Nemko, Marty. “Legalize Pot? You must be high”. Time.com. Time, 7 November 2014. Web. 15 July 2015.
http://time.com/3573394/legalize-pot-you-must-be-high/
Today Marijuana is a controversial topic because there is an upside in the medicinal aspect, however it can cause a negative impact towards society. Marty Nemko, who is the author of “Legalize Pot? You must be high” and a PhD graduate from Berkley, disapproves for the legalization of Marijuana. Throughout the article Nemko portrays an argumentative tone and hopes people come into their senses about the horrible things Marijuana does to society. He emphasizes Marijuana will cause destruction in society and it will do the opposite of producing tax money.
The youth of America is the future and Nemko begins his argument by ensuring that children need to be safe. The unwanted and cruel things that Marijuana is capable of needs to be nowhere close to the youth. He repeatedly explains how Marijuana makes one imperative “in the two key brain regions that are important in emotion and motivation”. Marijuana use during adolescent has long-term consequences because it can “permanently impair cognition and increase the risk for diseases. Also Nemko asserts that U.S should not feel pride about their students’ achievements because it “finished below average among OECD nations”. Compared to other countries U.S is not prestigious and it is far from reaching its apex. Further Nemko highlights another part of society that will be negatively impacted, which is the workforce. Although Marijuana would stabilize the pain for the people in stress from finance, it won’t help the person find a solution. Massive amount of families would be affected and thus families would become psychologically dysfunctional. As a whole, Nemko believes society in general would deteriorate if Marijuana were legalized.
Furthermore Nemko discusses how Marijuana will have an effect towards the economy and in medicine. As many Marijuana supporters say pot will produce an additional amount of tax revenue. However Nemko proves the exact opposite of that because he states, “the percentage of vehicle accidents in Washington rose 40 percent” after Marijuana was legalized in Washington. Since accidents and diseases are more frequent due to the consumption of Marijuana, treating those accidents will cost an ample amount of tax money. Even though Nemko does not approve for the recreational use for Marijuana, he approves for the medicinal use for it. He believes Marijuana should “be treated like any other prescription medicine”, but not something that is sold over the counter.
All in all Nemko portrays his thoughts effectively and I think his arguments make absolute sense. This article was really interesting because it altered some of my knowledge about Marijuana. As I’m a Texan who is confused about the legalization of Marijuana, I now have a better feel for the topic.
I agree with Nemko overall, the use of marijuana will probably cost us more than help the U.S. I also agree that it should only be used for medical purposes, I don’t see a reason why it should be used other than medical. I believe that if drugs are being used to relive stress or to relax then we should just let the body due its own work and not add any substances to the body. For example if you are stressed, then take a day out of your schedule to relax and maybe sleep.