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This answer may contain sensitive images. Click on an image to unblur it.Indirectly its a small percentage of children maimed or killed each year compared to those who commit suicide due to being bullied.Bullying is a form of child abuse regardless of the age of the aggressor. Its long term affects can and do cause some victim’s of bullying to commit ‘bullicide’“Bullying is the systematic abuse of power and is defined as aggressive behavior or intentional harm-doing by peers that is carried out repeatedly and involves an imbalance of power, either actual or perceived, between the victim and the bully.1 Bullying can take the form of direct bullying, which includes physical and verbal acts of aggression such as hitting, stealing or name calling, or indirect bullying, which is characterized by social exclusion. (e.g., you cannot play with us, you are not invited, etc.) and rumor spreading”Below is a long list of just some of the children who took their lives due to being bullied.If you don't think bullies can ‘kill’ their victims then just read the list below.List of suicides[edit]William Arthur Gibbs (1865–1877) was a boarder at Christ's Hospital school in Sussex who committed suicide by hanging on 4 May 1877 at age 12 after being bullied and beaten. This caused an outcry and the government subsequently held an official inquiry.[1][2][3]Kelly Yeomans (1984–1997), age 13, an English schoolgirl from the Derby suburb of Allenton, became widespread news when the cause was blamed on bullying to which she had been subjected by other local children. She was reported to be the victim of repeated harassment and taunting, particularly about her weight. Matters came to a head in September 1997, when a group of youths reportedly gathered at Yeomans's home on several consecutive nights, on each occasion throwing food at the house[4] and shouting taunts aimed at Yeomans. This prompted Yeomans to tell her family, "I have had enough and I'm going to take an overdose."[5] Five youths between the ages of thirteen and seventeen were convicted of intentionally harassing Yeomans in the months leading up to her death.[6]Jared High (1985–1998), age 13, was a middle school student who committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with a gun because of being bullied. He died on September 29, 1998, six days after his thirteenth birthday.[7]April Himes (1986-2000), age 13, was an eighth grade student at Carmichael Middle School who committed suicide by hanging herself in the closet on Valentine's Day 2000 because of bullying. Students at school would go around and called her "fat" because of her weight.[8]Hamed Nastoh (1985–2000), age 14, Afghan-Canadian high school student who committed suicide by jumping off the Pattullo Bridge due to bullying.[9][10] Nastoh was a Grade 9 student at Enver Creek Secondary School in Surrey, British Columbia. He left a note for his family about all the bullying he had suffered. In the note it mentions that he was teased by his mates, classmates and even his friends would laugh at him. They would always call him "four-eyes", "big-nose", and "geek", because his average marks were above 90 percent.[9] At 5:00 pm, Nastoh's mother, father, and younger brother, David, went outside to hang out with a neighbour. Hamed and his older brother, Abdullah, were home during the night. One hour later, Abdullah took a shower. Hamed put on his new Tommy Hilfiger jacket, slipped out, and made his way, probably by bus, to the Pattullo. When Nastoh arrived at the Pattullo Bridge, he jumped.[11]Dawn-Marie Wesley (1986–2000), age 14, Canadian high school student who committed suicide by hanging due to bullying.[12] She was a student who committed suicide, after allegedly experiencing a cycle of bullying by psychological abuse and verbal threats from three female bullies at her high school.[13] She left behind a note to her family that referred to the bullying to which she had been subjected: "If I try to get help, it will get worse. They are always looking for a new person to beat up and these are the toughest girls. If I ratted, they would get expelled from school and there would be no stopping them. I love you all so much." She committed suicide by hanging herself with her dog's leash in her bedroom.[13]Nicola Ann Raphael (1985–2001), age 15, Lenzie Academy high school student who died by suicide via an overdose of co-proxamol due to bullying.[14]Ryan Halligan (1989–2003), age 13, was an American student from Essex Junction, Vermont, who died by suicide at the age of 13 after allegedly being bullied by his classmates in person and online. According to the Associated Press, Halligan was allegedly repeatedly sent homophobic instant messages, and was "threatened, taunted and insulted incessantly".[15] Halligan's case has been cited by legislators in various states proposing legislation to curb cyber-bullying.[15] In Vermont, laws were subsequently enacted to address the cyberbullying problem and the risk of teen suicides, in response.[16] In 2008, his suicide and its causes were examined in a segment of the PBS Frontline television program entitled "Growing Up Online." His suicide has also been referenced in many other news stories on bullying.Jeff Weise (1988–2005), age 16, was an American high school student who committed the Red Lake shootings and then died by suicide after years of bullying, gunshot.[17]Desire Dreyer (1989-2006), age 16, was a junior at Glen Este High School who committed suicide by hanging in her bedroom after being bullied by a group of girls at school.[18]Megan Meier (1992–2006), age 13, was an American teenager from Dardenne Prairie, Missouri, who died of suicide by hanging three weeks before her fourteenth birthday. A year later, Meier's parents prompted an investigation into the matter and her suicide was attributed to cyber-bullying through the social networking website Myspace. Allegedly, individuals intended to use Meier's messages to get information about her and later humiliate her.[19][20][21][22][23][24][25]Brodie Panlock (1987–2006), age 19, was an Australian waitress from Melbourne who died after jumping from a multilevel carpark in Hawthorn. Her suicide was attributed to serious workplace bullying at the café where she worked. Her parents successfully lobbied the Victorian Government to amend the Crimes Act 1958 to include serious bullying as a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment.[26]Jessica Logan (1990-2008), age 18, committed suicide by hanging in her bedroom after being badly bullied at school by students over a nude picture. When she and her ex-boyfriend broke up, the boyfriend forwarded her picture to hundreds of other high school girls, many of whom allegedly harassed Logan at school, calling her a "slut" and "whore." [27]Sladjana Vidovic (1992–2008), age 16, from Mentor, Ohio, hanged herself in October 2008 by jumping from a window with a sheet around her neck. She and her family were from Croatia. Because of her accent and her name, other students called her names like "Slutty Jana" and "Slut-Jana-Vagina".[28][29][30]Jaheem Herrera (1997–2009), age 11, was a fifth grade student in Atlanta, DeKalb County, Georgia, who committed suicide by hanging in the closet with a belt after being bullied by his classmates.[31]Hope Witsell (1996–2009), age 13, was a middle school student who committed suicide due to bullying. The bullying began when Hope "sexted" a photo of her breasts to her boyfriend. The photo went viral after it was posted online, causing all the other kids at school to start bullying Hope. When the school officials discovered the photo, they kicked her out of school. Hope struggled to handle the pain, later deciding she couldn't take it anymore. Her mother found her hanged from her bed canvas with a pink scarf.[32]Tyler Long (1992–2009), age 17, was a homosexual student with Asperger syndrome. Because of his homosexuality and disability, students would steal from him, spit in his cafeteria food, and call him names like "gay" and "faggot". When his mother Tina Long went to the school to complain about the bullying, the school responded to them saying that "boys will be boys" or "he just took it the wrong way." On October 17, 2009, two months into his junior year of high school, Tyler Long changed his pajamas into his favorite T-shirt and jeans. He strapped a belt around his neck and hanged himself from the top shelf of his bedroom closet. The story of his suicide was later told in the 2011 documentary Bully.[33]Ty Smalley (1998–2010), age 11, was bullied because he was small for his age. Bullies would cram him into lockers and shove him into trash cans. They would also call him names like "Shrimp" and "Tiny Ty". On May 13, 2010, Ty was cornered in the school gymnasium and a bully started a fight by pushing him. Normally, Ty would just walk away when a situation like this occurred, but on this occasion, he stood up for himself and pushed back. He and the bully were both sent to the school office. Ty served a three-day suspension, but the bully only served one day of his victim's suspension. After school that day, Ty committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with his father's .22 caliber pistol.