[protomok]

I frequently hear teenagers and young adults say things like 'Cannabis is harmless', 'not as bad as alcohol', etc.

The issue here is the initial research consistently shows us the opposite - frequent cannabis use appears to cause developmental delay and may cause _irreversible_ mental illness in adolescents that is in at least one case worse than alcohol.

Let's take Schizophrenia as an example:

  Increased Risk of Schizophrenia from Alcohol and drugs:

  Cannabis: 5.2 times
  Alcohol: 3.4 times
  Hallucinogenic drugs: 1.9 times
  Sedatives: 1.7 times
  Amphetamines: 1.24 times
  Other substances: 2.8 times 

source: http://schizophrenia.com/?p=793

Direct link to study - https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/psychological-medici...

Since the brain doesn't fully develop until 25 I don't disagree that alcohol and other legal substances are dangerous for adolescents but from the initial research we are seeing Cannabis is in some cases more damaging than alcohol and requires further study.

[Raphmedia]

This is why it is 18+ and 21+ to buy it legally. Children should not take any mind altering substances. Nobody is arguing that it is harmless for kids.