Marijuana Use In Adolescents: A Literature Review

Why does your teen smoke Marijuana? Is it because of a toxic Family, Divorce, mental disorder, or fitting in? With the majority of teens struggling from depression, anxiety, stress, Insomnia or other mental disorders, it can take a toll on an adolescent's psyche. With 95,000 adolescents ages 12-17 experiencing major depressive episodes, only 41.8 percent receive help. Most mental disorders and psychological issues among minors go undocumented so they turn to other methods. Most teens who use marijuana do so to help cope with things they don't know how to control. Marijuana can give teens that outlet they seek during things like a divorce, an uncomfortable social situation or a physiological.

What is Marijuana? The marijuana affects the brain development on teenager. Also affect the function at school, work, and social life of the teenagers. The marijuana increases the risk of mental health issues. The sadistic show that the used of marijuana increase every years. Marijuana affects the teenager and also their families.

Research has found that teenagers who used cigarettes were twelve times more likely to graduate to marijuana use. A similar study conducted by Denise Kandel (1992) revealed that use of marijuana affects dopamine levels in the brain in a similar way to nicotine. Cigarette smoking facilitates consumption of other substances. Smoking cigarettes initiate juveniles into the sensation of drug inhalation, which desensitizes them from the feeling of smoke clouding their lungs. This paper finds that marijuana pervades the life of a juvenile tobacco smoker. Teenagers who smoke cigarettes

The purpose of my paper is to prove that marijuana effects teens and their mind. Marijuana is a tobacco-like substance produced by drying the leaves, stems, flower tops of the Cannabis sativa (Indian Hemp) plant (Fact Sheet, 1). It is smoked or eaten to get hallucinated and receive pleasure. It grows just about anywhere. It is illegal in some countries but in others it is used for medical purposes (Encarta, 1). Some names that it is called a joint, nail, pot, Mary Jane, hive, etc. (Fact Sheet and Facts for teens, 1). Marijuana stays in the body for several days after one smoking session. In a chronic user marijuana can stay in the body for up to several weeks (Facts for Teens, 1).

According to a 2012 Monitoring the Future study, marijuana is the illicit drug most likely to be used by teens (Maine Integrated Youth Health Survey). Marijuana comes from the plant Cannabis Sativa and appears as a green/brown mix of flowers, stems, and leaves (Teens Health 1). Marijuana is also known as pot, weed, MJ, Mary Jane, reefer, dope, ganja, herb, and grass. Marijuana is most often smoked in cigarettes, hollowed-out cigars, pipes, or water pipes, but is sometimes mixed into food or tea (1). Why are there concerns about teen use of marijuana? During adolescence, many developmental changes are occurring and poor choices could affect a teen’s future

In this article, whether or not prenatal marijuana exposure (PME) contributes to marijuana use at age fourteen is studied. Over the years the use of marijuana and its effects on adolescents has increased. There have been attempts to prevent the use of marijuana among adolescents, but in order to prevent something you have to know the reason for the occurrence. “Among preteens and adolescents, PME predicted poorer performance on tests of memory, attention, and executive functioning” (Day, Goldschmidt & Thomas, 2006). In addition to PME, factors such as: child management practices,

Marijuana has its strongest long-term impact on young users whose brains are developing and maturing. Researchers see a decline in verbal ability as well as general knowledge in children between ages 9-12. (National Institute on Drug Abuse August

Marijuana is one of the most commonly used drugs in the Nation and the world. In an article by Gray (2007) he states that “42% of high school seniors have tried marijuana, 18% have used it in the past 30 days, and 5% use it daily. Among adolescents aged 12 to 17, 3.6% met criteria for cannabis use disorder (abuse or dependence) and 2% met criteria for cannabis dependence”. Gray (2007) also explains how easily adolescents say it is to obtain marijuana these days. The article also states that there is evidence to prove that marijuana use may lead to “hard” drug use, academic failure, and more. With those who use marijuana chronically it may lead to impairing of the immune

One of the biggest issues since legalization of marijuana in Colorado is the effect it has on our youth and future generations. In a report posted regarding the cause and effect on teenagers using marijuana Krista Lisdahl, director of the Brain Imaging and Neuropsychology lab at University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, talks about the changes in the THC levels from the seventies to now. She also talks about how through modern technology it is possible to physically see the difference in the brain when a teenager is

