Marijuana And Alcohol Effects On The Body Essay

Binge drinking is considered to be a health problem because nearly half of all college students have reported to drink more than 5 drinks is a short period of time (Hennessee, 2013). There has been about 1,825 college students who have died from alcohol-related injuries such as motor-vehicle crashes with the students being between 18 - 24 years old (College Drinking Fact Sheet, 2015). An increase of 6% of college deaths have occurred due to binge breaking increasing the total numbers from 1,600 to 1,700 (Hingson, Heeren,, & Wechsler n.d.). Many other health issues that are associated with binge drinking are: unintentional injuries, intentional injuries such as sexual assault, alcohol poisoning, sexually transmitted diseases, unintended pregnancy, liver disease, sexual dysfunction, and poor watch of diabetes (Fact Sheets - Binge Drinking, 2015).

THC disrupts the nerve cells in the part of the brain where memories are formed. This makes it hard for the user to recall recent events (such as what happened a few minutes ago), and so it is hard to learn while high. A working short-term memory is required for learning and performing tasks that call for more than one or two steps. Some studies show that when people have smoked large amounts of marijuana for many years, the drug takes its toll on mental functions. Among a group of long-time heavy marijuana users in Costa Rica, researchers found that the people had great trouble when asked to recall a short list of words (a standard test of memory). People in that study group also found it very hard to focus their attention on the tests

     Long-term effects of alcohol are liver cirrhosis, stomach ailments, impotence, vitamin deficiency, increased stroke risk, decreased mental performance, heart disease, peptic ulcers, hepatitis, and various forms of cancer. Alcohols effects on the brain are loss of coordination, poor judgment, slowed reflexes, distorted vision, memory lapses, and even blackouts. Long-term effects of marijuana are mouth, throat, and lung cancer, increased heart rate, decrease in testosterone levels for men, increased testosterone levels for women, diminished sexual pleasure, increased blood pressure, increased stress, decreased motivation, and respiratory problems. The THC in marijuana damages the nerve cells in the part of the brain where memories are formed, making it hard to remember things.

Millions are abusing marijuana every day. In fact, 1 out of 7 high school students smoke marijuana more than once a day. Marijuana is taken very lightly and is the most highly used illegal drug. For this reason, society should know its short and long term effects on the brain. Marijuana can effect these two areas emotionally or physically. Also in some cases physical damages causes the emotional response. Although most public information on drugs are funded by anti-drug organizations, hopefully we will still learn these true facts of marijuana in spite of that.

People might think smoking marijuana is cool. They might try it without knowing what it is or what affects is has on you. Once someone smokes it for the first time, they might keep doing it again and again and they could get hooked on it for life. People who use marijuana usually never use any other type of illegal drugs, but more than seven thousand five hundred people get arrested for using marijuana every year. There is a wide variety of marijuana, but they are all based off of two marijuana plants, Indica and Sativa. Marijuana is very popular in America, and all over the world. Marijuana affects the body, it can be used as medicine, and marijuana can be addictive.

Long-term effects of alcohol are liver cirrhosis, stomach ailments, impotence, vitamin deficiency, increased stroke risk, decreased mental performance, heart disease, peptic ulcers, hepatitis, and various forms of cancer. Alcohols effects on the brain are loss of coordination, poor judgment, slowed reflexes, distorted vision, memory lapses, and even blackouts. Long-term effects of marijuana are mouth, throat, and lung cancer, increased heart rate, decrease in testosterone levels for men, increased testosterone levels for women, diminished sexual pleasure, increased blood pressure, increased stress, decreased motivation, and respiratory problems. The THC in marijuana damages the nerve cells in the part of the brain where memories are formed, making it hard to remember things.

The negative impact the drugs and alcohol abuse and addiction has on the overall health of the user must be considered. Every process and system in the body is adversely affected by the over-indulgence of drugs and alcohol. Some of the health problems regularly noted include organ damage, kidney and liver disease, organ failure, congestive heart failure, respiratory depression, memory lapses, brain damage, infection, stroke, heart attack, and overdose.

Not only are the toxic levels of alcohol much greater than those of marijuana, but the consequences of drinking long-term are far more damaging as well. Next to smoking tobacco and being overweight, drinking alcohol is the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Not including all the accidents and homicides that are attributed to the use of alcohol, the number of people that suffered alcohol induced deaths was 20,687 in 2003 alone (Foland). Those who choose to drink face the risk of many different health conditions, including some cancers, liver cirrhosis, liver disease, and heart disease---not to mention the risk of physical dependency (“Alcohol vs. Marijuana”). The effects on the brain are just as detrimental. In contrast to the old myth that drinking alcohol kills brain cells, recent studies have shown that instead it prevents new cells from being made. This process of making new cells, called neurogenesis, was found to be decreased by over fifty percent in abusers of alcohol. Marijuana seems to have the opposite effect. The same study showed that the use of marijuana actually increased neurogenesis, thus increasing the making of new brain cells (Wenk). Recent studies

The risks of drinking alcohol are health issues, your body wouldn’t stay fit if you are drinking too much. Health issues for drinking can be a serious and damageable for you.