[34] His story was also told in the 2011 documentary Bully.[35][36]Phoebe Prince (1994–2010), age 15, an American high school student who died by hanging herself, following school bullying and cyberbullying.[37] Her death led to the criminal prosecution of six teenagers for charges including civil rights violations,[38] as well as to the enactment of stricter anti-bullying legislation by the Massachusetts state legislature.[39] Prince had moved from Ireland to South Hadley, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts.[40] Her suicide, after suffering months of bullying from school classmates, brought international attention to the problem of bullying in US schools. In March 2010, a state anti-bullying task force was set up as a result of her death. The Massachusetts legislation was signed into law on May 3, 2010.[39] The trial for those accused in the case occurred in 2011.[41][42] Sentences of probation and community service were handed down after guilty pleas on May 5, 2011.[43]Tyler Clementi (1991–2010), age 18, a student at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey, who jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge on September 22, 2010. On September 19, Dharun Ravi, his roommate, and a fellow hallmate allegedly used a webcam to view, without Clementi's knowledge, Clementi kissing another man.[44] On September 21, the day prior to the suicide, the roommate allegedly urged friends and Twitter followers to watch via his webcam a second tryst between Clementi and his friend.[45][46] Clementi's death brought national and international attention to the issue of cyberbullying and the struggles facing LGBT youth.[47]Jamie Hubley (1995–2011), age 15, died by suicide on October 14, 2011. The Ottawa teen was subjected to anti-gay bullying. Hubley's death was the impetus for the Accepting Schools Act, 2012, an act of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario which mandated school boards across the province to develop tougher anti-bullying programs with tougher penalties for infractions, and offered legal protections for gay-straight alliances in the province's schools.[48] On June 3, 2013, Allan Hubley (the father of Jamie) and Laureen Harper announced a new federal anti-bullying strategy, which will see approximately 2,400 teenagers across Canada trained in delivering peer education workshops and presentations against bullying for their fellow students.[49]Jamey Rodemeyer (1997–2011), age 14, was a gay[50] teenager, known for his activism against homophobia and his videos on YouTube to help victims of homophobic bullying. He ended his life by hanging himself, allegedly as a result of constant bullying.[51]Ashlynn Conner (2000–2011), age 10, was an elementary school student who committed suicide by hanging herself in the closet on November 11, 2011 because of bullying. According to her mother, she had tried to get help from teachers, but they told her to "sit down and stop tattling". Kids would go around in school calling her "fat", "ugly", and a "slut". When she asked her mother to be homeschooled, she refused. As a result, she took her own life. Her body was discovered by her sister.[52]Audrie Pott (1997–2012), age 15, a student attending Saratoga High School, California. She died of suicide by hanging on September 12, 2012. She had been allegedly sexually assaulted by three teenage boys at a party eight days earlier and pictures of the assault were posted online with accompanying bullying.[citation needed] Pott's suicide and the circumstances surrounding it have been compared to the suicide of Rehtaeh Parsons, a young woman in Canada, appearing to show highly similar characteristics. New laws are being considered as a result of these events.[53][54]Amanda Todd (1996–2012), age 15, a Canadian high school student who died of suicide by hanging due to school bullying and cyberbullying.[55] She died by suicide at the age of 15 at her home in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada. Prior to her death, Todd had posted a video on YouTube in which she used a series of flash cards to tell her experience of allegedly being blackmailed into exposing her breasts via webcam;[56] bullied; and physically assaulted. The video went viral after her death,[57] resulting in international media attention. The video has had more than 20 million views as of 2019.[56] The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and British Columbia Coroners Service launched investigations into the suicide. At the time of her death, Todd was a grade 10 student[58] at CABE Secondary in Coquitlam,[59] a school that caters to students who have experienced social and behavior issues in previous educational settings.[60] In response to the death, Christy Clark, the premier of British Columbia, made an online statement of condolence and suggested a national discussion on criminalizing cyberbullying.[61][62] Also, a motion was introduced in the Canadian House of Commons to propose a study of the scope of bullying in Canada, and for more funding and support for anti-bullying organizations. Todd's mother Carol established the Amanda Todd Trust, receiving donations to support anti-bullying awareness education and programs for young people with mental health problems.Kenneth Weishuhn (1997–2012), age 14, was a teen who is known for his suicide which raised the national profile on gay bullying and LGBT youth suicides. Weishuhn, then 14 years old, was allegedly bullied in person, death threats were sent to his mobile phone, and he was the subject of a Facebook hate group. He was targeted for being gay, having come out one month before his suicide. Weishuhn told his mother Jeannie Chambers "Mom, you don't know how it feels to be hated". The bullying was characterized as "aggressive",[63] "merciless"[64] and "overwhelming".[65] In response to the bullying, Weishuhn took his own life in April 2012.[66] He hanged himself in the family's garage.[67][68]Jadin Bell (1997–2013), age 15, was an Oregon youth known for his suicide which raised the national profile on youth bullying and gay victimization in bullying. Bell, a 15-year-old gay youth, was allegedly intensely bullied both in person and on the Internet because he was gay. He was a member of the La Grande High School cheerleading team in La Grande, Oregon, where he was a sophomore. On January 14, 2013, Bell went to a local elementary school and hanged himself from the play structure. He did not immediately die from the strangulation and was rushed to the emergency room, where he was kept on life support.[69] The Associated Press reported that a spokesman for the Oregon Health and Science University's Portland hospital announced that after being taken off life support Bell died on February 3, 2013.[70] Bell's death was largely reported in the media, starting discussions about bullying, the effect it has on youth, and gay bullying. The Huffington Post,[71] Salon,[72] Oregon Public Broadcasting,[73] Raw Story,[74] GLAAD,[75] PQ Monthly,[76] PinkNews[77] and many other media outlets reported on Bell's death. The media reported his suicide stemmed from being bullied for being gay, which Bell's father fully believed, stating "He was hurting so bad. Just the bullying at school. Yeah there were other issues, but ultimately it was all due to the bullying, for not being accepted for being gay."[78]Rehtaeh Parsons (1995–2013), age 17, a former Cole Harbour District High School who died by suicide from hanging. [79] on April 4, 2013, at her home in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, leading to a coma and the decision to switch her life support machine off at Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre on April 7, 2013.[80] Her death has been attributed to online distribution of photos of an alleged gang rape that occurred 17 months prior to her suicide attempt, in November 2011.[80][81] On a Facebook page set up in tribute to her daughter, Parsons' mother blamed the four boys who allegedly raped and released images of her, the subsequent constant "bullying and messaging and harassment," and the failure of the Canadian justice system, for her daughter's decision to attempt suicide.[82]Rebecca Ann Sedwick (2000–2013), age 12, American middle school student who committed suicide by jumping due to bullying. Sedwick was a seventh grader at Crystal Lake Middle School in Lakeland, Florida. Sedwick was cyberbullied and bullied in person for one and a half years. Two girls, ages 14 and 12, encouraged others to fight Sedwick, and sent her electronic messages encouraging her to kill herself.[83] In November 2012, her mother Tricia said that "she came home near tears every day".[84] Rebecca committed suicide by jumping from a concrete silo tower to her death.