Controlling Marijuana Abuse among University Students - Research Paper Example

?Jingtong Wang MCWP 50 Ted Gideonse Tues and Thurs 3:30 – 4:50 pm Research Paper – Draft May 30, Controlling Marijuana Abuse among Students in the US Drug abuse is defined as the habitual use of drugs to change one’s moods, emotions and/or state of conscience, which specialists say can lead to addiction, psychological or physiological harm (Levinthal 10). Marijuana or cannabis, which is commonly referred to as pot, is a plant grown for its euphoric principles and its hallucinogenic effect. Currently, there is no acceptable clinical usage (Mohler-Kuo, Lee and Wechsler 17) but it has been used for its medicinal properties, such as treating glaucoma, relieving pain, controlling nausea, stimulating appetite, just to name a few. Marijuana abuse can, therefore, be described as the illegal use of marijuana to alter one’s mood, emotional state or state of conscience. In modern societies, the use and abuse of drugs creates a social paradox which includes the potential for good outcomes such as being used for medicinal purposes and bad ones such as addiction which can cause diseases, such as lung cancer. As a positive impact of marijuana, patients suffering from severe forms of cancers get a bit of reprieve from their anguish through controlled use of the drug, whereby with small doses they are able to undergo less suffering. However, certifications of clinical uses are still unavailable due to little known knowledge about the drug’s long-term effects, and scientists continue to do studies on its medicinal properties and how it can be used favorably and avoid its adverse effects (NIDA). Perhaps with increased research into the positive medical uses, patients can better enjoy the drug in a controlled environment. Despite the ban on use and trade of marijuana within the United States, there has been a surge in its use, particularly within colleges and universities. Marijuana abuse has mushroomed into both a social hazard for enforcing agencies and a steady social evil that is practiced with little caution or care of legal restrictions on its use and trade as its use has greatly spread over the years. According to the National Institute of Drug Abuse (2010), the trade in marijuana has grown into a multi-million dollar industry globally; and this market seems to surpass social and demographic boundaries. Thus, this paper examines the causative agents for marijuana abuse in the United States with a focus on the user group consisting of college and university students and assessing the effects arising therein. The paper will discuss the causation and effects of marijuana smoking and this will help in enabling students know how it affects their lives, and provide awareness to those at risk of smoking. Elaborating on the effects of marijuana use will help in deterring students from smoking marijuana as it will keep them informed on the negative effects it has on them and will provide awareness to potential smokers, hence, deterring them from starting the habit. Marijuana use has increased among the youngest age groups between the age of 12-17 in the United States and, especially, within the minority groups, such as Hispanics and African-Americans (NIDA). This also has been found to represent a shift upwards in both the abuse and dependency on other drugs (Gledhill-Hoyt , Lee and Strote 1657). Many studies, such as the one by The Drug Abuse Warning Network, have provided positive correlation towards this end, but I would draw a cautious line on this conclusion, since the consumption of marijuana might cause problems in the consumption of other substances. My own prognosis would be inclined towards the examination of this relationship based on the consideration that marijuana and other cases of substance abuse arise significantly out of the underlying problems within a subset of the particular individual’s orientation, such as wanting to change moods, which will prompt an individual to smoke. The personality characteristics of the individual have been found to be attributable to marijuana use and abuse of other hardcore drugs, such as cocaine and heroin (McElrath and Yvonne 678). I, however, take note of the fact that use of marijuana may influence and alter decision-making patterns of the individual due to its psychological effects. Subsequently, such individuals become highly susceptible to using and abusing other hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine, and this can be argued on the basis that the individual will be in contact with people who use and sell these drugs, hence, may be tempted to try. In this regard, it is useful to note that there are three broad groupings on marijuana users, namely blunt users, joint users and mixed users (Mohler-Kuo, Lee and Wechsler 19). Each of these groups displays particular patterns in both practice norms and avoidance norms. In other words, they develop their own unique marijuana subcultures (due to the variations in meaning and significance attributable to marijuana usage) that influence and sustain the use and abuse of marijuana among the sample group, i.e., the university and college students. The marijuana subculture is very strong within the student population usually taking the form of peer pressure, where one will smoke marijuana because their friend smokes. Various studies have arrived to the conclusion that there are low proportions of friends who do not smoke marijuana