As a college student, drugs and alcohol constantly create temptations for individuals. In the United States the problem of marijuana use is on the rise. It is “the most widely used illegal drug in the world, with nearly 160 million people, between the ages of fifteen and sixty-four, reporting marijuana use in the past year” (Smith 429). Drugs constantly surround users and their friends, but they have no idea of ​​the effects. As the years pass, marijuana is seen as a “normal” drug, and while some may disagree, they find no reason to discourage users. Marijuana has serious side effects; an individual's choices may change with greater knowledge of its effects. To protect friends, families and the community we need to recognize the disadvantages it brings to the individual. With the growing number of marijuana users in the United States, the negative effects it has on the body, individuals' lives, and legal consequences should lead to awareness that marijuana should continue to be illegal and its use should be avoided. a problem since the early 1900s and continues to create problems. The Federal Bureau of Narcotics created a law prohibiting the use of marijuana in 1937 (Reinarman 128). Twenty years later, THC (delta-9-tetrahudrocannabinol) was discovered to be the main psychoactive component of marijuana and causes its negative side effects (Reinarman 129). Nearly seventy-five years later, the United States is still battling the problem of illegal marijuana use. Even though scientists discovered its negative effects fifty years ago, the information has gone virtually unnoticed and the number of users continues to increase. About half the population of the United States has used marijuana in...... half of the paper ......se Attorney | Morris Law Firm. Network. September 27, 2011. Henningfield, Jack E., Mind-Altering Weed, Mason Crest Publishers, 2008. September 27, 2011. Reinarman, Craig, et al. “Who are medical marijuana patients? Population characteristics from nine California assessment clinics. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 43.2(2011):128-135. Network. September 6, 2011.Shepard, Edward M. and Paul R. Blackley. “The Impact of Marijuana Law Enforcement on an Economic Model of Crime.” Journal of Drug Issues 37.2(2007): 403-424. Network. September 27, 2011.Smith, Andra M., et al. “Effects of marijuana on visuospatial working memory: an fMRI study in young adults.” Psychopharmacology 210 (2010):429-438. Network. September 5, 2011.Wall, Melanie M., et al. “Marijuana use among teens 2002 to 2008: Higher in states with medical marijuana laws, causes still unclear.” Annals of epidemiology (2011). Network. 6 September. 2011.