In this lesson, you have learned about some common drugs of misuse and abuse, and in an earlier lesson, you explored the health effects of alcohol
abuse. Obviously, some of the mood-altering substances people abuse are
legal, but others are not. Who decides?
Some Americans believe that marijuana should be decriminalized throughout
the United States. Some of them offer the reasoning that if alcohol is legal,
marijuana should be, too. What do you think?
What are some possible negative health effects of such a change in drug laws?
What positive health effects might result? Does one set of effects outweigh
the other?
Go to the next discussion assignment in this course and post your answers to
the questions above. Then, using what you have learned in this lesson, explain
your support for or you argument against laws that would decriminalize, or
legalize, the use of marijuana. Be sure to provide reasons and examples to
support your answer.