than their other counterparts who smoke. Research has shown that marijuana users have few friends who are not users themselves owing to their high dependency on THC and nicotine, as well as their increased friction with law enforcement agencies, such as the police and the school administrators (The Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse and Violence Prevention). Peer pressure factors include encouragements, being physically present when other students indulge in the process (whether through inhalation via smoking or mixing in edible products). The American society is arguably among one of the societies that is constantly bombarded with a wide threshold of information compared to other societies within the developed world. This has been contributory to the positive and negative ends in the fight against drugs and substance abuse generally within the United States. The role of activism has been found to influence the emergence of a marijuana culture in states where the practice was barely existent if not totally inexistent (Wills 84). There has been much political debate and an inclusion of public opinions in the matter towards calling for a complete legalization of the drug use, culturing and trade as a response of combating other hard core drugs, including heroin, cocaine and so on, in society. What has this ultimately led to? It has contributed to a decline in the perceived harm of marijuana on user’s health as well as reduced disapproval (at least in public) of its usage. For this reason, there has been increased introduction to the use of marijuana paraphernalia in college parties and other social gatherings, such as sports and cultural festivals as a leisure or recreational item. An example is students who gather in groups to smoke marijuana before they go to eat where many have admitted to use the drug to stimulate appetite. Family factors have also contributed to the increased usage of marijuana by students. In the United States there is an alarming increase in single-parent households that is associated to the sustained high levels of separations and divorces. The challenges experienced in growing up have contributed to the joining of marijuana subcultures by students from such backgrounds who yearn for a sense of belonging. A high portion of students involved in a research study on the prevalence of marijuana penetration in colleges found that serious family conflicts as a major reinforcement behind their practice behavior (Levinthal 98). Students from backgrounds prone with violence-be it among the parents or as against the children themselves-have been found to look for an escape from these predicaments. Students will smoke marijuana to escape from reality and some can be found laughing after smoking marijuana as it will change their moods, emotions and state of consciousness. More often than not these students resort to drugs and alcoholism. The availability and relatively low cost of acquiring marijuana makes it the most attractive drug of choice for such teens. Levinthal (2011) in this regard, also identified the absence of one parent member significantly from the tender ages of 12 and below pushed the teens into marijuana use as they progressively moved from high school into college and university. The income level of the students is also found to be a significant factor for marijuana indulgence among them. Students who spent more in excess of meeting essential expenditure items like boarding, food and transport were found to be highly likely to use marijuana (McElrath and Yvonne 710-714). A study conducted on undergraduate university students at Cork University found out that seventy-five per cent of males who have taken marijuana, spend ?3 or more a week on items other than board and lodgings. Despite this being a small amount, if it this happens regularly it takes up money that could be put into some other use. Fewer restrictions on what the students can and cannot do within the university or college premise is a prime urge to engage in marijuana smoking in particular. The student code of conduct is well elaborated but lacks in enforcement because of debates in some states such as California aimed at legalizing the drug. The poor enforcement of regulations and restrictions coupled with the increased freedom space afforded to the student through the delinking of family supervision has had a potent impact on the student’s conduct in private. Students feel empowered and even daring to indulge in previously inappropriate behaviors since the subsequent punishment is only meted against them by their conscience, which they might choose to ignore. Students feel that if there is a debate to legalize the drug it is safe for use and they will engage in using it because no proper guidelines or restrictions have been laid down. Although the United States is a developed nation, there exist significant urban differences that are categorized based on the state’s main economic activities. Urbanity therefore plays a front-line role in the prevalence rate in marijuana abuse and use through the impact of urban exposure. A student who moves to an urban center is most likely to imitate the behaviors of other students in the urban center, and if marijuana smoking is one such habit, it follows that the student will start smoking just to fit in the environment. Student originating from largely agriculturally-oriented state into the more urbanite societies -where drug abuse and the parting