lack of critical thinking. Once they are shown concrete facts about the harms caused by this drug, then they will be less likely to be fooled into trying it. They need to hear from the people that once thought that marijuana was not a big deal and have let this drug negatively impact their lives. This will help teens visualize the reality of this drug.
Daniel J.
Marijuana contains over 200 chemicals that alter the brain and its use. It slows down the connections in our brain cells and studies have shown that it over time alters I.Q.'s. What studies don't tend to focus on is the habits it forms. When people use marijuana, they usually do thing unproductive for the next few hours while they enjoy the high. People smoke and then watch TV or play video games most of the time as the high wears off. What this does is it gives them habits and has them getting used to doing nothing all day. For someone to be introduced marijuana in their early teens, it not only harms their still developing brain but it cre4ates these bad habits. It has them getting used to sitting around all day and not doing anything productive. An interactionist would blame the peers in school for it. People offer it to their friends and that’s how it spreads. If my best friend was smoking it I probably would too, I don’t think I would just go find a new best friend. Some people think the youth isn’t educated enough and that’s why they are dumb and smoke it still. THIS IS NOT TRUE. I can’t even count how many times the sheriff came in to teach us about drugs and alcohol. Let’s take cigarettes as an example. It’s something that people smoke that is terrible for your health. it not only stunts your growth, it harms your lungs and mouth while giving you a higher risk for getting cancer. We see commercials on its harmful effects every day. The above the influence people really nailed down teaching people about it. Then why do people still smoke it? Don’t they know it’s bad? Yes, they do. They don’t care. They either don’t believe the hype or they don’t care about it. It makes them feel good and so they smoke it. People will always smoke weed and educating them about it won’t solve the issue. If all the cool kids in school smoke weed then other people will too. When marijuana was first taught to children in schools they lied about it claiming it would kill you and do terrible things for your health. Now we are learning about how it’s not as bad as they say and so being taught about marijuana has become a joke. I assure you that no one high from marijuana is reading these articles and saying to themselves, oh man this stuff is bad I should stop. They don’t care, it makes them feel high and they like it. Then they don’t do so well in school because they are too busy smoking and watching tv instead of studying. Then the long term effects kick in and the I.Q. drops as well as the memory. I don’t believe this is a danger to our society so much as it is a problem. It is something we need to avoid, those who give in are put at a disadvantage early on. We need to stop teaching people about marijuana itself and start teaching them the more realistic dangers it brings to its users. Physically, it doesn’t do too much harm on the body. Mentally, it affects the brain long and short term.
The social problem that is described in this blog is about how marijuana affects the developing brain of young teens. This is considered a social problem because too many young people are smoking pot without realizing the consequences it may have. When a person starts to smoke marijuana at a young age, by the time they are grown adults their memory and they IQ is much lower than those whom have not smoked. But why do teens feel it is alright to use this substance? It could be because of many reasons, one of the biggest reasons being that since marijuana is legal in some places and it is so easy for teens to get ahold of they decided it is ok for them to use it. This has become a greater problem because more and more teens are using. To better understand this social problem you can view it from an internationalist perspective. Teens are known for doing things to seem cool to their peers, or they do things to get attention because they are not receiving it from those adults in their life. A lot of teens could wanting be fit in so much they are willing to put their life and health at risk. An internationalist could also say that teens are smoking marijuana because it is a form of rebelling against the adults in their life that do not give them much attention. I think that teens are smoking pot because for some reason they are not very educated in the affects it may have in one’s life, or because they feel pressured by society to do so. The reason I commented on this topic was because I personally know many people whom started to smoke in middle school and now still have not graduated high school or they have moved up to a stronger drug. I feel that marijuana should be illegal and the government should try harder to make it harder to get a hold of it. A solution is needed because like many of my friends once marijuana is not enough they move onto harder and stronger drugs and they turn their lives upside down and cannot continue.
Celina A.
