damage to the lungs. In addition, research has shown that prolonged use of marijuana can have a detrimental impact on memory and learning. Some opponents of legalization claim that marijuana also poses a threat to the society at large. For example, serious accidents can occur if air traffic controllers or railway engineers use the drug on the job. Another argument against the legalization of marijuana is the fact that its users often become dependent on it. It is further argued that legalization of the drug would encourage more people to try it and thus become dependent. Yet another argument
against the legalization of marijuana is that it is a "gateway" drug. In other words, when people experiment with marijuana, it supposedly encourages them to also try harder and more dangerous drugs.
Each of these arguments against legalization @!5 open to rebuttal. For example, studies have indicated that marijuana is not particularly dependence-causing and that it is not as powerful a "gateway" drug as many people imagine it to be (Nadelmann, 1990, pp. 37-38). Furthermore, there is evidence that marijuana
is not as damaging to health as its opponents would like to believe. With the exception of some vehicle accidents, there have hardly ever been any reported marijuana-related deaths (Nadelmann, 1
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