Arguments abound over whether marijuana should be legalized. Many of

Question

Arguments abound over whether marijuana should be legalized. Many of these arguments pertain to the lengthy federal guidelines for prison sentences meted out for what is considered a relatively petty crime. Others point out that marijuana is a drug that could, and should, be used for medicinal purposes. But most proponents of legalization ignore the mounting evidence which points to the long term damage to the user and for society as a whole. In the Netherlands, marijuana has been legally available since 1976. ―Coffee shops‖ sell cannabis over the counter in many parts of the country. However, more people have tried cannabis since it has been legalized.

Medical research has repeatedly provided evidence that marijuana use causes permanent physical, psychological, and thus emotional damage to those who regularly use it. Studies at the University of Maryland and UCLA indicated that the regular smoking of only two marijuana cigarettes a day would tend to promote toe fungus and thrush. But over the years, much stronger claims have surfaced: heavy marijuana users perform poorly at work or school, are more likely to be delinquent and develop psychiatric problems, or have abnormal brain waves. Repeatedly, however, such studies encounter the same objection: are the problems caused by smoking marijuana, or is it just that people with problems are more likely to end up using marijuana heavily?

Marijuana is addictive. According to Wayne Hall, director of the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, cannabis is not generally regarded as a drug of dependence because it does not have a clearly defined withdrawal syndrome. But that, he says, is an old-fashioned definition of addiction.

Research into marijuana‘s use as a medicine has proven either inconclusive or tended to show that its side effects rendered cannabis unsuitable as a drug. For instance, one study surveyed the use of cannabinoids to combat nausea following chemotherapy. While the tablets or injections were slightly more effective than standard treatments, their side effects, plus the recent development of new, more powerful drugs, makes them a poor choice for nausea relief. In her study, ―Cannabinoids were no more effective than codeine in controlling acute and chronic pain and they had undesirable effects in depressing the central nervous system,‖ comments Eija Kalso of Helsinki University Hospital. Yet, under mounting pressure, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has reluctantly agreed to provide funds for once again testing the efficacy of marijuana as a medicine.   1 
 1. According to the passage, all of the following are harmful effects of marijuana EXCEPT:

A. poor performance at work
B. development of psychiatric problems
C. growth of toe fungus and thrush
D. depression and memory loss
E. Abnormal brain waves

2 
 2. According to an earlier definition, why is marijuana not considered addictive?

A. Its use does not result in death
B. Lack of clearly defined withdrawal syndrome
C. It has several beneficial uses
D. Its harmful effects have not been proved
E. Its use is legal in a lot of countries

3 
 3. Which of the following can be inferred from the information in the passage?

A. It has now been proved without a doubt that marijuana is indeed harmful to humans
B. Marijuana has been unreasonably criticized by doctors
C. Netherland will soon make marijuana illegal
D. Marijuana has several harmful effects and probably some beneficial ones as well
E. The US Drug enforcement Agency has decided to ban the use of marijuana

Ergenekon · Answer

GNPTH, thanks for your hard work putting these passages. I have done several other Aristotle passages, and I have decided that they were not appropriate for me. Most of them were not gmat like passages. They had strange questions and answers. That is why, I decided to concentrate my attention on passages prepared by prep companies, such as economist, manhattan etc. I think Aristotle has tried to make their passages hard, but instead it has become something different.

Have you taken the gmat?

sandysilva · Answer

OEs.
1) a simple detail question that can be quickly answered if you‘ve made a good passage map by going through the relevant paragraph. ‗D‘ immediately stands out as the correct answer. 
 
(A): Opposite. This is mentioned in ¶3 
 
(B): Opposite. This is also mentioned in ¶3 
 
(C): Opposite. This is also mentioned in ¶3 
 
(D): The Correct Answer 
 
(E): Opposite. This is also mentioned in ¶3

sandysilva · Answer

2) Another detail question that can be answered by going though paragraph 4 which clearly says that ‗cannabis is not generally regarded as a drug of dependence because it does not have a clearly defined withdrawal syndrome‘. From the passage it is obvious that cannabis and marijuana are one and the same. ‗B‘ clearly is the best answer then. 
 
(A): Out of scope. 
 
(B): The correct answer mentioned in ¶4 
 
(C): Incorrect, as described above. 
 
