SCIENCE JOURNAL 2018

Conclusion In conclusion, it is clearly evident that marijuana harmful to the human body and our society. With clear relationships between the drug and mental health and severe long-term neurological effects determines there is more to the drug then being what is being perceived. The argument of it being completely natural can be overridden by the 500 other chemicals used to produce the drug known to researchers. With statistics showing that someone whom does the drug is 5x more likely to develop a mental illness then someone who does not and the significant increase of suicide in relation to marijuana use, alone, shows that the drug is in fact not harmless and it should definitely remain illegal in Australian society.

Bibliography AJP. 2018. Fact Check: Do unemployed Aussies use more illicit drugs? | AJP. [Online] Available at: https://ajp.com.au/news/fact- check-unemployed-aussies-use-illicit-drugs/. [Accessed 28 February 2018]. Graph 1: American College of Pediatricians. 2018. Marijuana Use: Detrimental to Youth | American College of Pediatricians. [Online] Available at: https://www.acpeds.org/ marijuana- use-detrimental-to-youth. [Accessed 18 February 2018]. Black Dog Institute. 2017. Facts & figures about mental health. [Online] Available at: https:// www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/docs/default- source/factsheets/facts_figures.pdf? sfvrsn=8. [Accessed 19 February 2018]. Daily Telegraph. 2018. We’re for Sydney | Daily Telegraph. [Online] Available at: https:// www. dailytelegraph.com.au/australia-has-highest- users-of-cannabis-in-the-world/news- story/71 3ee14709a268d35bdd349d2897e8cc?sv=9ce7f 87e55309f7b2395945865312e7a. [Accessed 15 February 2018]. DrugAbuse.com. 2018. Marijuana Effects | Short Term, Long Term& Side Effects . [Online] Available at:https://drugabuse.com/library/ the-effects-of-marijuana-use/. [Accessed 15 February 2018]. Greatist. 2018. Marijuana: What Weed Does to Your Brain | Greatist. [Online] Available at: https://greatist.com/health/your-brain-on- marijuana. [Accessed 15 February 2018]. Healthcampaignsorange. 2018. Drug trends and statistics | Department of Health. [Online] Available at:https://campaigns.health.gov.au/ drughelp/drug-trends-and- statistics. [Accessed 15 February 2018].

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31

Somerset College Journal of Scientific Issues

Year 10