The social problem that is described in this blog is about how marijuana affects the developing brain of young teens. This is considered a social problem because too many young people are smoking pot without realizing the consequences it may have. When a person starts to smoke marijuana at a young age, by the time they are grown adults their memory and they IQ is much lower than those whom have not smoked. But why do teens feel it is alright to use this substance? It could be because of many reasons, one of the biggest reasons being that since marijuana is legal in some places and it is so easy for teens to get ahold of they decided it is ok for them to use it. This has become a greater problem because more and more teens are using. To better understand this social problem you can view it from an internationalist perspective. Teens are known for doing things to seem cool to their peers, or they do things to get attention because they are not receiving it from those adults in their life. A lot of teens could wanting be fit in so much they are willing to put their life and health at risk. An internationalist could also say that teens are smoking marijuana because it is a form of rebelling against the adults in their life that do not give them much attention. I think that teens are smoking pot because for some reason they are not very educated in the affects it may have in one’s life, or because they feel pressured by society to do so. The reason I commented on this topic was because I personally know many people whom started to smoke in middle school and now still have not graduated high school or they have moved up to a stronger drug. I feel that marijuana should be illegal and the government should try harder to make it harder to get a hold of it. A solution is needed because like many of my friends once marijuana is not enough they move onto harder and stronger drugs and they turn their lives upside down and cannot continue.
Danielle L.
Smoking marijuana has become younger populations drug of choice. Is marijuana really so bad? This article claims yes, marijuana is a dangerous drug and has serious negative consequences for the IQ of marijuana users. This is a social problem because its can effect individuals as well as society as a whole. Some people love the idea of legalizing marijuana and think it has no downfall while other people are 100% against marijuana. The article states teenagers who smoke pot have a lower IQ than teenagers who don’t smoke pot and this is a problem because it’s affecting teenager’s ability and want to learn. From a functionalist perspective I would say marijuana is good. How much money do you think marijuana users spend on marijuana a year? My guess is A LOT. If people are spending money on marijuana then this means someone is gaining money and this helps stimulate a healthy economy when people are spending and receiving money. Another pro for marijuana from the functionalist perspective is medical use of marijuana. Medical marijuana clinics employ workers so this is beneficial because it is giving people jobs. A couple of uses for medical marijuana is to reduce nausea, and induce appetite for people going through chemotherapy, help glaucoma, and for people who have anxiety just to name a few. Also states like Colorado and Washington sell marijuana for anyone’s use, not just medically, and this is beneficial because they are taxing the marijuana and gaining state revenue. The reason I chose to comment on this topic is because personally I do not have a problem with marijuana. I have friends who like to smoke marijuana and although I do not know their IQ level, I do no know they are successful, they have jobs, go to school, and get good grades. I agree that marijuana can make you lazy but I believe if you are lazy that is your personal choice. A solution to this problem is to legalize marijuana and make it 18 or even 21 and over. Yes I know that this substance, marijuana, can harm your brain, but alcohol and cigarettes can harm your body as well. If you tax it then this state will gain revenue and will have more tax revenue to spend on our education system and reward students who want to go to college and learn. If people want to smoke marijuana and not challenge themselves educationally than this is a personal choice.
Teni B.
Just as it’s been mentioned in the article, going to school at a young age gives an advantage to a child since the brain is more capable of understanding and observing the taught material. But nowadays some circumstances are distracting the students and not allowing them to fully focus on their education. The use of marijuana in young adults is very popular and has become a huge social problem these days since it’s not only affecting the students individually but also the overall society. These young adults are the tomorrow’s doctors, engineers, attorneys, nurses, teachers and scientists. It is unknowns whether the new generation is capable of succeeding in a much higher educational level since regular use of pot affects their IQ and memory. It’s no secret that pot can completely damage the developing teen’s brain and create future difficulties. But, why are teens still using it? Are we not educating the youth enough? Well, young adults do learn about drugs and alcohol in schools but the instant pleasure and misinformation given by their friends and media pressures them to believe in the incorrect facts. Serenity this is the perspective of an integrationist, who believes that others influence an individual’s behavior which impacts the society. Integrationist consider the interaction with others a huge source of influence, therefore, this theory perfectly fits for this social problem. It’s difficult to argue that there isn’t a problem; pot is the creator of pleasure, the temporarily problem solver and the slowly destroyer of our tomorrow. I decided to write about this story because it’s a huge threat to our society today; some teens are enjoying their youth naively in expense of society. Many solutions can be suggested in order to solve this problem. Some might think that banning marijuana will stop some teens from using it; however, in my opinion everything in this life is about choice. It’s impossible to stop selling kitchen knives because some might decide to use it as a murder weapon. No one can disagree that medical marijuana can be helpful to adults and children too. So banning marijuana might actually hurt the ill. Besides the medical use and its positive effects on the unwell, banning pot might effect and hurt the society overall just like the Prohibition Act did. So by heavily educate and informing our youth about the side effects of long time use of pot will possibly give them enough knowledge to make their own decision rather than blindly accepting the more attractive and incorrect information.
