I have never considered pot a harmful drug, especially if used occasionally. Although I am not a pot user, I have always thought that as long as marijuana use does not interfere with one’s life, it is no big deal. Because of these beliefs I have actually supported legalization of marijuana in Colorado, thinking it will not hurt anyone as long as it is used lightly and responsibly. However, a new study suggests that I, along with other Coloradans in favor of legalization, have been wrong about marijuana’s harmless effects on health.

According to Terrence McCoy from washingtonpost.com, a brand-new study from the Journal of Neuroscience shows the harmful effects of light marijuana use. This is also the first study ever studying the light use of marijuana. While most people think that occasional marijuana consumption will not hurt them, this study proves the opposite. In fact, according to this study, casual marijuana use has significant cognitive consequences in the area of memory, decision-making, emotion and motivation.

The participants in the study were between 18 and 25, and the abnormalities in their brains were detected even after smoking pot just once a week. According to the National Survey of Drug Use, roughly 20 million Americans report using marijuana. Based on the study that was released just this week, millions of Americans are hurting their brains, even if they are just light users.

With this kind of alarming information coming out, I wonder if we will keep taking the use of marijuana lightly. Moreover, I wonder if we will keep glorifying it and making it look so cool. If hurting our brains is cool, then we have completely lost our minds as a nation.

I am surprised that our government has not yet launched some kind of national public campaign to alarm people as it did with tobacco in the past. This study shows how millions of lives are at risk either by being oblivious to the harmful effects of pot or choosing to be oblivious. Of course, popular culture and peer pressure does not help an individual in this case, especially a young college student.

I understand the use of medical marijuana for chronic and painful diseases, but to be hurting your brain to flee reality or to be accepted by your peers is simply idiotic.

The cliché, “the youth is wasted on the young” is so true in this case because young people do no realize that while looking and acting stupid is cool now, it will not be cool when they get older. Memory, motivation, decision-making and emotional balance—these are all important cognitive abilities both in personal and professional settings.

Sadly, young people do not realize just how insidious marijuana is. They do not want to listen to anyone preaching to them because they think it is their business. When there are millions of people hurting their brains, which in turn affects their actions, however, it becomes everybody’s business. I do not want to drive on the road along with drivers who cannot think straight. I do not want to be treated by a doctor in the future whose brain has been damaged by pot and I do not want to work with colleagues who are emotionally on the same level as high school students.

While many have suspected the harmful effects of the light use of marijuana, we now have proof from a legitimate research team. I am not saying the government needs to play police and monitor what we ingest, but should it be aiding in destruction of its citizens’ brains? It is literally doing so by legalizing pot.

cbauert@mav.coloradomesa.edu