At the very beginning of Red Ribbon Week, a car sat outside. A car just as broken and gone as its previous owner. A car so mutilated, its steering wheel was an actual wheel. Naturally, it became the day’s conversation starter. As I talked with five friends about the damage to the car and the meaning behind it, a girl came by to show off her prize – A stash of marijuana. The topic immediately changed to another substance.

Without a doubt, I am against the legalization of marijuana. The cons definitely outweigh the pros; those who fall into the cycle of the “pothead life” don’t get out until it’s too late. Their potential is gone. And if marijuana was legalized, the prices are estimated to drop by up to 90%, according to a RAND study. Effectively making a life-changing drug available to more and more people.

The topic of legalizing marijuana is, indeed, an old topic. We always say how we should legalize it, or how we should ban the substance. Personally, I believe the dance is outdated.

Through observation, I can say marijuana makes teens act unwisely; I remember when a friend of mine smoked marijuana on his own birthday, alone in his room. The unmistakable smell of marijuana hung lazily over him as he came down stairs. He, naturally, got caught and promptly repressed the memory.

The drug doesn’t just contribute to unwise actions. It causes people to become tunnelvisioned on marijuana itself, causing them to talk of the drug and really nothing much else. This problem is evident especially when the user smokes marijuana at an early age.

Depression is likely to settle within their comfortably numb heads later on in life, going by a study done by the Harvard Medical School.

Even though medical marijuana is perfectly legal in 23 states, as well as the District of Colombia, at the moment, some peoples’ bodies cannot handle the drug. If those certain people ignore the negative health signs, they may experience a different side of marijuana. In short, they’ll have what the hip young folk are calling “a bad trip”. Keep in mind that completely compatible people can also have this effect occasionally, according to a study done by NIDA.

Users of medical marijuana have the same risks as most medications. These include dependence, rising dosages, withdrawal, and even addiction. It’s almost like taking anxiety medication for the fun of it. Both drugs are dangerous in the fact that both impair movements and slow reaction times behind the wheel.

Nevertheless, the rusted black paint of Trey Joslin’s car still remains, as chipped as it was before. Sitting as a symbol for all to see; a symbol of what drugs/alcohol can do to us. Though, in my opinion, the world could use less symbols. They just make a complicated place more complex.

The world really could do with less Trey Joslin’s cars. While alcohol and marijuana are different substances they both are still potentially dangerous, and legalization of marijuana isn’t the way to help stop it.

 Read the counterargument to this article here.