Marijuan A Continuing Concern Summary

Marijuana can have very damaging affects on a person?s brain. It can impair a person?s short-term memory, decision-making and signal detection (Cannabinoids). ?In one study conducted in Memphis, TN, researchers found that, of 150 reckless drivers who were tested for drugs at the arrest scene, 33 percent tested positive for marijuana? (Marijuana). After having used marijuana a

     Short-term memory is very important in our everyday lives. It is what allows people to remember many various things such as, phone numbers, directions to a friends house, and so on. Short-term memory impairment is fairly obvious with marijuana users. Many of the times users frequently forget the beginning of a conversation, or even the beginning of a sentence, but regularly they are still able to complete what they were saying without any knowledge of the topic (Tart, 2001). It is still unknown why this happens, but it is feasible that it relates back to the problem of too much information being processed faster then usual, allowing for distractions to take over the person’s mind, making them forget what they were originally talking about.

Marijuana creates many short-term and long-term effects on the body and brain. Some short-term effects include: impaired memory, altered senses, changes in mood, and difficulty with problem solving. Some long-term effects include: breathing problems, reduce memory, and decrease IQ. A study from New Zealand conducted in part by researchers at Duke University showed that people who started smoking marijuana heavily in their teens and had an ongoing marijuana use disorder lost an average of 8 IQ points between ages 13 and 38. The lost mental abilities didn't fully return in those who quit marijuana as adults (National). This study can be seen as reliable evidence because it was conducted by researched from Duke University, which is a private research

The article describes how years of U.S. government-prevented marijuana research has resulted in a deficiency of information pertaining to the pros and cons of marijuana use. It also discusses the marijuana legalization movement in America. The article has an excerpt of Scientist Yasmin Hurd and her tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, experiments involving rats. Also the article highlights the effects that marijuana use might have on human genetics and, specifically, on adolescent development. Some of the therapeutic aspects of marijuana are also described within this article.

What the developmental issues regarding smoking marijuana as a teen: 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

References 1. Bearman, P. (2011, November 30). Medical Marijuana. In Procon.org. Retrieved from www.procon.org 2. Bradford, A. (2013). What is THC? In Live Science. Retrieved from www.livescience.com/24553-what-is-thc.html 3. Calabro, S. (2011). In Medical Marijuana for Chronic Pain. Retrieved from http://www.everydayhealth.com/pain-management/medical-marijuana-for-chronic- pain.aspx 4. Ferner, M. (2012). Why Marijuana Should Be Legalized. The Huffington Post, 58. Retrieved

Introduction: Marijuana is a dehydrated, torn green and brown mixture of leaves, flower and stem. Marijuana comes from the main plant known as Cannabis Sativa. Marijuana Leaves and stems contain high absorption of active chemical known as THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). When using marijuana the Psychoactive Ingredient which is also known as

Today more and more states are passing ballot initiatives in order to make medical and or recreational marijuana legal. The progressive figures of our country continue to pitch this façade that this plant is completely harmless and can be financially rewarding to states who collect tax revenue from this Schedule

Marijuana over stimulates the parts of the brain that contain the highest number of receptors and can also affect the way the brain develops. When people use marijuana they can potentially impair their thinking, memory, and learning functions that can in turn affect how their brain

Marijuana affects the memory leading to short term memory loss. It’s no secret that marijuana can affect a person’s memory. And it doesn't help that today’s stereotypical pot smoker is absent minded and forgetful.” Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, is known to impair nearly all aspects of memory. There is one exception, though. THC does not affect the recall of existing memories.”

The effects of marijuana can interfere with attention, judgment and balance”. (Zimmermann) and that’s not the only problem researchers had found they had also found that it can “ impair functions such as attention, memory, learning and decision-making.” these side effects are more stronger towards teens ” adolescents may be uniquely susceptible to lasting damage from marijuana use. At least until the early or mid-20s, "the brain is still under construction," (Weir) by damage their IQ could be permanently be

government website devoted to facts about drugs we read that marijuana can alter the user’s sense and mood. It can impair body movement, alter memory, and decrease the ability to problem solve. It is known to affected brain development negatively. It can cause breathing problems, hallucinations, and paranoia. It can cause anxiety, depression, and has been shown to induce suicidal thoughts in teens. (1)

THC triggers brain cells to release the chemical dopamine. Such loss of coordination can be caused by smoking marijuana. And that's just one of its many negative effects. Marijuana affects memory, judgment, and perception. Under the influence of marijuana, you could fail to remember things you just learned, watch your grade point average drop, or crash a car.

Marijuana Addiction in Adolescents 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

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.