Over 2.5million people die every year to excessive alcohol use. Furthermore, alcohol is responsible for one in ten deaths of working age adults aged twenty to sixty four. Excessive drinking by the CDC is more than one glass a day for a woman and more than two glasses a day for a man. Also, drinking any while under the age or pregnant is classified as excessive drinking(“Alcohol Use and Your Health”). On top of the benefits becoming negative effects quickly, excessive drinking also comes with many more side effects. Excessive drinking damages the brain, heart, liver, pancreas, and the immune system. Brain cells are lost along with loss of thinking and coordination. Heart beat, heart muscles, and blood pressure can be effected. A variety of liver problems and inflammations. The Pancreas produces unwanted toxins eventually leading to pancreatitis. Lastly the immune system is weakened, making the body a much easier target for disease and slowing the body’s ability to ward off infections – even up to 24 hours after getting drunk(“Alcohol's Effects on the

Marijuana is considered in popular culture to be a widely accepted mainstream recreational illegal drug used in the United States; its use comes with severe adverse side effects that are often overlooked. Long-Term use of marijuana 'sis shown to have negative effects on physical, mental, and environmental health. Studies have shown that in the United States, up to 20% of daily marijuana users become dependent (Marijuana and Lung Health) showing a physical or emotional need for the drug. Marijuana use has the potential to affect every aspect of a person 's physical and mental wellbeing negatively. Its use also comes with potentially life-altering risks to one 's future including an individual’s likelihood of obtaining a degree, impacting their future earning potential and decreasing their overall reported life satisfaction. Once dependent on marijuana, people stop caring about their schooling. Long-term use of smoking marijuana can result in the inability to learn, retain information and think critically.

Alcohol is one of many dangerous substances that effects our bodies. The effects of this drug can be very harmful. Alcohol is a potent non-prescription drug sold to anyone over the national legal drinking age, 21. Unlike other deadly drugs it is easy to access. This makes it easy to over-consume and create a tragic accident, even death. It can damage a person not only physically but also mentally and emotionally. Many people each year become more and more addicted to alcohol and soon experience all of it?s dangerous effects. Even if alcohol use is discontinued, some of these damages can not be cured, because the scars have been left on those that drink and those that surround them. The only hope

The four major problems with alcoholics are depression, memory loss, organ damage, and reduced self-awareness. The most dangerous of all is depression, which can cause increased drinking tendencies, mental breakdowns, and suicidal thoughts. If drinking continues for a long period of time alcoholics can encounter liver cancer, stomach cancer, and other organ damage. Overall, alcoholism is a battle that far too many people are losing. Results from the National Household Survey (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 1998) suggest that as many as 40 million Americans drink more than the moderate drinking levels recommended by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (it varies for different sizes and sex) (NIAAA) (1995). "It is estimated that six million Americans persistently misuse alcohol, yet another eight million more are addicted, and one hundred humans throughout our nation will die each year from this"(Newsweek). Alcohol is one of the biggest causes of premature death in the United States. On average, people dying from alcohol related causes lose twenty-six years from their normal life expectancy.

Alcohol in large doses can be very detrimental to not only the user but to people around him/her. For example, if a man was to go to a club and drink a lot of alcohol, in which his body cannot withhold; his heavy intakes will lead to dizziness, vomiting, and impaired breathing and in extreme cases, unconsciousness and coma that can lead to death. According to Caron, underage drinking is a leading public health problem in the United States. Each year, approximately 5,000 young people under the age of 21 die as a result of drinking: 1,900 from motor vehicle accidents, 1,600 from homicides, 300 from suicides, and hundreds from other injuries such as falls, burns, and drowning. This shows that anyone on the road near an intoxicated driver is in grave danger as they can be killed or badly injured in an instant as the drunk driver has slight control over anything they are doing. Many reckless kills have been made by drunken drivers/people over the years resulting in many families to pay the price of losing a family member for no relevant reason at all but making alcohol increase death rates that could be provoked by intruding prohibition.

While drinking might make you feel good now, if you abuse that alcohol it may lead to serious complications later. Heavy drinking is defined as consuming four or more drinks in a day for women and five or more drinks in a day for men (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). Alcohol is considered a depressant, so it is only seen fit that one of the chief effects of alcohol on the brain is to depress central nervous system functioning. In turn it may be why major depressive disorders occur in those who abuse alcohol. If the alcohol abuse continues over a period it intensifies into an alcohol dependency. Alcohol has effects on the body both mentally and physically. After a certain limit alcohol will slur your speech, increase your reaction time, and make you lose co-ordination. Alcohol consumption, particularly long-term alcohol dependence has many physiological ricks to consider, such as permanent damage to the brain, alcoholic liver disease, pancreatitis, alcohol poisoning