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Mary Jane Argumentative Essay

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Many researchers and voters believe “Mary Jane” will cause Californian students’ academic performance to decline if marijuana becomes legalized; however, some do not accept this theory. While “Mary Jane” is constantly put down, new sources have proven that since the legalization of cannabis, teenagers have not increased their use of medical marijuana (Borchardt). “One of the biggest worries about legalized medical marijuana was that teenagers would smoke more pot, but it turns out those fears were wrong” (Borchardt). Since the legalization, the unincreased use of marijuana has not affected the academic performance of students. On a report from a National Survey on Drug Use, says other sources believe that the use of marijuana is increasing, …show more content…

Researchers have come to believe that marijuana can harm the students brain functions such as attention span, motivation, memory, and learning ability (NIDA Blog Team). “[They also believe that] students who use marijuana regularly tend to get lower grades and are more likely to drop out of high school than those who don’t use [cannabis]” (NIDA Blog team). While others researchers, Sisley and Borchardt, believe that “Mary Jane” does not affect a students’ IQ; further research has proven that early use of the gateway drug can lower someone’s IQ by 8 points (Schick). “The study found that ‘even after controlling for the effects of demographics, high school GPA, and personality variables’ heavy users [,] those who smoked more than 15 times a month [,] were "twice as likely" to experience discontinuous enrollment than minimal users” (Shick). Even people who infrequently visited “Mary Jane” were 66% more likely to drop out of school than minimal users and people who did not use the drug at all (Schick). The students who are letting her control their lifestyle, they are making their own decisions that are most likely not the best choice for them to make. But, the students are continuing to visit “Mary Jane”, they’re letting her control their lives and their academic performance. …show more content…

With the upcoming vote on California Proposition 64, what will happen to the students’ academic lives? While some researchers believe that the students IQ and test scores will not be affected, the research obtained by the article, “Will My Teen’s Marijuana Use Affect His School Performance?”, proves that “Mary Jane” will cause the loss of memories and lack of concentration she creates (“Will My Teens Marijuana Use Affect His High School Performance”). While authors like Ingraham try to state that marijuana levels are decreasing, other evidence shows that 1,200 freshman college students who used marijuana spent more time getting high than studying or being in class (Schick). With the overuse of the drug, students’ IQ can drop up to eight points (Schick). Under the legalization of “Mary Jane”, students time spent with her and their academic performance decreased rapidly (“The Legalization of Marijuana in Colorado: the Impact”). Also, with a student’s IQ reflecting on their academic performance, the study from Duke University found that marijuana can discursively cause a student’s academic performance to deteriorate (Neighmond). As well as academic performance, “Mary Jane” also has a psychological effect on the students as well; things such as loss of confidence and motivation to sustain high achieving goals play a factor into why “Mary” should not be

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