(D): Incorrect, as described above. 
 
(E): Out of scope.

sandysilva · Answer

3) Evaluating each of the options, it is clear that D is the only one that can be safely inferred from the passage without making any assumptions. 
 
(A): Extreme and Out of scope. 
 
(B): Out of scope. It does have a lot of harmful effects anyway. 
 
(C): Out of scope. 
 
(D): The correct answer. 
 
 (E): Out of scope

Aadi01 · Answer

Topic and Scope –

To discuss whether marijuana is harmful or beneficial and to
state that more research is needed before one could arrive at an answer to the same.

Mapping the Passage

¶1 provides the two points of views on marijuana use – those who are in favour and
those who are against.
¶2 states that more people have tried marijuana in Netherlands after its use was
legalised
¶3 describes the harmful effects of marijuana
¶4 states that marijuana is addictive and defines drugs of dependence
¶5 concludes that marijuana has not yet been confirmed as a medicine and that it
probably has more negative effects than positive ones

AA01 · Answer

Hey, I'm not able to infer the benefits listed in choice D. I was left with A and D but ended up choosing A as I could not identify any benefits. Could you help me understand how you have eliminated choice A?

BALAGURU · Answer

Hei , I also got wrong then I realized the following:
from the last sentence of last paragraph, the doubtless effects is ruled out, means there are certain doubts about its effects and hence option A is wrong
From the last para and precisely last sentence, there may be some benefits which needs only proof to consider it as medicine, Hence option D is correct

Hope this helps

MrSandman · Answer

BTW, talking about beneficial effects - marijuana really can cause problems. But, on the other hand everything can cause problems in big quantities. Food, for example. As an active CBD user I can't agree with all sentences from this posting. Because CBD really helps. Especially CBD gummies. They don't cause health damage, and they are easy to take. On the other hand, I think that marijuana usage really can cause problems. At least, not as much as told in this article.

As for questions, it's D, B and D. It took something like 30 seconds for me to solve it.

As for questions, it's D, B and D. It took something like 30 seconds for me to solve it.

Sharpmind · Answer

it's E. Abnormal brain waves
As far as I remember marijuana has such an impact over human brains
Correct me if I've mistaken

Aaryan21062002 · Answer

Medical research has repeatedly provided evidence that marijuana use causes permanent physical, psychological, and thus emotional damage to those who regularly use it. Studies at the University of Maryland and UCLA indicated that the regular smoking of only two marijuana cigarettes a day would tend to promote toe fungus and thrush. But over the years, much stronger claims have surfaced: heavy marijuana users perform poorly at work or school, are more likely to be delinquent and develop psychiatric problems, or  have abnormal brain waves.  Repeatedly, however, such studies encounter the same objection: are the problems caused by smoking marijuana, or is it just that people with problems are more likely to end up using marijuana heavily?

it is mentioned in the passage as one of the harmful effects of marijuana

HumanEdge · Answer

depression and depression and memory loss is a part of psychiatric problem and also in passage it is given "promote the growth" while option is "growth of toe fungus and thrush" So i am not able to understand

guddo · Answer

Question 1:

The issue is that this is an “according to the passage” question.

“Psychiatric problems” is mentioned, but  depression and memory loss are not specifically mentioned . We cannot assume that because depression may be a psychiatric problem, the passage also supports “depression and memory loss” as listed effects.

C is supported because the passage says marijuana use would “promote toe fungus and thrush.” That is close enough to saying it promotes the  growth  of toe fungus and thrush.

So D is the EXCEPT answer because it adds specific effects that the passage does not state.

egmat · Answer

Hi HumanEdge,

You've actually spotted the exact trap this question is built on, so let's split your two points.

On option D ("depression and memory loss"):

This is a  "According to the passage"  detail EXCEPT question, so the only effects that count are the ones the passage  actually names . Look at paragraph  2 :

"...are more likely to be delinquent and  develop psychiatric problems , or have abnormal brain waves."

The passage says "psychiatric problems" as a  general category  - it never specifies  which  ones. "Depression" and "memory loss" are your own reasonable guesses about what might fall under that category, but the text doesn't list them. On a detail question you can't promote a guess into a stated fact, so D is the effect  not mentioned  - which is exactly what an EXCEPT question wants.

