Drug use is becoming more common today than in recent years. Almost anywhere we look, we can find some relation to drugs or drug paraphernalia. In fact, 63% of you stated in my survey that you had smoked marijuana in the past. That number is scary, since 81% of you are under 25 years of age and have your whole lives ahead of you. Some of you may be thinking "So What" Bill Clinton has admitted smoking marijuana, and he is President. Well, that surely is not a good attitude to have considering the damage that marijuana may cause to your body.

Sure, many of you may not change your lifestyle after today, but I hope to make you think of what you may be getting yourself in to. This afternoon I will give you both sides of the issue. I will try to persuade you to stay away from marijuana in turning you against this dangerous drug.

Many supporters of marijuana claim that hemp can be a very resourceful plant. Hemp is considered to contain less than one percent tetrahydrocannabinols (THC) (Pluff 1). THC is the psychoactive chemical found in marijuana. Hemp can be confused with marijuana and considered the same, but do not let this fool you. Marijuana comes from the flowers or

Now that you know what hemp is, lets look at its uses. Hemp fiber can be turned in to rope, canvas, and paper, and this is only a few of the uses. The rope that is made with hemp is said to be resistant to both fresh water and salt water. It is also considered better than most conventional rope by its strength and holding power. Another product that can be made from hemp is canvas. This canvas is very useful in making tents, sails, and even the covers on early settlers' wagons. Like the rope, the canvas also stands up well against water, and ninety percent of ship's sails were made of hemp canvas before the nineteenth century. The last product I am going to talk about is hemp paper. This paper is much softer than conventional paper, and it is stated that, "one acre of hemp can replace four acres of forest" (Pluff 2). This paper also does not yellow or crumble with age, a common complaint with conventional paper (Pluff 1).

An affect that takes no side in users of marijuana is short term memory loss. (Ray 435). In everyday use, the marijuana user has a hard time recalling information that they may have just learned minutes before. The frequent user may also experience loss in time sense. With this the marijuana user feels that more time has passed than actually has elapsed. The final thing usually affected is tracking behavior. This may lead to crashing a motor vehicle because the impaired driver could not keep their attention on the road in which they were driving.

To sum it all up, marijuana use is increasing among individuals. Almost everywhere we look there is support for this drug. This does not make sense in a society that is hung up on looking good and living a full life. Everyday we are making improvements to our society and making America a better place to live. I feel th

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