Marijuana Psychoactive Drugs

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

Alcohol impairs judgment and vision, and causes speeding and reckless driving. On the other hand, there has been debate over the effect of marijuana on driving. One study by a computer software company reported that people who smoked a small amount of marijuana drove faster and with fewer collisions in a driving computer game. Another study said that marijuana causes abnormally slow driving, proneness to distraction, and increases the time it takes to react, therefore greatly impairs your ability to drive.

Marijuana is a mixture of the dried parts of the cannabis sativa hemp plant. Excessive marijuana use can lead to an addiction. The main chemical in marijuana is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which moves quickly through the bloodstream and to the brain, causing mild hallucinogenic effects. THC binds with cannabdnob receptors and activates neurons, which causes adverse effects on the mind and body. THC can mimic or block actions of neurotransmitters and interfere with normal functions. Marijuana use can lead to disturbed thoughts and can worsen psychotic symptoms. The short-term effects of marijuana include impaired coordination; skewed sensory and time perception; difficulty with thinking; shortened attention span and distractibility; impaired learning and memory. Long term users of marijuana often experience lowered motivation and some can experience anxiety, panic attacks, respiratory illness, and increased heart rate and risk of heart attack.

In contrast, there are common believes that marijuana is not addictive such as alcohol and heroin, but research and experiences show that the user will slowly develop addiction on it even after withdrawal. The symptoms of marijuana smoker seem as in a cocaine addict. The drug is the most commonly found in the system of drivers who are fatally injured. Dependency on the drug may lead to use more dangerous drugs in future. It has a high impact on brain especially parts connected to memory and learning. One study, declare that the person who is highly addicted to marijuana in teen years his IQ points will decrease by 8 between the age of 13 and 38. Finally, the legalization of marijuana will lead to highly smoking problems and increase serious health problems, whether it has a medical condition relief property.

Marijuana has linked to, lack of motivation, anxiety, reduced sexual capacity, confusion, mood changes, and schizophrenia-like brain changes, however all of these effects have not been proven. A study in 1999 concluded that heavy-users of marijuana over a 15 year period had not had any negative impacts on the users intelligence. (Armentano) These facts combined together show that both drugs have an effect on the brain but neither worse than they other.

The effects of marijuana have been examined in several studies that focused on long-term structural differences, cognitive impairments, prenatal risks and neural functioning deficits. Long-term structural abnormalities include reductions in the volume of the hippocampus, amygdala and nucleus accumbens, where these structures also exhibited changes in density and shape. Participants in several studies showed impairment in memory, learning, concentration, coordination, as well as decreased motivation. Marijuana has addictive properties and has dramatically increased in potency over the last decade, which has led to an increase in marijuana-related fatal car accidents and to an increase in emergency room visits. On the contrary, the non-psychoactive

Governors Highway Safety (2015) and Leader (2014) states that over 400 drugs are tracked by NHTSA that can cause impairment and there is growing evidence that shows drugs are just as capable as alcohol in automobile related fatalities. People do not realize that any type of drug, even sleeping pills can lead to low performance on the road (Kuehn, 2013). Kuehn states that even after sleep, individuals who have taken sleeping pills may remain too impaired to drive. This shows how even prescribed medication can cause impairment, so not only are illegal drugs impacting the safety of the roads, but medication people take that doctors prescribe are putting people at risk. National Institute on Drug (2015) and NHTSA (2015) states that drivers who used marijuana and then drove were associated with greater risk of crashes due to lane weaving, and poor reaction time and attention to the road. Marijuana alters the mind just like alcohol does, the effects are different, but both substances cause impairment. These effects on society are only hurting people, but there are ways to combat the

Alongside with detrimental effects to physical and mental health, the use of marijuana compromises a person’s education as well. Regular users of marijuana are diagnosed with the inability to learn and retain information. The use of marijuana impairs the ability to focus, sustain and shift attention (Top Ten Reasons Not to Legalize ‘Medical’ Marijuana). Long-term users also face a problem with the inability to organize, combine and process complex information. A study that was

Along with the negative effects marijuana has on the lungs, it also has many negative effects on the brain. Smoking marijuana causes negative effects on attention span, memory, and learning; which can last for days and even weeks after the acute effects of marijuana wear off.(“Marijuana Abuse”). Many people believe that attention span, memory, and learning are not import when they smoke marijuana. Attention span, memory, and learning are all very important in everyday life, school, and work. “THC (tetrahydocannabinol) produces

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.

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 - also named weed, hash, pot, Mary Jane, and many others– is, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the number one used illegal and addictive drug around the globe (Williamson, Buckland, & Cunningham, 2013). Users of the psychoactive plant range anywhere from adolescents to senior citizens, and from all social and economic classes. It has, in recent years, gained approval by the FDA for use as a medicine to help treat symptoms of various illnesses – both mental and physical. Thousands of individuals are now using marijuana, and numbers are likely to increase, as the drug may be on the verge of being legalized nation-wide. Surveys from the United States show large support in using marijuana for recreational purposes - 56% - and support for its use as medicine - 70% (Gonzalez & Swanson, 2012). Though multitudes of people use the drug for its effects and potential benefits, not many know exactly how it achieves these things within ones bodies or their minds. People, whether using the drug or not, need to know what marijuana is, how it interacts with the body and brain, and the effects that are produced from this interaction.

The majority of clinical research studies concerning marijuana use and its effects unravel the uncertainty which surrounds the subject and present the common pattern of insisting that further clinical enquiry is necessary. Measurable immediate effects generally translate in a temporary alteration of perception, as "colors and sounds may seem more intense, and time appears to pass very slowly. The user's mouth feels dry, and s/he may suddenly become very hungry and thirsty" (Yacoubian). Admittedly, these manifestations hardly seem to pose any social danger. However, the overall objection to marijuana is based on negative long-term effects, which seem to be carcinogenic, harmful to human immune, respiratory and reproductive systems, and compromising of short-term memory and cognitive capacities.

Nowadays, cell-phones and alcohol consumption are enough distractions to hamper driver’s concentration; we do not need to add legal marijuana as another distraction. Defining, the distraction of marijuana, Szalavitz reports and Kluger (2010) writes,” tetrahydrocannabinol (T.H.C.) that’s behind a pot high’s otherworldly edge-and also behind the paranoia and hallucination”, hallucinations can put someone in crazy places, when one is driving his focus must be on the road and not somewhere else. Enlightening people to the hazard that external influences and specifically cell-phone usage create, researchers Horrey and Wickens (2006) found, “Cell phone distraction causes 2,600 deaths and 330,000 injuries in the United States every year”. Furthermore, the California Department of Motor Vehicles (1991) writes, “It is unlawful for anyone with 0.08 percent or more alcohol in his or her blood to drive”, the department deems legally intoxicated, one with blood alcohol content (B.A.C.) of 0.08%. On this note, research from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention (C.D.C) (1993) relaying to the government the numbers of death caused by those driving under the influence write, “deaths among young persons aged 10-24 years in the United

Marijuana also has similar effects on the brain as alcohol. Some effects of marijuana are sleepiness, slowed reaction time, memory problems, impaired judgment and motor coordination. Obviously handling any type of heavy machinery such as car is highly dangerous, which is why marijuana is a contributor to car accidents. Even worse, being on the effects of both alcohol and marijuana increases the risk of car accidents greatly.