should the United State legalize the use of marijuana?

Yu, Bin, et al. “Marijuana Legalization and Historical Trends in Marijuana Use among US Residents Aged 12-25: Results from the 1979-2016 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.” BMC Public Health, vol. 20, no. 1, Feb. 2020, pp. 1–10. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1186/s12889-020-8253-4.

In this article, the authors explain that marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States. Some states legalized the use of marijunana. California was the first state that passed Medical Marijuana Laws. There are two types of drugs medical and recreational. A recreational drug known as illicit drug is a drug used by people without any medical justification. A medicinal drug is a drug that can be used by humans and animals to cure disease but with the approval of the doctor. All drugs have different effects and also some of them affect the brain and human behavior. However the used marijuana has been affecting many people mostly the adolescents and adults because adolescents and young adults constitute a large proportion of the US population. Approximately 60 millions of the US population are in the 12 and 25 years age range.

This article shows that many people around the world are using illegal drugs mostly in the united states. Many people are using marijuana without any prescription and the adolescent and the adult have the highest risk for the marijuana use. However, the use of marijuana has also affected the human brain as they use more drugs their brain will  become more damaged.    

“ In 2015, 8.3% of the US population aged 12 years and older used marijuana in the past month; 16.4% of adolescents aged 12–17 years used in lifetime and 7.0% used in the past month”

“Typical adverse effects include impaired short-term memory, cognitive impairment, diminished life satisfaction, and increased risk of using other substances”