I think marijuana is different from smoking or drinking, as others before me have said, because of the stigma surrounding it. I also think, though, that there is a concern that people will become addicted to the substance if it is so widely available. Medicinally, for instance, people get hooked. I think the fear in legalizing marijuana would be that it would be made simpler for people to abuse it. However, this does not, in my opinion, make marijuana any less dangerous than alcohol overdose or smoking. Culturally, since alcohol and smoking have been common in our society (even as forms of entertainment), people are reluctant to call them as harmful as marijuana, which is so stigmatized.

I think that possibly vaping could be a little bit more concerning than marijuana because vaping has been extremely popular among teenage students. The FDA had considered taking action in regulating e-cigarettes because there was a 78% increase in US teenagers using e-cigarettes. I never considered vaping a huge problem to the teenage population until I entered into my senior year of high school. Even though I am from a religious and conservative town, most everybody in my grade vapes. I would witness people in my grade vaping inside of bathrooms, at athletic games, and even on social media.

It seems like many teenagers regard vaping as a sign of maturity or 'chillness'. This may be just be a Utah thing, but a lot of teenagers really want to give off the 'California' skater vibes. As a result, they think that vaping would provide them that type of image. I am not sure what the real connection is with vaping and giving off a California vibe, but vaping definitely has some major damaging impacts to our health and seeing people starting it at a young age is alarming.

The Johns Hopkins Medicine has stated that nicotine is an extremely addictive substance that just makes users want more. Furthermore, nicotine has stated to be highly toxic, which increases blood pressure and then increases the risks of suffering through a heart attack. On top of nicotine, there are also unknown substances to the e-cigarette due to the diverse flavoring provided for users.

If you would like to see more impacts of vaping here is the link:

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/5-truths-you-need-to-know-about-vaping

Then would the solution be to increase awareness regarding the dangers of smoking and alcohol, or to maintain or perhaps increase regulations surrounding smoking and alcohol to match that of marijuana?

I think part of the reason why people are fearful of legalizing marijuana is because, no matter how much scientific data might prove otherwise, a lot of people still feel, deep down, that marijuana is much more dangerous than alcohol and cigarettes. Part of the reasoning behind this is how normalized drinking and smoking are in our society; very rarely do people see alcohol and cigarettes as the harmful substances they are. Marijuana, on the other hand, is not only less normalized but (honestly) even sounds more drug-like. Perhaps this subtle difference in connotation has something to do with the controversy.

I think the U.S., in general, is wary of legalizing marijuana because of the stigma around the drug. I do think that more research can be done to disprove or prove any claims that the government and general public has about marijuana. I think that marijuana should be legalized unless more studies are published that prove that long-term affects of marijuana use are significantly worse than those of, say, alcohol.

https://www.livestrong.com/article/125021-differences-between-smoking-cigarettes-/

According to the article (in link), smoking is as bad as marijuana. In terms of social views towards them and their impact on psychological and physical health, I think marijuana should be legalized or smoking should become illegal. I cannot see any reasons why only marijuana should be illegal in most states if smoking which causes bad repercussions to the same extent is legal, mostly.

Taking this argument, and given the vast benefits of marijuana, I don't see why it should not be legalized. Perhaps it's all in the mind?