[85]Matthew Burdette (1999–2013), age 14, was a ninth grade student at University City High School in California. He took his own life after two weeks of bullying at school over an embarrassing video. He left a suicide note saying, "I can't handle school anymore and I have no friends. I didn't want to kill myself, but I can't do this anymore." According to Matthew's friends, who spoke up, a classmate went to the bathroom hearing Matthew's moans, peered over the bathroom stall and secretly recorded Matthew while he was in the bathroom. He then posted the video on social media sites including Snapchat and Vine, claiming he caught Matthew "jacking off". According to the Burdette's attorney Allison Warden, a teacher sent Matthew out of class for eating sunflower seeds, but gave him no direction to go, so he went to the bathroom. The boy who took the video confessed and was arrested by the San Diego Police Department.[86]Alyssa Morgan (2002–2015), age 12, was a seventh grade student who was bullied, some part because she was bisexual, kids went around calling her worthless, stupid, and called her racial slurs. On April 6, 2015, Alyssa hung herself in her room.After 3 days in the hospital, Alyssa died on April 9.[87]Ash Haffner (1998–2015), age 16, was a North Carolina student who died by suicide in 2015 at age 16, after being bullied for years because they identified as LGBTQ.Izabel Laxamana (2002–2015), age 13, Filipino-American student attended Giaudrone Middle School in Tacoma, Washington as a 7th grader. She was bullied by family and peers. However, her father, Jeff, had cut her hair short due to having put on a sports bra and leggings to send to her boyfriend. The employees called Laxamana's parents for a parent-teacher conference on the 4th while the haircut happened 24 days later. Izzy was even forced to drop out as student body president, even if it meant more bullying from other students. She cried all day, and the bullies failed to give up as she ignored them. On Friday, May 29, 2015, she jumped off a bridge after an encounter with her grandparents. She died roughly 24 hours afterward in a Seattle hospital.[88]Kennedy LeRoy (1998–2015), age 16, was a high school student with Asperger's Syndrome who committed suicide after being bullied at school.[89]Cassidy Trevan (2000–2015), age 15, was an Australian high school student who committed suicide two years after being gang-raped by a group of older boys from her school in Melbourne. The gang-rape had been orchestrated by two female classmates who pretended to offer her their friendship after bullying her incessantly. The girls and another boy acted as lookouts while the assault took place. The five teenagers involved were named to the police but were never interviewed.[90]Felix Alexander (1999–2016), age 17, was a high school student who took his own life, throwing himself in front of a train after seven years of bullying.[91]Daniel Fitzpatrick (2002–2016), age 13, ended his life by hanging himself from the attic with a belt after years of relentless bullying while a student at Holy Angels Catholic Academy. He wrote a letter about his former friends (who didn't like him for no reason) how they were bullying and blaming him, and his teachers weren't doing anything to help him. He ended his life on August 11, 2016, two weeks before his fourteenth birthday.[92]Tyrone Unsworth (2003–2016), age 13, was an eighth grade student in Brisbane, Australia who committed suicide on November 22, 2016 after years of bullying motivated by his homosexuality.[93] His grandfather had planned that he would be at school on this day, but he remained at his grandfather's farm. His grandfather returned to the farm from work at about 1 p.m. When he did not find Unsworth in the house, he "walked out the back" and found him dead.Brandy Vela (1998–2016), age 18, was a high school senior who committed suicide in November 2016 after years of bullying in person and online by her peers about her weight. According to Brandy's sister Jacqueline, the bullies creating dating websites to harass Brandy. They would lie about her age, use her picture, and use her phone number to tell people she's giving herself up for sex for free to call her. Brandy shot herself in the chest with a firearm and died at the hospital the following day. After Brandy's death, a couple of teenagers were arrested for bullying her.[94]Katelyn Davis (2004–2016), age 12, was sexually abused by her stepfather,phiscallly abused by her mother, and bullied online. On December 30 2016,Katelyn hung herself in her backyard over her treehouse.[95]Gabriel Taye (2008–2017), age 8, was a third grade student who committed suicide after being bullied. According to documents, school video footage shows students in the boys bathroom knocking Gabriel down, he was unconscious by the time the school faculty came to pick him up and send him to the clinic. When Gabriel returned to school two days later, the bullying continued. He later committed suicide by hanging himself from his bunk bed with a neck tie.[96]Jessica Scatterson (2004–2017), age 12, was a student from England who committed suicide by hanging in the closet due to bullying at school and online. One of Jessica's friends said that she came home from school with scratches on her face and a swollen eye from a fight with another girl. Her body was found at 3:45 a.m. on April 22, 2017, two days before her thirteenth birthday.[97]Mallory Grossman (2005–2017), age 12, was a sixth-grade student at Copeland Middle School who committed suicide after nine months of relentless bullying at school and online. Her parents complained to the school officials about the bullying, but their concerns were dismissed. Her mother, Dianne, said that the bullies still haven't been punished. The method in which she ended her life has not been revealed. After her death, she was cremated. According to the Mallory's Army Facebook page, Mallory was born on Earth Day of 2005.[98]Toni Rivers (2006–2017), age 11, was a sixth grade student in South Carolina who committed suicide by shooting herself with a gun after being bullied. Before her death, she told her friends that she couldn't take the bullying anymore. She was taken to the hospital, where she received treatment for 72 hours before dying.[99]August Ames (1994–2017) (born Mercedes Grabowski) was a Canadian pornographic actress and model. On December 5, 2017, Ames was found dead at her home in Camarillo, California at the age of 23.[100] Her death was ruled a suicide by the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office.[101] Media outlets have insinuated Ames committed suicide following successive comments on Twitter in which she defended her refusal to perform in a pornographic movie with a man who had previously worked in gay pornography and sparking an "online firestorm".[102] Ames wrote that the decision was out of concern for her health. Some members of the gay community suggested her comments were homophobic and ill-informed about STI testing in the adult industry. Friends said she suffered from depression,[103] and Ames had previously discussed struggles with bipolar and "multiple personality" disorder.[104]Rosalie Avila (2004–2017), age 13, was an seventh grade student at Mesa View Middle School who committed suicide after two years of bullying. Her mother found her body, hanging in the closet. Before she took her own life, she left some suicide notes on her bed including, "Sorry, Mom and Dad, I love you.", "Sorry, Mom, you're gonna find me like this. And "Please don't show my picture at my funeral" Her father later discovered what she had written in her journal. It is said the kids were bullying her at school about her braces: "They told me I was ugly today. They're making fun of me about my teeth." In late December of 2017, she was buried.[105]Ashawnty Davis (2007–2017), age 10, was a fifth grade student in Colorado who committed suicide by hanging after being bullied at school and online. According to her parents, Ashawnty was bullied after a video of a fight she was in at her school in Aurora in October was posted on an app. Ashawnty confronted a girl who had already been bullying her and the fight was recorded on a cellphone and posted to an app called TikTok - Make Your Day. When Ashwanty found out about the video, she was devastated. Two weeks after the video was taken, she took her own life.[106] About a week after Davis' death, an eight year old girl from New Jersey named Imani Mccray saw news reports of the suicide of Ashwanty Davis on the computer before taking her own life. Her parents discovered McCray unconscious in her room that afternoon not long after they reportedly sent her to her room for a timeout. She was pronounced dead 40 minutes after arriving to the University Hospital.