Jaron M.
Marijuana has changed our society as a whole. Young individuals that aren't in need of the drug, take advantage, abuse it, and do not see how it affects their cognitive / critical thinking as they grow. The article states that one of the disadvantages of smoking a cannabis substance, can possibly lower your I.Q. The use of marijuana by teenagers is a social problem due to the exposure from the media, becoming an applicant for medical uses, and experiencing peer pressure from fellow friends or other influential factors in the environment. From the interactionist perspective, young smokers become that person they are today because they may not have face to face interactions with their family. Without the interactions, it gives the individual a higher risk of making poor decisions and not critically thinking on the wise side. With that being said, it gives others the opportunities to lead them into a path that will impact their life and mind. A solution to this problem can be, to continue distributing marijuana as a medical substance, but over the age of 21. Also to enforce stricter rules and regulations for those who try to obtain consent for access of the drug. The distribution under medical circumstances is an easy way to take advantage of the use in legal terms , but can be given to anyone without permission of using it. At the end of the day, I see smoking marijuana as a personal choice. I chose this topic because , I personally know individuals who smoke weed daily, and I can easily compare them to the information being shared.
Juliana D.
I agree with what Daniel J. says. Teens are taught throughout their lives that doing drugs is bad. There have been teachers, parents, and even the media influencing and teaching what these drugs can do. Ultimately, the ones who will make the decision and suffer the consequences will be those who choose to use the drug. If they choose not to care for their health its up to them.I think as a society we should keep teaching them the dangers that marijuana can cause and be the support they need. In the end we all learn through our mistakes.
Alexander M.
I agree with Danielle,
Marijuana has a plethora of positive functions in society. The part of her post that most stood out to me was “If people want to smoke marijuana and not challenge themselves educationally than this is a personal choice.” I do not believe marijuana use is the cause of academic failings but more so a coping mechanism used to cope with some other problem that plays a larger role in their academic success. I chose this entry to comment on because it had a clearly stated point of view/opinion. The posting also gave great insight into the functionalist perspective. The topic of the original blog posting is an interesting one. But I feel like it is addressing the effects of a deeper societal problem. Marijuana’s effects on development are not the problem. Why teens are increasingly using marijuana on a regular basis is the problem
Conflict theorist would evaluate this and state the following
The corporate elite would take the study illustrating cognitive damage caused by marijuana in teens and use it to justify the war on drugs. This functions as a means of maintaining social stratification. The premise being criminal records make finding employment more difficult. If marijuana was legalized a conflict theorist would explain this as beneficial to the Bourgeoisie because they own the means of production and are the group that would be able to finance the growing and sale of marijuana on a larger scale. Thus growing their wealth and maintain their status as the Bourgeoisie. Another conflict theorist view could be that the different groups trying to either legalize or prohibit marijuana are in conflict with each other and because of this they are not able to unite to overthrow the Bourgeoisie.
I think their proposed solution of legalizing and taxing marijuana is the best solution. Taking into account the public’s willingness to legalize marijuana I see this solution as both feasible and realistic. I however do not think this would be the entirety of the solution, only a part. Legalizing then taxing marijuana would produce more tax dollars that should be directly spent on harm reduction education about drugs and social services that help drug users who want to sober up. I also belive this money should go towards addressing mental health as a social problem. The inclusion of these other parts will address the “why do teens use more marijuana more regularly”
Jennifer M.
