"Today research shows that nearly 50 percent of teenagers try marijuana before they graduate from high school"(Grinspoon, 92-96). Most young teens and children start using marijuana for many reasons, they are curious, or want to fit in to a specific group of kids. Most young people who already smoke cigarettes and/or use alcohol are at higher risk for marijuana use. Most young people say they use marijuana to deal with psychological problems such as, anger, boredom, depression, anxiety, etc. As much as young people think marijuana is helping their problems, its only making things worse for their bodies and minds.

Researchers are not certain whether a newborn baby's health problems are caused by marijuana will continue as the child grows. Preliminary research shows that children born to mothers who used marijuana regularly during pregnancy may have trouble concentrating. Doctors advise pregnant women not to use any drugs because they might harm the growing fetus. Some scientific studies have found that babies born to marijuana users were shorter, weighed less, and had smaller head sizes than those born to mothers who did not use the drug. When a nursing mother uses marijuana, some of the THC is passed to the baby in her breast milk. This is a matter for concern, since the THC in the mother's milk is much more concentrated than that in the mother's blood. This along with the other information on how marijuana is harmful gives us another reason for not legalizing it.

The body can be damaged, just as easy as the mind loses its control over the choices it makes. While all of the long-term effects of marijuana are not yet known, there are studies showing serious health concerns. Findings so far show that the regular use of marijuana or THC may play a role in cancer and problems in the respiratory, immune system, and reproductive systems. It is hard to find out whether marijuana alone causes cancer because many people who smoke marijuana smoke cigarettes and use other drugs. Marijuana smoke contains some of the same cancer-causing compounds as tobacco, sometimes in higher concentrations. "Studies have shown that five joints per week may be taking in as many cancer causing chemicals as someone who smokes a full pack of cigarettes

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