[107]Gabriella Green (2005–2018), age 12, was a middle school student in Florida who committed suicide after being bullied at school and on social media. According to police, the two bullies, who were also 12, confessed to bullying and stalking Gabriella. When Gabriella told one of the bullies she tried to hang herself, the bully responded, "If you're going to do it, just do it!" Gabriella's cousin told the police that she slipped a dog leash around her neck and hanged herself in the closet. The bullies were arrested.[108]Andrew Leach (2005–2018), age 12, was a sixth grade student at Southheaven Middle School who committed suicide by hanging himself in the garage on March 6, 2018. Andrew was bullied in school after revealing he might be bisexual. The kids at school would go around calling him "fat", "ugly" and "worthless." One day, his classmates followed him to the bathroom and told him, "We're gonna put hands on you. You're not going to make it out of this bathroom." After his death, he was buried.[109]Stephanie Johnson (2005-2018), age 12, was a sixth grade middle school student who committed suicide by hanging herself in the bathroom after being bullied. Before her death, her classmates told her to go to the bathroom and "kill herself." She died in the hospital four days later.[110]Jamel Myles (2009–2018), age 9, was a fourth grade student from Denver, Colorado who committed suicide after his classmates bullied him for being gay.[111]Du Yuwei (1999–2018) was a Chinese singer and ex-member of GNZ48. On October 16, 2018, Du Yuwei committed suicide at the age of 19 via charcoal-burning, after being bullied for her affair with Huang Jiawei.[112]McKenzie Adams (2009–2018), age 9, was a fourth grade student in Alabama who committed suicide by hanging herself in the bathroom after months of relentless bullying from her classmates.[113]Seven Bridges (2008–2019), age 10, was a fifth grade student at Kerrick Elementary School in Louisville, who committed suicide by hanging in the closet with a belt after his classmates teased him over his colostomy bag.[114]Hailie Masson (2005–2019), age 13, was a middle school student who committed suicide by hanging after being bullied. Before her death, she had a TikTok account and later became a famous TikTok star. She was cremated after her death.[115]Kevin Reese, Jr. (2008–2019), age 10, was a fifth grade student in Robinson Elementary School who committed suicide after being relentlessly bullied by his classmates. According to his mother, his classmates wrote on his tablet 'kill yourself' and 'You don't belong here'. His sister later found his body, hanging in the closet.[116]Ashley Lovelace (2002–2019), age 16, was a high school sophomore known as misslovelace on Instagram. On January 21, 2019, Ashley Lovelace committed suicide due to cyberbullying and depression. [117]Hailey Nailor (2002–2019), age 16, was a high school student who committed suicide by jumping off a mall parking garage roof after being bullied at school and online.[118]Niegel Shelby (2004–2019), age 15, was a ninth grade student from Hunterville, Alabama,He was a homosexual teenager who commited suicde because his classates and friends bullied him because of his sexuality. On April 18, Nigel hung himself in his bedroom, his mother later discovered his body.[119]These children are gone but will never be forgotten.

(TLDR: A Teen’s Rant of His Generation)It is 2021 and today’s generation has been one of the wildest generations we have seen since the course of humanity. As part of today’s generation myself, I’ve witnessed firsthand the moral decay the youth has today and how heavily influenced they are by the secular world. There are tons to talk about the deterioration of the quality of life today, but I’ve come up with these three main points to describe the huge problems our generation faces today. Many of the issues related to our youths are mainly tied to these three ideas:The Over-Reliance of Social Media and Technology.The Exploitation of Today’s Generation by Political Parties/Groups to Gain More Influence over Each Other.Increasing Self-Centeredness Among the Youth (Especially Social Issues)The Over-Reliance of Social Media and Technology(How Social Media Posts Work in A Nutshell)Picture this. You open up Instagram on your phone and you scroll down your feed. You see others posting “high-quality” content in the app and getting tons of likes. However, you immediately feel horrified as you look back into your profile and check that you only have 50 likes because you didn’t look “good enough”. A post of you showing off your guitar skills might garner some attention, but it would never reach the levels of an obsessed girl who puts tons of makeup to look “pretty”.See the problem?Although not written in the Terms of Policy in social media apps, there are tons of unwritten rules that you are forced to follow in order to achieve success in these apps. They include, but not limited to:Posting the “best” version of yourself (Most people use filters to improve their image)Posting a selfie > Posting a landscape that doesn’t include you in the pictureGet more followers than following (ratio between followers and following)Comments are more valuable than postsGetting tons of DMs as a way to solidify your status as a “popular” personIt is possible the intention of social media is for users to spread their interests on an internet platform and share things that users might be passionate about. However, with these unspoken restrictions on social media platforms, it is hard to be true to yourself while not being influenced by those around you. This leads to a rise in depression and anxiety among our generation. According to a 2019 survey by the American Psychologist Association[1], Gen Z (ages 15–21) are most likely to report mental health issues than any other generation.“More than nine in 10 Gen Z adults (91 percent) said they have experienced at least one physical or emotional symptom because of stress, such as feeling depressed or sad (58 percent) or lacking interest, motivation or energy (55 percent). Only half of all Gen Zs feel like they do enough to manage their stress.”That is troubling as 27% of Gen Z reported a “fair or poor” condition on their mental health, compared to 15% of millennials and 13% of Gen X. With the constant exposure to technology and social media, our generation experiences more isolation and self-centeredness than any other generation. Teens are less exposed to the harsh realities of society (getting a job, buying groceries, considering a family), and more motivated to get a higher number of likes on Instagram and their appearance in the presence of others. Hence, there should not be a reason for a more narcissistic society to be prevalent in the future. Competing over who is more popular and who is more aesthetically pleasing would attribute to more bullying and hostilities on the rise in the 2020s and the 2030s.The Exploitation of Today’s Generation by Political Parties/Groups to Gain More Influence over Each Other.(A Rally in Queen’s Park on April 06, 2019, to protest Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s cuts to teacher jobs across the province)Student protest movements have happened for a long time in history. They happened during the late 60s and early 70s when the Vietnam War was going on and the Civil Rights Movement was in full swing. It happened in 1989 when students in communist countries (most notoriously in China) protested for basic human rights and for a democratic state to take over. These student movements changed the world for better or worse, (that is for you to decide) and wrote history.There is one big problem though: They lack much understanding of the world today.For the record, I don’t mind students engaging in critical discussions regarding the issues around the world today. As a high school student myself, I benefit from this privilege personally. However, we haven’t been around in the world long enough to fully understand the complexity and great difficulty the world presents to make a small change today.Take Ontario Premier Doug Ford and his battle with teacher unions as an example.On March 15th, 2019, the Ford government revealed to the public that they will increase class sizes in intermediate grades (Grades 7–8) and high school grades (Grades 9–12)[2]. An average class size in high school will be bumped to 28, up from 22. Later, a leaked memo from the Ministry of Education says that the government is planning to cut 3475 jobs within the next three years. Immediately, the teacher unions complained and not long after, brought their students to join their challenge against the government. Rushed into the scene, the students walked out of class in a provincial-wide strike, calling for Doug Ford to reverse the cuts.I remember that happening myself. However, I didn’t participate in the walk-out.Why?I researched more about the issues with teacher unions and the governments. I wanted to understand the need for constant negotiations between the two parties and why teacher unions exist. As I researched more, I became disenfranchised over the notion that teachers are one of the most hard-working people in society, and therefore, they need benefits. As per the Ontario Secondary School Teacher’s Federation (OSSTF) website on benefits[3], teachers received many privileges, such as (but not limited to):Auto and home insuranceLife insurance tailor-made for teachersPersonal solid investment strategies for retirement plansLow mortgage ratesExtended health care and dental careI was shocked. Teachers were on strike despite receiving many benefits for being a teacher union member. Meanwhile, many people working on 9 to 5 jobs struggle to get auto and home insurance in the private sector. However, since the teachers had a heavy influence on the youth, students failed to realize this and instead, campaigned for the teachers. What makes things is that unions have used social media to spread their message to the students on participating in this movement against a government that wants to erase Ontario’s budget after disastrous fiscal management under the Kathleen Wynne Liberal government.