lifestyle is a centric feature in day-to-day operations-are most easily recruited into the marijuana subcultures (Levinthal 104). This could be due to the incidence of naivety or adventurous spirit that such students encounter a sudden exposure. However, the initial adoptions are of negatively-related influences. Amidst this subculture will be the periodic users and the one-time only users. An economic factor such as the change in prices on alternatives is also a factor for the increased abuse of marijuana and other drugs within the student population in universities and colleges (McElrath and Yvonne 677). Most students rely on family stipends and loans to get through college education. Changes in taxation and policy regulations on industries such as alcohol and tobacco have the impact of increasing the cost of these items since their prices will be elevated. If the incidence of this tax increase cannot be sheltered by user due to inflexible money balances, the students resort to relatively cheaper indulgences such as marijuana. Why do such students find marijuana a suitable alternative? First, it is cost effective due to their low street costs and one joint can be shared between several students (DiNardo & Lemieux, 13). Secondly, marijuana is readily available and at any time and places where the buyer deems convenient within colleges and universities. This is because in most cases the dealers are themselves students studying within the institutions. The passing of national legislation to the effect of raising the minimum limit on alcohol drinking has also contributed to the upsurge in marijuana use and abuse. Students (both male and female) have been found to be drinking-even in presence of stiffer legislations-at relatively earlier and earlier ages. However, due to the strict enforcement at point of sale students in high schools and who are users of alcohol shifted to marijuana either caused by truancy or meeting their intoxication desires (Ford and Jasinski 404). Research from the Journal of Health Economics stipulates that adolescents will increase their consumption of alcohol and reduce their use of marijuana after turning 21 (Crost & Guerrero 117). This is the breeding ground for most students transitioning into colleges and universities with high dependency on marijuana use. At the university level, such seasoned marijuana users are able to then induct more and more first time users into the practice through their social interactions therein contributing to the rising trends in marijuana use in higher education institutions in the United States. The abuse of marijuana within colleges and universities has increased from twenty-three to thirty percent and similarly seen a shift in the user groups to increasingly younger and minority groups (Compton, Grant and Colliver 2116). Closely associated with this is the increase in the abuse of alcohol, cigarettes and illegal substances, such as cocaine, heroin and ecstasy. With these current upsurges in marijuana abuse there is bound to be high future healthcare complications amidst a vast population of those who abuse marijuana, therefore, it means that our higher institutions of learning are developing into institutions of moral decay and breeding grounds for the current national addiction problems and health care dependency problems. When students start using drugs, they will meet with other students who use drugs that they have not used before, and may be tempted to try them out. This will have the effect of spreading the use of drugs and one can transition from a non drug user to an addict because of the environment they live in. Therefore, if it is in school environment where students get the drugs, this culture will grow, and students will become addicts of the drugs they use if no proper measures are taken to curb drug abuse. Secondly, the obvious long-term health implications from increased use and dependency on marijuana cannot be ignored. It is the primary basis for campaigns against its penetration in modern societies. Major medical complications include lung cancer, which is caused by respiratory irritants and carcinogens in marijuana smoke. However, as research into medical marijuana is still in progress, there are still not enough known effects of long-term use and addiction to marijuana. Health complications in the long-run are however indicators of the persistent use of marijuana. Thirdly, the financial implications of marijuana dependency and addiction to the user and in treatment of health related complications should be a deterrent enough for any would be user. The price of marijuana blunt varies significantly depending on the supplier and region where the peddling is being done. It uses up the students’ finances that could be directed towards other meaningful expenses as on average, it costs around $2.30- $2.82, which can better be diverted to other meaningful, constructive expenses such as reading materials or business venturing (Castle, Murray and D'Souza 66-68). Furthermore, due to the multiple uses with cigarette and alcohol the damning possibility of shifting to higher hard core drugs such as cocaine, the cost implications for marijuana usage can potentially be crippling. Fourthly, marijuana use and presence within the university and college corridors has led to emergence of an attractive alternative source of income within tertiary institutions. Why then do students deal in the distribution and sale of drugs including