Commenting on what Vanessa E. said I totally agree with her about the reason why so many young people begin to smoke marijuana is because it is the new trend. Young people do it because their friends are also doing it. This topic hit me close to home and kind of reminded me of when I was in middle school and I would see my friends doing marijuana and I would ask them why they would do it and they would tell me that it felt so good and it would help me forget about the problems. I never tried it but what was more surprising to me was that not only were my peers encouraging but, my peers parents were encouraging it too. At some point I think even my dad encouraged me to smoke marijuana as a stress releaser but I never tried it because I saw what smoking did to my friends and I didn’t want anything like that to happen to me. What stood out to me the most about Vanessa’s statement was when she said the influences came from only their peers and friends which in many cases was not true because most of the friends that I had growing up would actually get high in the presence of a parent and the parents would sometimes even provide them with the drugs. I’ve even heard of some of my friends growing them in their very own back yard where their parents live. I think that this is a social problem because they may be doing it to run away from their problems that end up becoming an addiction to them and does not really solve the problem. It is also a problem because if they are doing it while they are young, they are not allowing their brain to fully develop. They will never reach their full potential intellectually. By not reaching their full potential they will not be able to get a “good job” and they will probably end up working in a minimum wage job where they could not really afford anything and that could cause them to be in poverty and even homelessness. It can also cause people using marijuana to have a lack of responsibility, which could lead to problems in the workplace and even with the law.
In the eyes of the functionalist, they would say that young people using marijuana would create jobs. It would be create job because the people harvesting marijuana would have to grow and prepare more in order to keep up with the high demand. It would also create job because since it is illegal for young people to smoke marijuana when they are caught doing it they are sent to the court system. So then they are given a case and they have to go through the legal system, which creates jobs for attorneys, judges, police officers. The government also gets money out of it because of all the fees that play into place during the trial. They would also say that it is a good thing that these teenagers aren’t going to reach to their full potential because not everyone can be a doctor or a nurse someone has to do the dirty jobs no one wants to do. Otherwise society would not function the way it is suppose to. Someone needs to be the one to serve our food at fast food restaurants.
I don’t think that their solution is realistic because regardless of whether the teens have their parents around or not if they want to smoke marijuana they will do it. Another issue that arises with the solution is what if the parent agrees with the teenager about smoking marijuana and allows them to do it at the house. How is family time going to help them stay away from marijuana when it is found at their very own home? A possible solution to this problem could be to educate people about how marijuana affects their body. I bet half or even more people don’t even know how marijuana works and how it affects our body. They should create a campaign just like they did with tobacco where they would show the long terms effects of smoking tobacco on billboards and TV commercials. Those have helped lower down the rates of users. If they have seen that it helps why not try the same method with another type of drug.
Jonna H.
In response to Nairia A.:
I agree with most of what she said about how marijuana use is becoming widespread among teenagers and young adults today, and her assertions that marijuana slows brain functions are correct. However, I disagree with her when she said that young people are not being educated enough about marijuana use and its potentially harmful side effects. I personally know many young marijuana users, and the vast majority of them are fully aware of the negative effects of THC on the body and the brain. The real problem here is that these people don't care. For young people, fitting in and seeming cool is much more important than worrying about health risks, because young people often feel invincible and immune to consequences of their actions. I chose to reply to Nairie because I think she's right about how fewer people will be interested in marijuana once it's less popular, but I think she didn't detail exactly how that could happen, and I wanted to input my thoughts on that. I think marijuana use is a growing social problem because more and more people are accepting it, despite the harsh criticism from medical professionals.
If you look at this from a functionalist perspective, many people who use marijuana use it as a way to relieve stress, as an alternative to alcoholism or more serious drug use. In this way, these individuals are still able to function as productive members of society. In addition, compared to other drugs, marijuana's effects are less harmful overall, so if a person is going to use a drug, marijuana just might be the safest bet. The tax revenue generated from selling marijuana also goes to support our government and the economy, providing jobs in dispensaries and other related places.
As far as Nairie's proposed solution, I think she's on the right track. However, to actually de-popularize marijuana, another fad must be introduced in its place, which might not be so feasible after all, since fads are unpredictable and just might change for the worse. In a way, many of the anti-drug messages of the past have failed because young people do not take them seriously. If I were going to fix this problem, I would suggest working in schools to create an integrated community in which kids can be involved in clubs and sports, and thus have closer relationships to teachers, parents, and other adults who can guide them in the right direction. In addition, I would create outreach programs that focus on many issues, not just drug use, to encourage more students to attend and participate. In this way, teens can be taught not only about the adverse effects of marijuana use but also come to actually care about their health as growing individuals.
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