Upon reading the article entitled "Finance the bailout: Legalize weed," published April 7, 2009, I immediately had problems with the arguments the author provides.

The first assertion I found inaccurate was the statement that "...Marijuana is non-addictive." While marijuana may not be physically addictive, as other illegal drugs are, the use of this illicit substance, according the U.S. Surgeon General, can have acute mental and biological repercussions. Psychological impacts include the deterioration of short-term memory and a diminished capacity to take in and retain new information; physical consequences consist of the degeneration of lung performance (comparable to that observed in tobacco smokers), reduced virility in both males and females, weakened immune response, and considerable energy loss. Additionally, use in adolescents, which is currently on the rise, can lead to behavioral problems and deterioration of relationships; these problems are assumedly similarly present, if not more so, in the adult population that habitually utilizes the substance.

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