marijuana? Evidence shows that due to the costly nature of college and university education in America, students who merit to join such institutions yet do not not have the financial capability to ably sustain themselves beyond meeting their tuition and accomodation expenses usually resort to illegal means of raisning extra cash. Drug dealing is perhaps an ironic way to fulfilling this concern but is the most inconspicious way present. Closely associated to the above factor is the impact on individual lifestyles. The culture of drug abuse is often nurtured from sustained usage of ‘soft’ drugs like marijuana (Mohler-Kuo, Lee and Wechsler 23-24). Research by Mohler-Kuo, Lee and Wechsler explains that this culture is particularly predominant within the rich middle class and upper classes that indulge for recreational purposes and are willing to pay substantial premiums for their choice of drug use. Students who come from such classes have the financial muscle and “societal induction” that makes it easy to take to marijuana abuses themselves since their attitudes towards “getting high”. In essence therefore, marijuana abuse leads to a vicious cycle of drug dependency among addicts that does not only affect the users alone but also creates a comfort environment-at home-that unwittingly induces more friends and family members into the vice. Marijuana use has led to emergence of religious movements and cults within both tertiary institutions and in the larger society which the use has furthered marijuana abuse. Although this is an emotive issue that requires further legal founding, some religious dominions like the Rastafarians have found root in universities. Through their worship which involves smoking of marijuana most students who find this form of worship simple and divine (perhaps due to the euphoric principles that creates hallucinations) or merely cool have taken into smoking it, and this has further increased the instances of smoking among students (Gledhill-Hoyt , Lee and Strote 1664). Culturally, American students are also being transformed. Keeping of dreadlocks and adorning of Rastafarian memorabilia is becoming more widespread. The question, therefore, is whether the state has powers to limit one’s excision of his fundamental right of worship and association, which would contradict the anti-narcotics law, which prohibits use of illegal drugs. The diminished conscience state when using marijuana can expose the user to unsafe sexual practices, suicide tendencies and/or cause harm to others around the user (assuming the case of a student driver who is under the influence of marijuana). Marijuana is a psychotic drug that affects one’s perception of reality. This state reflects a diminished state of rational in which an individual’s capability to make informed decisions is greatly minimized. At college parties and clubbing scenes marijuana use places the user(s) in situations likely to lead to unsafe sex or actions that, generally, endanger their lives as well as that of others. For example a student driving others may cause an accident because of not making the right decision and this endangers the lives of others. Finally, marijuana use and abuse wastes valuable reading time, which should be spent in enhancing individual knowledge, skills and creativity for the benefit of both him and society. Academic performance is likely to be inhibited and in cases where the administration catches wind and proof of such abuses in violation of institutional code of conduct, students often face termination of study within such institutions. Addicts of marijuana are often unable to function well within society; they cannot find stable jobs therefore often living impoverished lives as well as deteriorating health. On a national scale, they bleed the society of resources (that could have been directed elsewhere for economic development activities) through the provision of welfare scheme for homeless and jobless citizens. Evidence shows that addicts of marijuana will have problems making a living and most of them will be jobless. This means that they may end up engaging in crime to satisfy their need to purchase marijuana or because they have started using other drugs and cannot afford to buy them, they will have to steal to satisfy their desires. The potential clinical benefits for few cancerous patients cannot overly the protection of public welfare from the social vile of drug abuse. The burden of addiction to marijuana as discussed above display a major potential for harm than good. Its impact on productivity and education cannot simply be forfeited for leisure preferences. Although a drug free world is an utopist ambition. There should be sound mechanisms to help protect society against the abuse of marijuana in universities and colleges. Society’s elite must take active step to prevent the spread of marijuana (as with any other illegal drugs) through various organizations which educate students on the vice and how to control its abuse. The educated have a front role in fighting the war on drugs equally as much as government does since it is through their close proximity to users who are families, friends and acquaintances. It is incumbent upon them to offer the first line of defense against drug penetration within their communities by being its moral conscience, watch dog and whistle blower for law agencies to control marijuana abuse by college students. 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