Think of it this way:
- Passage says  "causes psychiatric problems"  - stated.
-  "Depression and memory loss"  - your inference about a sub-type -  not  stated.

A quick parallel to feel the difference: if a sentence says  "He owns several pets,"  can you safely say  "He owns a parrot" ? No - a parrot might be one of his pets, but the sentence never says so. Same move here.

On option C ("growth of toe fungus and thrush"):

Here the wording shift is just a  paraphrase , not a change in meaning. The passage says smoking  "would tend to  promote  toe fungus and thrush."  To "promote" something like a fungus literally means to  encourage its growth  - so "growth of toe fungus and thrush" says the same thing in other words. RC right answers very often restate the passage with different words, so C is correctly counted as a stated effect (and  therefore  not  the EXCEPT answer).

So the rule to carry forward: count only what's literally stated (that kills D), but allow honest paraphrases of meaning (that keeps C in).

Answer: D

TheAdmissionHub · Answer

Paragraph 1 
 What the author does: 
Presents research claims about the harmful effects of marijuana and questions whether marijuana is the actual cause of these problems.
 Brief summary: 
Studies link heavy marijuana use to physical, psychological, and social problems, but it is unclear whether marijuana causes them directly.

Paragraph 2 
 What the author does: 
Explains the argument that marijuana can be addictive by presenting an expert's opinion.
 Brief summary: 
Although marijuana does not have a strong withdrawal syndrome, some experts believe it can still cause dependence.

Paragraph 3 
 What the author does: 
Evaluates scientific evidence about marijuana's medical use and discusses its limitations.
 Brief summary: 
Research on medical marijuana has produced mixed results, and its side effects may make it less useful than other treatments, although further studies continue.

1. According to the passage, all of the following are harmful effects of marijuana EXCEPT: 
A. poor performance at work
 Wrong:  The passage mentions that heavy marijuana users may perform poorly at work or school.
B. development of psychiatric problems
 Wrong:  The passage explicitly states that heavy users are more likely to develop psychiatric problems.
C. growth of toe fungus and thrush
 Wrong:  The passage mentions studies linking marijuana use to toe fungus and thrush.
D. depression and memory loss
 Correct:  The passage does not mention depression or memory loss as effects of marijuana.
E. abnormal brain waves
 Wrong:  The passage states that heavy users may have abnormal brain waves.

2. According to an earlier definition, why is marijuana not considered addictive? 
A. Its use does not result in death
 Wrong : The passage does not mention death as a criterion for addiction.
B. Lack of clearly defined withdrawal syndrome
 Correct:  The passage explains that marijuana was not traditionally considered addictive because it does not produce a clearly defined withdrawal syndrome.
C. It has several beneficial uses
 Wrong:  The passage does not link addiction definition to beneficial uses.
D. Its harmful effects have not been proved
 Wrong:  The issue discussed is addiction criteria, not proof of harm.
E. Its use is legal in a lot of countries
 Wrong:  Legality is not mentioned as a reason in the passage.

3. Which of the following can be inferred from the information in the passage? 
A. It has now been proved without a doubt that marijuana is indeed harmful to humans
 Wrong:  The passage does not state that marijuana's harmful effects have been proven beyond doubt. It actually raises questions about whether marijuana causes the problems or whether people with existing problems are more likely to use it.
B. Marijuana has been unreasonably criticized by doctors
 Wrong:  The passage does not suggest that doctors have criticized marijuana unfairly. It only presents research findings and discusses the debate surrounding them.
C. Netherland will soon make marijuana illegal
 Wrong:  The passage never mentions the Netherlands or any plans to make marijuana illegal.
D. Marijuana has several harmful effects and probably some beneficial ones as well
 Correct:  The passage discusses possible harmful effects of marijuana and also mentions research into its medical uses. This suggests that marijuana may have both harmful and beneficial effects.
E. The US Drug Enforcement Agency has decided to ban the use of marijuana
 Wrong:  The passage states that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency agreed to provide funds for further research on marijuana's medical effectiveness, not to ban it.

Arguments abound over whether marijuana should be legalized. Many of

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Arguments abound over whether marijuana should be legalized. Many of

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