Summary: The Influence Of Marijuana

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 while illegal on a federal level has been legalized in 18 states and the District of Columbia for medical use and also for personal use for anyone over 21 in Washington and Colorado. 48% of Americans admit to using marijuana according to a 2013 survey conducted by Scientific America. With the change in public opinion concerning marijuana the need to understand the effect and consequences associated with its use are vitally important. What are the effects on the brain and the rest of the body? Does it matter when you start using marijuana? Also what is the effect marijuana use has on a person’s life, to include school, work, family and friends.

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 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.

With the year of 2018 coming to an approach, the realization of legal marijuana is becoming a reality to many canadian citizens. Concerns over the potential risks and lack of laws in place is causing a mass panic for legal institutions. Marc Emery a respected pot user in his community and a marijuana activist, is adding fuel to this fire with his claim that, “smoking pot regularly makes people better drivers.”

Marijuana, like alcohol, undermines the driver's judgment and consequently is unnecessary. Marijuana is the most illicit and illegal drug that is being used and detected in drivers that are impaired, detected in fatally injured drivers, and detected in the crash victims of a motor vehicle, that is why our concern for drugged driving, which is driving under the influence of drugs that acts on the brain could “impairs one’s motor skills, reaction time, and judgment, is so important and crucial” (Drugged Driving). Also, according to the article, it states that, “it is illegal to operate a motor vehicle if there is any detectable level of a prohibited drug, or its metabolites, in the driver’s blood” and “studies conducted that 4-14% of drivers

"Marijuana is the second most popular drug after alcohol in the country today. So many people smoke marijuana that the numbers alone seem to legitimize and condone its presence in people's lives. Yet, even in moderation marijuana is not 'safe.' Somehow this information had not filtered down to people who think they are smoking a fairly innocuous drug. Our society perpetuates the myths about pot being a fun, harmless, recreational drug. These myths feed into people's denial of marijuana's problems" (Baum 6). However, the abuse of marijuana is a problem. It is not only a personal problem, but also more importantly a social problem. Throughout history marijuana has been used to serve various purposes in many

Plenty of teenagers in today’s society experiment with marijuana. Many teenagers also believe that marijuana is safer and less effective than alcohol and other hard drugs. But little do they know, marijuana has THC in it which is the main ingredient in it and targets receptors in the brain. Using marijuana at a young age can lead to school difficulties, problems with memory, car accidents, and poor decision making. According to the Central Virginia Marijuana Prevention Task Force, students who smoke marijuana have poorer educational outcomes than nonsmoking students. When teenagers smoke marijuana, it could lead to marijuana use disorders in which a user feels withdrawal symptoms when not taking the drug.

Is cannabis dangerous? This particular issue has been discussed, contemplated, and argued in several settings throughout our country’s history, but it is a particularly prominent issue in today’s society. Many individuals have their own opinions on marijuana, whether it be positive or negative, but an objective perspective is necessary to justly weigh the benefits and detriments of marijuana use and legalization. When an unbiased person analyzes the controversial topic of cannabis, he or she would realize that the substance does not plainly fall into a single category. There is ample, scientific proof that marijuana has numerous medicinal purposes, such as treating glaucoma and different seizure disorders. However, there is equivalent

When smoking marijuana, a chemical called THC spreads through the body, the lungs and then enters the blood stream.(“Marijuana & Teens”) In the article, Health Effect of Marijuana Use it stated, "THC acts on specific molecular targets on brain cells, cannabinoid receptors. The endocannabinoid system plays an important role in normal brain development and functions"(9) The THC effect the part of the brain which helps influence pleasure, memory, and thinking. Which may how people study for classes or pay full attention in class. This passage suggest that getting through school might be difficult to accomplish. The people around you watch and observe your actions and will pick up on your behavior and habits. Adolescents that have close friends that abuses substances are likely to do the same thing but with a different substance. (Shadur & Hussong) This shows that a friend could have thought another friend how to use the substance or tell them what is the best situation to use it. With the possible legalization of marijuana in Canada, the people will be face a crisis. Dr. Haijzadeh stated in the article, ("Legalizing and regulating in Canada; review of potential economic, social, and health impacts") is worried Canada will see an increase in traffic deaths due to the legalization of marijuana. (Lake & Kerr) Dr. Haijzadeh suggest that the legalization will increase marijuana testing

For the past fifty years, the public has been fed incorrect information about marijuana’s risks by law enforcement and anti-drug groups. Time has changed, because Colorado and Washington State became the first states to legalize recreational marijuana, this has arose the possibility of a rippling effect across the nation. Now, many states such as Oregon and Alaska are voting on this issue. Although medical researchers have claimed that marijuana may help patients and the drug is not as dangerous as informers noted before, legalizing the drug will create a downfall to society by expanding its accessibility to our future generation. Not only will expose our youth to more harmful drugs, but it will also endanger the safety of our community.

During the teenage years, a person’s brain is still developing. The frontal lobe of the brain, which controls judgment, impulse control, and emotions, is the last section of the brain that develops as we reach adulthood (Lisdahl, 2012). When teenagers use marijuana, it causes a decrease in cognitive ability, leaving them unable to accurately organize their thoughts (Lisdahl, 2012). Studies show that if teenagers would wait until they reached 21 years of age, their IQ would not be affected (Lisdahl, 2012). Unfortunately, this does not happen often enough. The average age teens begin to experiment with

The popularity of marijuana as a recreational drug, there is always the risk of wide scale drug diversion occurring which means people without a prescription for marijuana gaining access to the drug for purposes other than medicinal use. Marijuana affects the brain and can cause feelings of disorientation, altered visual perception, hallucinations, sleepiness, and poorer psychomotor control (Ashton Churchill, 2007) It has also been shown that drivers using Marijuana had about three to seven times the risk of being in a motor car collision than drivers who were not using marijuana (John Ramaekers, 2009) Pedestrians and cyclists who are prescribed marijuana are also at higher risks of being injured in a collision. Generally speaking a study showed marijuana use was associated with an increased risk of injuries from causes such as falls, lacerations, and burns (Simon Gerberich, 2013) Hence the legalisation of medical marijuana not only poses a risk to the personal safety of the patient but also to the physical safety of the wider

Nowadays, legalizing marijuana is considered a sensitive issue among societies and governments. Marijuana has become one of the most commonly used drugs all over the world. Some people suggest that it should be permissible, while others believe that it is hazardous and it should be prohibited. It is true that marijuana has a few positive effects that contribute in the medical field, but we cannot deny the fact that the majority of its effects are negative. Therefore, marijuana should be prohibited because of its effects on adolescent, the effects on brain health, and its effects on the physical health.

A study done by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) concluded that 2.8 million users of marijuana are dependent on the drug; while 1.4 million users abuse the drug. This type of dependence has led to instances of child neglect, missing work or school, poor academic performance, loss of jobs, or quitting school. Education and participating in the workforce are both parts of the fabric of society, and there have been numerous cases of how this dependence has affected families and individuals. Furthermore, surveys have been conducted by NSDUH asking parallel questions regarding the usage and dependency of alcohol and marijuana. The results show that 137 million people reported that they are current users of alcohol while 17.3 million users admit they use marijuana. By looking at the numbers given, alcohol seems to be the more used and abused of the two, but there were a percentage of people who did not answer truthfully or willfully denied any use of the drug. This inconsistency has skewed the results to try to prove that more people use or abuse marijuana. People who use marijuana do so with the intent of getting intoxicated or “high”. Studies show that people who use alcohol do not always set out to get intoxicated, but may occasionally drink to quench their thirst or to have a drink with a meal. (Caulkins,