1. I agree, marijuana is not proven to be psychologically addictive. Those who develop physiological addictions tend to do because they use the drug as a crutch, to avoid having to deal with ‘healthy’ amounts of stress, anxiety or other real life factors.

2. Your argument regarding brain damage is very biased. There are numerous studies regarding marijuana’s influence on the neural development of teens, especially its tendency to increase risk of schizophrenia.

3. Reading this paragraph I’m surprised this is the collective writing of the Outlook editorial staff. It just sucks, you threw in this ‘paragraph’ to cover the medical aspect of this issue, justified it with an authoritative source and moved right on.

4. well said

5. this paragraph is weakly tied together. You could have written it better but settled for less. Also, “lack thereof” is improperly used. In this instance you’re implying that marijuana has no effect. If this were the case, it wouldn’t be a drug.

Also, “Actual Journalist”:

You’re the exact reason this article was written. You aren’t an actual journalist, because actual journalists are capable of critical thinking. You simply regurgitate the dogma shoved down your throat instead of doing research and thinking for yourself.

Please show me these ‘facts’ because even if I accept your false facts about marijuana, you can’t deny the fact that prohibition does not lead to declining numbers of users. I’m not advocating legalization, but decriminalization.

Our failed war on drugs is focused on incarceration. This is part of why the United States has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. If we’re really having a war on drugs, why is our main goal to put drug users in jail which has little impact on the actual number of drug users. Concurrently, persons who are addicted to heroin that try to rid themselves of such an addiction face withdrawal effects of “cold sweats, chills, severe muscle and bone aches; nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, cramps, and fever” while on a waiting list for up to six months. Is this an efficient way to manage our ‘war’ on drugs?

I’m not bothering to reread my comment so I apologize for typographical errors or logical inconsistencies, which I will be happy to clear up upon request.