When you were growing up, you were most likely always taught that doing drugs is bad for you.

It was ingrained in you ever since day one.

In elementary school, you even had to go through the D.A.R.E. program to teach you the harms of doing drugs.

I know that once you grow up and become an adult, you are supposed to start to question things that you were once told to do or believe in.

Questioning things is a part of life and a part of growing up. It is just human nature.

If you did not question everything, you would fall for anything.

However, doing marijuana is not something that needs to be questioned.

Drugs such as marijuana can be extremely harmful to your body.

For example, the side effects of marijuana can include red, blurry, bloodshot eyes and a constant, mucus-filled cough.

There’s also a rapid heartbeat, excessive hunger, dry mouth, anxiety, paranoia or fear, poor memory and poor coordination.

Some people may see those side effects and consider them minuscule, but in reality, they can be very detrimental to your health.

According to drugfreeworld.com, “postal workers found that employees who tested positive for marijuana had 55 percent more accidents, 85 percent more injuries and a 75 percent increase in being absent from work.”

These are significant numbers that should not be ignored.

If marijuana were to be legalized, this increase in workplace accidents and employee absences could be present in every occupation across the country.

Many career paths require clear-headed workers.

Would you want your doctor to be high when he or she examines you?

A lot of people say you cannot die from smoking marijuana because it has no over-lasting effect on you like alcohol does.

I disagree. Anything that you overindulge in can be very harmful not only to you, but to those around you.

Afroman dropped a hit song in 2004 called “Because I Got High,” which peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Top 100 list.

It was also the No. 1 song in various other countries around the world.

The song talks about how Afroman could have gotten so much done, but because he got high, he did not do anything.

Whenever a person is under the influence of drugs, that is usually his or her excuse as to why they forgot about something or could not go anywhere or do anything.

One of the major concerns with being under the influence of marijuana is that if you were to apply for a job, and they asked for a drug test or urine sample, you would not be hired because you would fail the drug test.

You could argue that there are much worse drugs out there such as meth and cocaine, but nobody is trying to push those to get legalized.

It is highly unlikely that drugs such as cocaine and meth will ever be brought to court to be legalized as in the case for marijuana.

In the United States, 26 out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia have legalized some form of recreational marijuana.

In many of the areas around the world that have legalized marijuana, an illness called cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS) has appeared. The effects of this illness are pain and vomiting.

CHS only occurs in long-term uses of marijuana, but that is still a reason to not smoke, as anyone can become addicted to the drug just as easily as tobacco.

Former NFL running back Rickey Williams failed multiple drug tests during his career, and he blamed marijuana for it.

He was quoted in an interview saying, “I got high and forgot I wasn’t supposed to get high.”

Some people say they smoke because they were bored and had nothing better to do.

There is always something better to do. There are always other hobbies to take on.

The risk of smoking marijuana is much greater than people realize.

Make the decision to not hurt yourself or those around you.