(Teachers like him has been using social media to rally students against the Ford government and manipulate them into supporting teacher’s unions)This might not seem extremely important for people not living in Ontario, let alone Canada. But this technique of manipulation against our generation has been used in many other social and political movements that exploit our inexperience of how the world works and blindly following the doctrine of what the older people placed, with an absence of second thought to it. Students and youth, in general, become zombies posting whatever the people above them tell them to do. Conservative commentators like Ben Shapiro and Jordan Peterson often point to this as one of the main reasons why politics is so polarizing today. Both extremes of political factions use social media outlets like Instagram and Facebook to recruit as many people to their doctrine as possible.Increasing Self-Centeredness Among the Youth (Especially Social Issues)(All about me! I’m changing the world! Let’s party!)A lot of this third central idea ties quite closely with the previous idea mentioned above. We previously went through how the youth are being brainwashed by lies being thrown by both political sides in order to gain political influence over each other. Social media is a great tool, as mentioned in the first part, to influence people in our generation to make a “difference” in the world. So, how does this final part relate to the rest?Well, as a teenager myself, I was able to experience the self-centeredness our generation holds regarding our surroundings, especially world issues and politics. Let’s use “Jennifer” as an example (not a real person, someone I made up on the spot). She is a fifteen-year-old girl who enjoys listening to Ed Sheeran and does typical girl things. (Snapchat streaks, selfies, doing Tik Tok, etc.) On a normal day, Jennifer would be scrolling Instagram and liking posts. Suddenly, she sees this heartbreaking post describing how a black person was wrongfully arrested by a white cop and explains how that is a result of systemic racism. Immediately, she starts sharing it in her Instagram story and becomes an “advocate” by spreading BLM content to everyone she knows. Anyone that comes into her DMs and says that they disagree with the matter, Jennifer will reply to them that they are “racist” and don’t understand the struggle because of their “privilege” in society.However, does she know the full story? This is where self-centeredness gets into play. They wouldn’t think twice about what really happened in the full confrontation between the two characters mentioned in the Instagram post. They fail to consider, but not limited to:Did the person under arrest was a threat to the officer’s life in any way?Did the officer become suspicious of the person because of their previous criminal record?Did the officer make a mistake by catching the wrong suspect in a murder case?Each case of a police officer arresting a black person is unique and depends on the events leading up to the scenario. There were some instances that the police officer committed wrongdoing and others where the black person is at the fault (will not mention famous cases to avoid controversy). However, with the everlasting presence of social media, many people of our generation are unwilling to take a look at the full story, thus being ignorant of the complexity of social justice issues. Often these posts are driven by emotion and anyone who had any rational approach to a topic would be canceled out. Say if I were to disagree with same-sex marriage because I’m religious, I would immediately be excluded by most of my peers and be called “homophobic”. They wouldn’t care if I had close friends who are closeted, they only care if I would believe in their doctrine.It is also important to note that a lot of the “activists” from our generation today are most likely doing it for fame. When they post their black square on Instagram on #blackouttuesday, it serves as a way to boost their ego and self-centeredness by “fulfilling social justice”. Real social justice isn’t about just shouting at people to change, it’s about helping yourself and others. It’s about improving your morality and helping those in need. As Jesus said in the Beatitudes: Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. True social justice advocates like MLK and Mother Theresa are those working diligently to improve the lives are others. They aren’t using it for fame, but instead devoting their life for improving society for future generations to thrive off.This is exactly what most of our generation is missing regarding social justice, but it’s not just that. There are more flaws of our generation in general, to summarize:It’s about being able to tolerate other people’s opinions.It’s about listening to what our parents have to say. They know the world better than us.It’s about using a certain degree of common sense when reading biased news headlines and articles.It’s about not being overly obsessive of your appearance and being judged by others, but rather being true to yourself and taking pride in your uniqueness.I may be wrong in some of the things I say here, as Ronald Reagan would gladly point out my “youth and inexperience”. Still, I’ve seen enough firsthand the many flaws of our generation that I wish something could’ve fixed them earlier. Nevertheless, time will tell whether things will change positively in the future.Footnotes[1] https://www.apa.org/monitor/2019/01/gen-z[2] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-education-system-changes-1.5057122[3] What other benefits are there to being an OSSTF FEESO member

As long as you don’t smoke it, it’s a safe and healthy alternative to more dangerous recreational substances, like alcohol and tobacco. I fully support its use as a recreational substance for those over the age of 21.For the average consumer, there are no long-term negative health effects from consuming marijuana in a non-smoking fashion. It doesn’t make you lazy, it doesn’t have a deleterious effect on society by making consumers give up on their aspirations, it doesn’t cause brain damage, it doesn’t make you stupid, it doesn’t negatively impact one’s empathy, it doesn’t impair one’s immune system and it doesn’t stunt your growth. There’s no evidence it induces psychosis-related symptoms in those who don’t already have psychosis, it’s not any more addictive than tobacco, alcohol, caffeine or sugar, it’s not a gateway drug to worse substances, and no one in recorded history, for the last 10,000 years that humanity has cultivated cannabis, has anyone ever died from it.It makes you high. It makes people happy. It relieves pain, produces feelings of euphoria, and is currently being used to treat 268 medical conditions, including everything from acne to cancer. There are absolutely zero logical reasons it should be illegal when things like coffee aren't.I’ll break it all down. Prepare for a lot of reading.Negative Health Effects?For the average consumer, there are no long-term negative health effects from consuming cannabis in a non-smoking fashion.Consumers with debilitating heart conditions, bipolar disorders or any form of psychosis should consult their doctor before consuming any form of cannabis, as clinical evidence has shown cannabis and its compounds could make the symptoms associated with these conditions worse.Cannabis doesn’t cause a deleterious effect on society by making consumers passive, unproductive, apathetic and either unable or unwilling to fulfill their responsibilities, it doesn’t negatively impact one’s emotions, one’s ability to empathize or increase the likelihood of suicidal thoughts, it has no correlation with greater chances of lung cancer even if it’s smoked chronically for decades, it doesn’t cause brain cell damage, which in turn leads to long-term memory loss, cognitive impairment or difficulties in learning, it doesn’t impair the user’s immune system or make them more susceptible to other diseases, it doesn’t