One of the biggest arguments against the legalization of marijuana is that essentially it will make society dumber.  And furthermore it will encourage useless and lazy behavior. But what about all the things our society uses that waste our time? Such as hours spent on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.

When you’re scrolling through posts on your respective social network, five minutes can quickly turn into one hour.  In 2013, it was reported that internet-using people ages 18-34 spend close to 4 hours a day on different social networks whether that be through a computer, a tablet or a phone.  Americans ages’ 35-49 spend about 3 hours per day and people 50 and older spend about two hours a day on social networking sites.

That means the average young adult is spending 28 hours a week on social networks; that’s more than an entire day spent cavorting through posts and pictures from people, who for the most part, should have no influence on our lives.

Social networking isn’t all bad. It can be used and is often times used to promote causes or events, keep in touch with people and express yourself artistically, but there’s a lot a person can do with 28 hours of time.  

Everyone is always running from one thing to the next and complaining about the litany of things they must accomplish before the day’s end. A lot of times people use technology as a divergent from everyday life instead of just getting what has to be done, done. 

Between school, work, and other activities we have a lot going on, and the temptation of a mindless activity such as social networking can be hard to resist, but by simply focusing and putting the phone, tablet and whatever else down we can accomplish a lot of beneficial things.  Just think what you can do with 28 hours.