It seems every decade marijuana studies show that it has no side effects on users, in turn it become more available like when some states in America had legalized it. Dr Kevin M. Gray believes that the only side effect of smoking weed is the physical addictions it causes, he believes that over 51% of all teens have used weed at least once and the biggest problem we are facing with this rapidly growing drug use is only addiction. Dr Marshall M. Gay believes that the health effects of weed isn’t that much as smoking cigarettes and doesn’t see it a threat to people’s health. “More than half (51%) of adolescents reported that marijuana is fairly or very easy to obtain.2 this ease of availability may have contributed to a recently reported "reverse gateway" from cigarettes use to marijuana”. The more ignored belief is that marijuana can lead to a variety of developmental, mental and physical side effects. The effects of smoking weed can extend to those of smoking cigarettes “studies show regular marijuana use can lead to many of the same

Marijuana continues to be the most widely used drug in the Western Hemisphere, its cognitive effects robustly revolve around memory. There have been many studies done on the chemical effects that marijuana has on the brain centers concerned with memory and learning. There are more productive studies relating to the effects of cannabis on short-term memory that show different memory processes effected by this drug. Though there is not much knowledge on the effects the drug has on long-term memory due to suspected confounds that temper with the process of collecting proper data, there have been studies showing lasting effects in adolescents and chronic users (Schoeler and Bhattacharyya, 2013). More research should be done on the long-term processes in order to better understand the lasting effects of cannabis use. Marijuana causes these adverse effects on memory by first altering chemical processes in the brain.

The purpose of the articles on this website is literally to answer the questions that teenagers will have on the topic of marijuana usage. The specific facts I want to use are the ways the drug goes into your body and the scientific methods of marijuana. I also want to include which sections of the brain marijuana effects and how those sections of your brain function. The article is more interesting because it starts off with a "letter to teens", which is basically the opening of the article. Most websites and articles of marijuana almost always start the same, but the letter to teens as you read it gets more and more engaging, so that's what absorbs teens to keep on

The article, “Marijuana and the Teen Brain”, from the Scientific American journal, Claudia Wallis, argues that marijuana negatively affects the teenage brain. Wallis begins her argument by stating her viewpoint on the drug and then proceeds to provide information to support her stance. Multiple studies by scientists/researchers are cited in this article including those based on x-rays of a marijuana user’s brain and others that tested marijuana users on their cognitive skills. Wallis additionally mentions a study on rats which tested the effects of THC. The author provides background information on marijuana to give the reader a better understanding of the concept. This source supports the argument that marijuana use has negative impacts on the human brain because the author also stands behind that argument. Wallis discusses these negative impacts and provides evidence to support her claim. This source cites various studies in which researchers tested the effects of marijuana on the brain which reinforces the argument that marijuana has abnormal effects on the human brain.

Marijuana has been in use for at least five thousand years and perhaps much longer, first in Asia and gradually spreading throughout the world. For much of the time it has been employed for a variety of other uses as well: Medicine, religious sacrament, food, as a treatment addiction to treatment for addiction to other drugs, and even punishment for criminal wrongdoing. Jack Herer a cannabis special explains, “The most serious punishment/rehabilitation meted out in many African tribes for capital crimes was forcing the transgressor to smoke or consume massive amounts of cannabis non-stop for hours on end in a small, enclosed hut until he passes out – literally unconscious from inhaling the fumes.

Evidence advises that youth who use marijuana heavily during adolescence may be particularly predisposed to health problems in later adulthood (e.g., respiratory illnesses, psychotic symptoms). Early adolescence to the mid-20s, were associated with adverse physical (e.g., asthma, high blood pressure) and mental (e.g., psychosis, anxiety disorders) health outcomes in the mid-30s. Marijuana and tobacco cigarettes share many of the same toxic chemicals (Tashkin, 2013), and the British Lung Foundation recently announced that the smoke produced by a marijuana cigarette might contain 50% more carcinogens than the smoke produced by a tobacco cigarette (British Lung Foundation, 2012) and report having chronic bronchitis, cough, phlegm production, wheezing,