Legalization of Marijuana and Methods of Its Consumption

Running head: HEALTH ADVANCEMENT AND PROMOTION 1
Health Advancement and Promotion
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliations

HEALTH ADVANCEMENT AND PROMOTION 2
Journal Used
Borodovsky, J.T., Crosier, B.S., Lee, D.C., Sargent, J.D., & Budney, A.J (2016). Smoking,
vaping, eating: Is legalization impacting the way people use cannabis? International Journal of
Drug Policy, 36, 141-147
Health Advancement and Promotion
The debate over the use of marijuana or cannabis sativa has gained a lot of momentum in
the recent past resulting in many nations legalizing its use. The debates have also resulted in
more than fifteen countries lowering the punishments for marijuana’s use. Several users of
marijuana have faith that the drug does not have severe side impacts or serious complications in
comparison to drugs such as heroin or cocaine (Wilkinson et al., 2016). Cannabis sativa, since its
discovery, is used for different purposes such as recreational and medicinal purposes (Caulkins,
Kilmer & Kleiman, 2016). Due to different reactions in regards to cannabis consumptions, this
paper endeavors to summarize as well as analyze the main content of the article titled “Smoking,
vaping, eating: Is legalization impacting the way people use cannabis?” It would as well
elucidate the common methods of marijuana consumption.
Borodovsky, Crosier, Lee, Sargent, and Budney, (2016) state that about a half of the
United States of American states allow in-state consumption and procurement of marijuana for
compassionate or medical purposes, and close to three states have sanctioned the recreational use
of marijuana. It is important to note that misuse of marijuana can result in arrays of negative
impacts on users. The article highlights that in states where marijuana is medically legal, people
seem to have a greater likelihood of marijuana use and the reports show a list perceived risks
associated with marijuana usage. Research shows that some of the medical cannabis laws have
less effect on the prevalence of the present use status (Borodovsky, Crosier, Lee, Sargent, and

HEALTH ADVANCEMENT AND PROMOTION 3
Budney, 2016), however, it is important to impose laws which would regulate the use of the
drug.
The most common ways or methods of marijuana consumption include ingestion of an
edible product, inhalation through vaping or vaporization, and inhalation through smoking. The
article states that the relationship between medical marijuana laws and methods of marijuana
consumption ought to be explored because it is a significant component of medical marijuana
legalization. Studies indicate that marijuana smoking has adverse effects on the respiratory
system (Hopfer, 2017). The authors, therefore, advocate that consumers should prefer ingestion
and vaping to smoking. Smoking heralds inhalation of carcinogenic substances in spite of
allowing the consumer to actively self-titrate the desired levels of intoxication and dose. The
different ways of smoking, for example, bongs, pipes, and joints are associated with a significant
dependence as well as a higher probability of problems. Vaping is considered to have minimal
impact on the respiratory function, however, the long-term health effects of frequently inhaling
through vaporization have not been discovered. According to Borodovsky, Crosier, Lee, Sargent,
and Budney (2016), individuals prefer inhalation through vaporization to smoking as their main
method of marijuana administration because it is cost-effective, more efficient, and better testing.
The article advocates that legalization of marijuana sale as well as use can promptly
increase marketing, production and development of desirable marijuana products. Cannabis
legalization would prompt the delivery systems of the drug and increase sales to meet the
consumers’ demands. Legalization would also increase the product’s sales and people would use
the drug without any fear of arrest. The authors contend that the positive impacts of inhalation
through vaporization and the insight of decreased harm of respiratory system can credibly result
in earlier initiation and regular consumption of marijuana (Borodovsky, Crosier, Lee, Sargent,