TOW #25

Tow #25

Wed April 23^rd 2014

            The legalization of marijuana is a growing belief by the majority of Americans.  However, marijuana has met a plethora of opposition towards its legalization.  Many scientific studies have been released about the inability to detect any negative effects towards the body due to marijuana use.  Some of these studies have even gone as far as to prove health benefits of using marijuana, edibles and other Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active chemical in marijuana, laced products.  Unfortunately, for marijuana legalization advocates, a five-year study, which has recently been released by the French government, claims marijuana has negative effects on the heart.  Some of these major negative health side effects are heart attack, cardiac arrhythmia and stroke, and circulation problems in the arms and legs.

            Melissa Healy uses this very study to try and persuade the American people into recognizing possible health problems stemming from marijuana use.  Her audience is directly the majority of Americans who support the legalization of marijuana.  Healy uses statistics from the study, such as; “physicians in (France) treated 1,979 patients for serious health problems associated with the use of marijuana, and nearly 2% of those encounters were with patients suffering from cardiovascular problems.” However, these statistics do not exactly come off as overwhelming as Healey intended.  This Is due to the fact that 1979 patients over a five-year span is virtually miniscule.  Less then 400 cases in 1 year in a country that has a population close to 65 million, a number negligible in any scientific study.  Even more astounding is the focus on believed cardiovascular problems with information only amounting to 40 individuals in all of France who happen to smoke marijuana and have a cardiovascular disease.  If anything these findings should work against Healy’s purpose because it shows such a minuscule amount (40 people over a 5-year span) when she is trying to argue a trend in marijuana to cardiovascular disease.

            Melissa Healy is an LA Times writer who works mainly in the science section.