stunt growth, interfere with the production of hormones associated with reproduction, cause infertility among adult users or delay sexual development in adolescents, it doesn’t cause psychosis in those who don’t already have psychosis, it’s not any more addictive than caffeine, tobacco or alcohol and those who do form addictions do not suffer life-threatening withdrawal symptoms when quitting, and it’s not a gateway drug that will lead to more hardcore substances.Doesn’t it Make You Lazy?Many claims over the years have asserted that consuming marijuana frequently will cause a deleterious effect on society by making consumers passive, unproductive, apathetic and either unable or unwilling to fulfill their responsibilities. This stereotype is so ingrained in cannabis’ image that it’s nearly impossible to see a stoner stereotype in any media not have the lazy trait.Fact of the matter is, science does not support it. Coined as “amotivational syndrome,” the phrase was created in the late 1960s just as marijuana saw rapid use among the American youth. No studies corroborated this information at the time; it was pure hearsay and fear mongering. Studies in the following decades and recent years have concluded that consumers are actually, on average, more productive in work environments while high, and that there is no substantial link to marijuana and amotivational syndrome at all.Doesn’t it Impact Emotions?More recently than many of the other negative claims on cannabis use is the idea that frequent, chronic or long-term cannabis consumption negatively impacts one’s emotions, one’s ability to empathize or increase the likelihood of suicidal thoughts. This is a grossly stretched conclusion that implies much worse than what was ever observed. Studies conducted in 2007 and 2012 claiming to observe negative emotional impact both admitted in their studies that adjusting for confounding factors may eliminate this association. A further 2013 study claimed to observe an increase in the likelihood of depression among high school students who had consumed cannabis, examining 76 subjects. In their conclusion, they note that cannabis use appeared to have no effect on which subjects got depression later in life, and credited most of these observations to “other illicit drug use.”Another study to assert these claims came in 2016, led by Lucy Troup at Colorado State University who examined 70 individuals using an electroencephalogram (EEG) for 2 years. All volunteers were grouped into either chronic, moderate or non-consumers of cannabis. While hooked up to the EEG, the volunteers studied images of 4 different expressions: neutral, happy, fearful and angry. The cannabis consumers scored slightly lower than the control group in their ability to discern emotion just from looking at a face’s eyes. That’s all that was observed. Since this study, Dr. Troup has continued studies with essentially the same basis, though other psychologists have called into question the kind of conclusions she and other researchers have made based on these minor observances.Seemingly much more impactful, a meta-analysis of 11 studies conducted in February of 2019 examined a total of 23,317 adolescent individuals who had consumed cannabis, associating their use with an increased risk of developing depression and suicidal thoughts later into adulthood. The study completely overlooks any form of association between which adolescents who used cannabis were growing up in dysfunctional households, which ones were self-medicating for anxiety or depression, and which ones had been previously diagnosed with PTSD. The study accounts for no other emotional or social variables and yet makes the assertion that cannabis use leads to depression. Rather, the conclusion many make, including Dr. David Bearman, is that many of these adolescents were bound to develop depression and suicidal thoughts regardless of their cannabis use, and simply used cannabis to self medicate their own developing problems. Correlation, not causation.To date, no mood disorders or significant mood alterations have been shown to appear in those partaking in long-term cannabis consumption. The only concern is with those diagnosed with bipolar affective disorder, but if you don’t already have bipolar disorder, there’s no evidence cannabis can suddenly cause you to develop it.Doesn’t it Damage Your Brain?There are many reports of marijuana causing brain cell damage, which in turn leads to memory loss, cognitive impairment and difficulties in learning. There is no significant drop or increase in IQ points between twins when one consumes marijuana and another does not, mostly due to clinical measurements, but also in part because IQ is a meaningless and scientifically unsupported means of measuring intelligence due to being invented by French school teachers to figure out which of their students had autism, and was meant to be irrelevant after the age of 15. While some studies have claimed to observe a decrease in GPA scores among teenagers who consume marijuana, a 2015 study examining cannabis-consuming high school students took into account alcohol and tobacco usage, which other studies had not, and found those two substances to be the main cause of lower GPAs, not cannabis. Some longitudinal studies of college students, after controlling for other factors, actually found marijuana users to score higher on tests than their non-consumer peers. One study that found lower average grades for marijuana consumers failed to identify a causal relationship and concluded that both phenomena (consuming marijuana and having low grades) were part of complex, inter-related social and emotional problems. One wasn’t the cause or effect of another.The original study to make a claim on permanent brain impairment following cannabis consumption reported in postmortem examinations of rhesus monkeys exposed to high quantities of THC to have “abnormalities” in the hippocampus, a cortical brain region known to play an important role in learning and memory, and thus concluded there must be negative side effects. Abnormality sounds bad, but it just means a change in brain matter, which isn’t inherently negative (consuming caffeine changes the brain too). They further “confirmed” this study by finding similar brain changes in rodents, who were given up to 200 times the psychoactive dose in humans. For reference, this amount in rats to produce minor abnormalities is comparative to a human smoking 30,000 joints and being reported as having some lingering brain dysfunction. Further studies found no significant brain abnormalities in rodents with 100 times the psychoactive dose in humans.In 2006, the Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research and the New York University School of Medicine scanned the brains of 10 individuals who consumed cannabis daily for one or more years in their adolescence, and 10 control subjects who had not, using MRI methods. There was no evidence of cerebral atrophy or loss of white matter integrity, and the researchers concluded that frequent cannabis use is unlikely to be neurotoxic to the normal developing brain. A similar study done in 2002 by the National Institute on Drug Abuse employed 4 patients who consumed at least 10 grams of THC per day for 30+ years, and were systematically examined throughout the process. Mild difficulties were noted in attention in regards to complex new verbal material, but without effect on higher level executive function. No significant differences were seen in MRI studies, and one of the subjects continues to serve at an executive level in an investment firm. Plenty of other studies have been conducted using similar methods and found no long-term negative health effects when looking at the patients’ brains.Dr. Lester Grinspoon, Associate Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the former Senior Psychiatrist at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center in Boston states, “If the brain produces its own cannabinoid-like substances, it doesn’t make much sense that it would produce a substance which is going to damage the brain. Indeed, long before it was discovered that there are endogenous cannabinoids, the empirical evidence did not demonstrate that cannabis damaged the brain.” He’s specifically speaking about endocannabinoids like AEA and 2AG, chemical compounds naturally produced in our bodies that serve the same purpose as the phytocannabinoids like THC and CBD that we consume from cannabis.More recent studies have been finding measurable differences in brain matter, particularly in the amygdala and hippocampus, among chronic cannabis users. Short-term memory impairment has been consistently observed in chronic users (consuming a few times a day), but disappears entirely after a weeks’ abstinence. There is no damaging effect on long-term memory. Among the hippocampal volume, changes caused by cannabis consumption were found to be reversible with CBD exposure or abstinence in a 2016 study. Clinical