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.

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.

Marijuana and Cocaine are both considered substance one types of drugs. There are multiple effects of the use of Marijuana and Cocaine in the United States. Marijuana is a drug typically smoked by teenagers and adults. People use Marijuana for medical reasons or recreational reasons. As for Cocaine, derived from the leaves of the coca shrub is an abused illegal drug (Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th edition, Q1, 2017). In the United States Marijuana and Cocaine have been around in numerous states, such as, New York and Colorado. This will be a discussion about Marijuana and Cocaine’s emotional, psychological and physical effects.

Today in America, millions of American citizens are both confused and outraged by the fact that there are still laws that are preventing people from using one of the most popular and controversial, illegal substances in the world: marijuana. According to recent polls, fifty percent of Americans want marijuana to be completely legal and decriminalized (Blodget), and a whopping eighty percent of Americans want it to be at least legalized for medical use (RangelMD). So why do so many Americans want marijuana to be legalized? To some this question can be easily answered, but to others, it’s not so simple. There are way too many reasons to count why

In 2006, A Drug Free World's "The Harmful Effects of Marijuana” emerged in the media. ADFW reasons that marijuana is harmful in numerous ways, including cerebral damage and debilitation to the immune system. Throughout the article, they also try to persuade the reader that cannabis is a "gateway drug" that undoubtedly leads the users into much harder drugs. When reading this article, one must consider that research to support anything can be found if one searches hard enough, but without a doubt the fallacy of their conclusion is due to their research seeking facts to support an already-assumed conclusion. Consequently, I have found that many of their points simply do not justify their conclusion.

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

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.

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.

A person’s daily life is a stake when marijuana is in their lives. Marijuana has the potential to pose difficulties in daily life or cause someone’s existing problems to become worse ("Health Effects of Marijuana Use."). Consumers have reported lower life satisfaction, worse mental and physical health, problems within relationships, and less success in their schooling and careers as opposed to their non-smoking peers ("Health Effects of Marijuana Use."). Studies have shown that marijuana usage is linked to accidents, increased absences, workman’s compensation claims, and job turnover ("Health Effects of Marijuana Use."). Studies have shown that marijuana usage is linked to accidents, increased absences, workman’s compensation claims, and job turnover ("Health Effects of Marijuana

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 has been used by people over many centuries for medical uses. It is a natural pain killer used today as a recreational drug by people all over the world. According to Noel Merino in, “Introduction to Gateway Drugs: Opposing Viewpoints”, “a drug is something other than food intended to affect the structure or function of the body”. Marijuana is a very controversial drug and has been outlawed in many countries for its affect on the function of the body. “Effects may involve hallucinations, impaired judgment, and mood swings.” Describes the effects of marijuana in “Marijuana” Current Issues Macmillian social science library. During the past century Marijuana has been legal, made illegal, strictly enforced, decriminalized,

The results to date of crash culpability studies have failed to demonstrate that the drivers with cannabinoid THC in the blood stream are significantly more likely than drug free drivers to cause culpable road crashes. The evidence which can suggest that cannabis has significant involvement in road crashes is unproven as per studies conducted by F. Grotenhermen and E. Russo. Cannabis leads to more cautious style of driving, though it has a negative impact on decision time and trajectory, though this doesn’t reflect that under the influence of marijuana, traffic safety is at a higher risk than normal driver’s risk. Further, cannabis in low doses, has little effect on skills involved in automobile driving as per Canadian Senate Special Committee

There are many things that can impact the memory of individuals: injuries, age, stress and many others. In a study conducted by Block, Leary, Hichwa, Augustinack, Ponto, Ghoneim, Arndt, Hurtig, Watkins, Hall, Nathan, and Andreasen (2002) it is suggested that frequent marijuana use affects the memory-related regional cerebral blood flow causing the ability to retain information and performance lower more than those who are not frequent marijuana users. Although drugs have always been a problem across the nation, marijuana seems to be one of the most popular and it should be of more concern because it has negative effects on individual’s brains.

When under the influence of alcohol or marijuana we are not allowed to operate a motor vehicle because of our inability to react or make wise decisions. On the other hand there was a study that was done that proves that people under the influence of marijuana where marginally less likely to have an accident than those who are drug free. This studied was done by a pharmacology team from the University of Adelaide and Transport. The evidence in the study says that people under the influence of marijuana drive more cautious and drove more slowly because of altered time perception. People under the influence of alcohol were responsible for 90 percent of the accidents recorded.