Marijuana’s effects on the body and the mind are only recently being known, and still much research must be done to know for sure what facts are true, as well as what is blown out of proportion from cultural and political bias. From what we know now there are obvious short term affects as well as the possibility of substance abuse however long term affects are very rare and require further studies until we know for certain. Upon smoking marijuana the body is almost immediately affected and the symptoms are felt through the body and mind.
Some of the more common short term symptoms include “Sedation, blood shot eyes, increased heart rate, coughing from lung irritation, increased appetite, and decreased blood pressure” (1) Other short term effects are relaxation, increased sociability and distorted perception (2) With my rare personal experience with marijuana, I can confirm a few of the underlying symptoms. First it begins with a light burning sensation in my throat that can sometimes feel like my lungs are burning with it. Definitely not the glamorous part about smoking.
However, after inhalation I feel a sense of calm come over me, similar to how the DEA describe it as; “sedation” (1) Additionally, some of the regular side effects occur such as dry eyes, increased appetite disorientation and many others. Obviously this can impair someone’s thinking and ultimately shouldn’t be abused, especially to someone whose brain is still developing. In fact, “one study, researchers from Duke University analyzed data gathered over many years from people living in New Zealand. They compared IQs in childhood through age 38 among marijuana users and nonusers. We found that people who began using marijuana in their teenage years and then continued to use marijuana for many years lost about eight IQ points from childhood to adulthood,” says study author Madeline Meier, now a professor at Arizona State University, “whereas those who never used marijuana did not lose any IQ points. “The amount people smoked also made a difference.
Those who smoked the most — at least every day — saw the greatest drop in IQ, the full 8 points. And the younger they were when they started using cannabis, the greater the IQ decline. (3) According to that study, there’s a direct correlation to amount and frequency smoked to how well IQ and test performance would be. And at an age before adulthood while still in school are the years you need to take advantage of having a high IQ the most. With the amount of teen age smokers increase, which by the way according to the same study is that “Six percent of high school seniors say they use pot every day”. (3) With higher THC on average than a decade ago, the amount of smokers has increased with it.
This proves some theory’s that there are addictive properties in marijuana, primarily THC. According to another study on college students and marijuana’s effect on academic and social performance states, “Researchers found that students who used marijuana, both frequently and occasionally, had academic problems. The more a student smoked, the worse their academic outcome. Students who smoked marijuana over 15 times a month dropped out of college twice as much as those who used marijuana about two times a month.
Even those who used marijuana only a few times a month were 66 percent more likely to be discontinuously enrolled than those who used marijuana less. ”(4) Reading this honestly surprised me, though I’ve had feelings of dropping out before I usually link them to other things, though it’s good to keep in mind that some of my doubts may have been from smoking. Again, like in previous studies, they found that there was a direct correlation with marijuana use and lower IQ scores. Not only that, there are the consequences of simply getting caught with it, especially on a college campus.
Anywhere from a fine to hard time, it just isn’t worth it. Personally I can say I’ve been affected by many if not all of these possible consequences or effects of Marijuana use. In the few times I have, I’ve noticed a lack of motivation in certain aspects of my life such as responding immediately to my family and emails. On top of that, the laziness I felt sometimes from it had impacted some classes due to me sleeping in or just not going. One of the most impactful consequences that smoking had brought into my life however, was getting caught with it.
Having to write a few papers and pay a hefty fine is definitely not fine and could have just been avoided easily in the first place by just not doing it. After reading over many articles and studies on how marijuana and THC specifically disrupt and effect the brain has really opened my eyes to the darker sides of the drug. For instance, I thought the correlation between dropping out and smoking even rarely can increase that dropout rate by about 60% (3) I believe there is a time and a place for most things, and that college is no place for marijuana.
Simply weighting out the pros to cons, there is an obvious lean to the cons. In the worst cases, being anti-social, unmotivated and just not the same person anymore makes this drug seem a lot more frightening and potent than I really thought before. I definitely know that if I am, in the future confronted with marijuana, that I’ll really think about this paper and what I’ve learned and decide that it’s not worth it. Before learning much of what I have learned through this process, I believed in many of the short term effects, however I dismissed most long term effects to be unproven and more mythical than anything else.
After learning what I have, it proved what I knew on the short term, as well as having taught me a few more ways it subconsciously affects you. On the other hand, going through the studies and research on extended effects of the drug I learned that though MANY of the long term effects are in fact myths, some, very important long term effects are honestly real. Another view I previously had about marijuana was that it was a very sociably accepted drug and many of the people you meet, especially in college also did it. Looking back now, that’s a rather narrow way of looking at things.
I say this now, out of the dorms and with increased knowledge on the subject, it was more of an environment thing. Though it is accepted to some, many people still see it as something extremely frightening, which is fair. Looking back now also at the frequency of the people who did it, it seemed as though some did it just out of peer pressure. And nobody should be peer pressured to do anything, especially drugs. Previously, my view on marijuana was fairly carefree and I didn’t really care to dig too much into. Shedding light onto what it really is, and all of what it is truthfully has changed how I look at it.
It’s definitely not just a leaf and the implications of it can span across so many aspects of your life that you don’t even realize until usually it’s too late. I learned the hard way by getting caught and doing what I needed to do to clear the case, but I’d also say I learned in a great way. In that, by having been assigned this, it’s really opened up what this drug can do and taught me not to take it lightly in the future, or to take it at all for that matter. Like I had said before, if in the future it comes my way, I’ll be more than sure to second guess it, and next time, make the right decision.