research has continually reaffirmed the opposite of these brain damage claims as well; the phytocannabinoids found inside cannabis actually have potent neurogenerative and neuroprotective properties. Compounds like THC and CBD play a role in helping the brain to build new neurons and then protect them from neurodegenerative diseases or injuries caused by stroke, concussions or head trauma.The issues with a lot of these negative claims is their inconsistency; no discernible pattern has been found in what kind of brain changes occur, whether or not these changes are inherently negative, positive or neutral, and how researchers define “chronic” cannabis use seems to differ drastically from study to study, with some considering “multiple times a day” to be chronic, and others considering “a few times a week” as chronic. Despite these inconsistencies, studies have continuously claimed to observe cannabis users having difficulty with attention, concentration, decision-making, risk-taking, impulsivity, inhibition, working memory and verbal fluency. Much of the medical world, and certainly much of the cannabis industry, sees these examples as outliers or victims of the very subjective experiences one can have from cannabis use. The majority of these studies use sample sizes of around 5 people, did not specify dosage amounts or lengths of abstinence and did not control for outlying factors. Some people can operate fine on cannabis, and some people just can’t.There is no consistent evidence that marijuana users, even those of decades or more and of any age, suffer permanent brain impairment in any regard. Numerous studies comparing chronic marijuana users with nonuser controls have found no significant differences in learning, memory recall or other cognitive functions when controlling for other factors.Doesn’t it Impair your Immune System?Claims in the 1970s and into the 1980s asserted that frequent marijuana use impairs the user’s immune system and makes them more susceptible to other diseases. The principal study fueling this claim of immune impairment involved preparations of white blood cells that had been removed from marijuana consumers and controls. After exposing the cells to immune activators, they reported a lower rate of transformation in cells taken from the marijuana consumers. The study was conducted by Gabriel Nahas, a scientist staunchly against the use of marijuana in all forms. He was eventually fired from the Walter Reed Medical Center, and publicly admitted to tampering with the results of every study he conducted. Numerous groups of scientists since have failed to confirm the original claims of his study in any way, and another study conducted in 1988 demonstrated an increase in responsiveness when white blood cells from marijuana consumers were exposed to immunological activators.Clinical studies conducted since have never shown an increase in bacterial, viral or parasitic infection among marijuana consumers, and have actually shown the opposite. Conclusive studies have shown it does not increase the risk of HIV infection, or increase the intensity of AIDS symptoms.Doesn’t it Stunt Your Growth?Claims have been made that marijuana consumption at early ages may stunt growth, interfere with the production of hormones associated with reproduction, cause infertility among adult users and delay sexual development in adolescents. Despite these claims, no significant difficulties in fertility or hormone levels have ever been reported. One peer-reviewed, longitudinal study found that when smoking high dosage THC 20 times a day for 30 days straight, there was a slight decrease in sperm count in males, but it was minuscule enough that it would not affect actual fertility. This decrease may be attributed to benzene, a carcinogen formed during the natural processes of combustion that has been shown to be damaging to the reproductive system when inhaled in large quantities. Using another consumption method of cannabis, such as vaporization, edibles or tinctures, produces no benzene or carcinogens of any kind.It Can Cause Psychosis, Right?There is no medical or psychiatric consensus on the relationship cannabis has with psychosis, and studies have pointed in numerous directions over the decades. The most agreed upon conclusion is that cannabis has a very low chance of worsening psychosis symptoms in people who already have psychosis, but there is no proven link between cannabis directly causing psychosis to develop on its own.To be as clear as possible; if you already have psychosis, there is a chance that cannabis can make your symptoms worse. If you do not have psychosis, there is no evidence that cannabis can cause psychosis to suddenly develop.Cannabis-Induced Psychosis (CIP) is a form of psychosis purportedly directly caused by cannabis; its confirmation as an existing disorder in of itself is heavily debated, and the psychology world seems split on whether to recognize it as a legitimate disorder or not. The term first appeared in 1987 after a Swedish research team determined that early cannabis consumers were more likely to develop psychosis later in their lives, going off of self-reported data. Research into cannabis’ relationship to psychosis skyrocketed, and in a few years, it became the most funded part of cannabis research as a whole. Unfortunately, many of these studies relied on poor data collection methods, such as cold-call surveys and singular cases, as well as poor control factors, as very, very few took environmental, social or prior psychological factors into account. This trend continued into the 2010s, when studies conducted by Benford 2011, Every-Palmer 2010, Muller 2010, Van Der Veer 2011 and Hurst 2011 all counted temporary anxiety, disorganization, paranoia, agitation, confusion, tachycardia or an increased heart rate, and hypokalemia or low potassium levels, as psychosis symptoms. Many psychologists, doctors and therapists disagreed with this notion, as these symptoms are neither severe nor do they last more than a few hours after consumption, at most.Evidence against a connection between cannabis and psychosis is rather prominent in the psychiatry and cannabis worlds as well. In 2015, Matthew Hill of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the University of Calgary said there is little evidence of a causal relationship between cannabis and psychosis, and went further to say there is evidence that cannabis use does not cause psychosis. His conclusion was similar to many others; cannabis can induce psychosis in individuals sooner by worsening their pre-existing psychosis. Dr. Romina Mizrahi, the director of the Focus on Youth Psychosis Prevention Clinic at The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto agreed that cannabis does not cause psychosis in individuals who do not already have psychosis, but could trigger an underlying condition. Other experts speculate that reverse causality may play a role in so many studies’ false positives, believing cannabis use to be a byproduct of mental illness, not the cause; those with psychotic episodes use cannabis to self-medicate before their diagnosis. Furthermore, and even more drastically contradictory to CIP, phytocannabinoids THCV and CBD, and the terpene myrcene have all been clinically shown to be active treaters of schizophrenia, a form of psychosis, and CBD was demonstrated to be as effective as amisulpride, a standard antipsychotic.Rather unfortunately, CIP’s ambiguous status was determined legally defensible in Canada under matters of assault in 2017. Mark Phillips, a personal injury lawyer from Ontario, attacked a family of immigrants in a parking lot mall because they were speaking Spanish, accusing them of being terrorists and members of ISIS. He crushed one of their ribs with a baseball bat. He plead guilty to assault, but claimed he was suffering from a cannabis-induced psychotic episode. He was granted a conditional discharge. After serving three years’ probation and community service, he will have no criminal record. This ruling was widely denounced, resparking the debate about cannabis’ relationship to psychosis. Paul Armentano, Deputy Director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, or NORML, made a great point that I agree with, “My presumption is that if someone knowingly engages in substance that alters mood or behaviour, how can it be excusable? That is like saying that, if I hadn’t consumed so much alcohol, I wouldn’t have done this — so my actions were excusable.” The issue with this case is that it legitimizes CIP as a mental disorder that anyone, at any time, can just develop from casual cannabis consumption; something that is not medically accurate. It now allows consumers to smoke weed, break the law, and later claim they were suffering from psychosis to get off on the charges. It’s equivalent to saying that you drove drunk and hit someone because you were suffering from alcohol-induced psychosis.Isn’t it Very Addictive?Yes, it is possible for