The streets of North America are awash with drugs for unhappiness and pain. One must not look far within our society to see there is a subculture that exists, predominantly among our youth, that embraces the use of narcotics. This social acceptance of drug abuse has unsurprisingly allowed drug addicts to present the argument to legalize (a drug considered to be less harmful) marijuana. Other supporters for the decriminalization of marijuana argue that marijuana provides medicinal benefits for people with chronic pain. The movement to legalize marijuana is a movement that I believe is dangerous for Canadian society and is full of false hope. Marijuana should not be legalized under any circumstance including medicinal purposes.
             Marijuana is often paralleled with other drugs that are commonly abused. Drugs like alcohol, tobacco, and even caffeine. What pro-legalization supporters are quick to point out concerning these drugs, is that marijuana is no more harmful than any of them. What proponents of marijuana legalization tend to omit from their claims is that marijuana is a different substance altogether. Alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco are all stimulants, whereas marijuana is a narcotic hallucinogen. Whether a marijuana addict is healthier than a bonafide alcoholic should be of little importance considering the likelihood of contracting a pulmonary disease (including cancer) and the guarantee of sustaining brain damage. Marijuana has also been revealed as a conduit substance, which means marijuana use more often than not leads to experimentation and the risk of addiction to more harmful drugs.
             Besides the movement to legalize marijuana for recreational abuse, there is also a movement to permit those with chronic pain to use marijuana for medicinal purposes. Advocates of this movement claim that marijuana allows those with chronic pain or terminal illness to cope with their daily misery. This may be entirely true, and marijuana may i...