someone to become addicted to marijuana, though this depends on how you define addiction. This dependency has a name; Marijuana Use Disorder (MUD), also sometimes called Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD). People can become dependent on any substance or action. It’s why you’ll read about people addicted to consuming drywall or eating nothing but cheesy potatoes. Nothing about drywall or cheesy potatoes is inherently addicting, it’s just the consumer’s brain that’s created a dependency. The same is true for cannabis. Cannabis itself is no more addicting than sugar, caffeine or gambling.Depending on what country you're in and who you ask, some claim that Marijuana Use Disorder only classifies as a mental dependency, not an addiction. A mental dependence is often defined as a dependence on a substance whose cessation involves emotional-motivational withdrawal symptoms, such as a state of unease or dissatisfaction, a reduced capacity to experience pleasure, or anxiety upon quitting. A physical dependence is defined as a compulsive desire to continue using a substance, despite harmful consequences, including physical withdrawal symptoms and a failure to meet work, social or family obligations. By older definitions, Marijuana Use Disorder doesn't classify as an addiction, as there are no life-threatening negative physical side effects after cessation. By more recent definitions, mental dependency and addiction are essentially the same thing, and the physical symptoms that do arise from marijuana withdrawal are enough to classify it as an addiction. There's not a general consensus on the two terms, so you can call it whatever you like, but the fact remains the same; marijuana can be habit-forming, as with anything, and it can be detrimental to people’s lives if it gets out of control.While physical symptoms may arise for those quitting marijuana who have a dependency, they’re not typically severe and never life-threatening. Common symptoms include decreased appetite, physical discomfort, irritability, headaches and sleep difficulties for up to 2 weeks after quitting, before subsiding entirely. For more chronic users, those typically over 2 or more years, these symptoms might last up to a month, but are still not comparable to the withdrawal symptoms of many, many other substances. Another common side effect worth mentioning is intensely vivid dreams. THC blocks many parts of REM sleep, the portion of sleep in which the brain dreams. As the brain is deprived of this REM sleep, it slowly begins to build up a sort of appetite for it, and following the cessation of THC consumption after a long period, it overcompensates during the REM sleep rebound effect, resulting in incredibly vivid dreams that last longer and can be considered more intense.The National Institute on Drug Abuse, for all the good that they do, gets this subject wrong quite frequently. They state that the reason they do not have proper estimates of the number of people addicted to marijuana is because of contradicting studies, but fail to acknowledge that their estimate of marijuana addiction being roughly 9% includes those who completed court-ordered addiction treatment for cannabis possession crimes in order to avoid stiff penalties. The best estimates the rest of the medical world has is that around 4% of people who use marijuana frequently will develop a mental dependency; compare this to 7% of caffeine consumers eventually developing a dependency, 29% of alcohol drinkers developing an addiction, and up to 34% of tobacco smokers. The national, presumed average of people with “addictive personalities” is roughly 10%, for any substance or action, though the scientific support for something like an “addictive personality” existing in the first place is not very prevalent.Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Contingency Management and Motivational Enhancement Therapy have all shown promise in helping those with Marijuana Use Disorder. The FDA has not approved any medications for the treatment of this disorder, but CBD has shown to be a very effective treatment for those suffering cannabis withdrawal symptoms. Other substances such as N-acetylcysteine and fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) inhibiting chemicals may also help with treatment. In 2015, over 138,000 people in the US voluntarily sought treatment for their marijuana use. The vast majority were cleared from their programs or support groups after 3 weeks. Possible relapse data was not collected.Isn’t it a Gateway Drug?The majority of people who try marijuana for the first time don’t even continue smoking marijuana. There are a few studies that correlate links with marijuana consumption and the use of other addictive substances, such as alcohol and nicotine. However, more recent studies taking into account other factors besides biological mechanisms, such as a person’s social environment, have concluded that people who are more vulnerable to drug-taking are simply more likely to start with readily available substances such as marijuana, tobacco, or alcohol, and their subsequent social interactions with others who use drugs increases their chances of trying other drugs.A common claim against the legalization of marijuana is that consumption makes you more likely to commit crimes. The only reason this claim is technically true is because of a technicality. Smoking marijuana is itself a crime in many places, so choosing to smoke will obviously make you more likely to commit a crime; you’re committing a crime to smoke it in the first place. Aside from this, statistically speaking, the average marijuana consumer is no more or less likely to commit other, unrelated crimes.Furthermore, the popular school program D.A.R.E. has been, by all accounts, an utter failure. Despite its continued renewal in hundreds of school districts around the country, studies looking into its effectiveness have found it either making no significant impact on the use of drugs by underaged teens, or in some cases actually increasing the rate in which drugs are used at earlier ages. As of early 2019, even D.A.R.E. recognizes cannabis is not a gateway substance, and quietly removed it from their list in March.Hasn’t it Killed People Before?To answer this question, we will be excluding activities people engage in while high. Just as with alcohol, driving and other activities that could be considered dangerous should be avoided when under the influence of marijuana. We will also be excluding examples of polydrug use, in which the deceased were found dead with not only marijuana, but other, much more dangerous substances in their system.Counting death tolls per the substance alone (excluding crimes and accidents), tobacco kills over 480,000 people per year, alcohol kills over 125,000 people per year, over 25,000 people die from prescription overdoses, caffeine kills over 2,000, aspirin kills over 500, peanuts kill over 100, salt kills over 35, and there has never been a single, verified report of a death from cannabis consumption, ever.Marijuana users, on average, die no sooner than those who do not partake and have a similar life expectancy. A user would have to consume 20,000 to 40,000 times the amount of THC in a joint in order to risk dying from organ failure. For chronic marijuana consumers, there’s still no reason to worry. A study conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) calculates that a person would need to consume nearly 1,500 pounds of marijuana within a 15 minute period to induce a lethal response, which shouldn’t surprise anyone to hear, is physically impossible to do. Additionally, there are no cannabinoid receptors found in the brain stem, the area of the brain responsible for respiratory health and most basic bodily functions. It is therefore physically impossible to die from an overdose on marijuana. In a more brutal, and very illegal study in 1974, 13 wild monkeys were captured and virtually suffocated in marijuana smoke over a period of 90 days. All captive primates fully recovered a week after the experiment concluded.There are 4 documented and reported cases of people dying from marijuana, but these cases have been disputed throughout the medical world since the day each was announced. What’s most interesting about these reports is the massive amount of focus they bring to the subject. Typically these stories are brought as arguments for the continued criminalization of marijuana, despite the death tolls of perfectly legal tobacco, alcohol and opioids frequently surpassing hundreds of thousands in a year. It’s also noteworthy that each time a report of a death from marijuana occurs, it becomes the new “first ever” case of a marijuana death, even from the same publications that have previously used the same titles on past victims.I can go over each of these cases and why they’re not true if you’d like.Sources, additional educational material, scholarly articles and academic studies are in the comments below.