Marijuana And Drug Abuse

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

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.

This has led many teenagers to switch over to marijuana and by legalizing it the switch to a safer drug would continue and it would also make it cheaper than other illicit drugs. This correlation can be seen with the statistics provided by the NIDA 2011 study. 25% of teens surveyed said they tried marijuana at least once last year and 6.6% of 12th graders admitted to smoking weed daily. Marijuana use has been the highest since 1981, but at the same time cigarette and alcohol usage have reached historic lows. 11.7% of U.S. teens reported having smoked a cigarette in the last 30 days, compared to 12.8 percent in 2010. Also alcohol usage has reduced, the proportion of 8th graders reporting any use of alcohol in the prior 30 days has fallen by about half (from 25% to 13%), among 10th graders by more than one third (from 43% to 27&, and among 12th graders by about one fourth (from 54% to 40%).

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

My first semester at Shippensburg University, my older friends invited me to an outdoor party at Frat Row. This would be my first college party ever, so I agreed to attend. My thoughts were that this party would be just like in the Hollywood films- beer bottles shattered all over the ground, smoke floating throughout the air, graffiti all over the walls or buildings; basically, a complete disaster of an area filled with young adults breaking the law. Is there a word to describe how accurate my accusation was? Complete perfection. The scene was fun to watch, but not such a fun experience. Insisting on being a law-abiding citizen, I stayed away from all illegal activities. As I stood upon the walls covered with condensation, I witnessed several exchanges of both alcoholic beverages and drugs. Since I’ve never been in an environment like this before, I asked my friends to take me back to my dorm room. My automatic assumption was that all the students in the room were either alcoholics or drug addicts. I told myself not to associate with any of them, but then I did some research.

Is marijuana use deviant behavior? Is it a cultural norm? No, I don’t think that marijuana is a deviant behavior. They are not harming anyone by smoking it. No, it’s not a cultural norm.

Using marijuana can lead to the development of problematic use, known as a marijuana use disorder. This takes the form of addiction in severe cases. Data suggests that 30% of people who use marijuana have some level of marijuana use disorder. People who begin to use marijuana before the age of 18 are four to seven times more likely to have marijuana use disorder or addiction compared to adults.People that use marijuana daily have addiction rates between 25% and 50%. Dependence is usually associated with marijuana use disorders. When frequent users of marijuana quit using it, they feel physical and psychological discomfort, otherwise known as withdrawal symptoms. This leads many people to resume their usage. Dependence is when the brain adapts

Child abuse is often a linking factor in history of substance abusers, Drug, Alcohol or other risky behaviours would fall into the category of substance abuse. In this essay I will discuss how I think child abuse aids is a direct cause of substance abuse in adults later in life, in addition to evidence supporting my thesis which is the fact child abuse is a linking factor to substance abuse. “Two thirds of adults in drug treatment were either physically, sexually or emotionally abused during their childhood” (Unknown, 2015). Almost all women that reside in Canada’s drug capital in the downtown Eastside of Vancouver have been subjected to either sexual or physical trauma during childhood

Along with illegal behavior often a substance abuser will find themselves as homeless, spending their paychecks on their habits of using substances (Tracy, 2005). Children of abusers are affected by both possessing negative role models that set the example that drug use is not wrong and sometimes the children are placed into the care of the community because of neglect and abuse by the substance user (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Division of Adolescent and School Health [CDC], 2009). Other medical, social, and economic issues also are being experienced from substance abuse and use.

The children of addicts are 8 times more likely to develop an addiction. One study looked at 231 people who were diagnosed with drug or

Marijuana and the Biological Bases of Behavior Marijuana is the dried leaves and flowers of the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. Like all plants, it's sensitive to the environment where it grows. Some of the names for it are Mary Jane, pot, weed, grass, herb, ganja or skunk. The brain has many responses to marijuana. Marijuana can cause people to lose focus on events around them.

Drug usage throughout high school students is very high.72.5 percent of high school students have admitted to drinking alcohol in/out of school.The other 27.5 percent denied drinking. 36.8 percent of students admitted to consuming marijuana. Many students do not consume marijuana while those who do are not addicted to the drug.

Among adolescents aged 12 to 17 years, 9.8 % are estimated to be current users of illicit drugs, with 4.9 % using drugs other than marijuana. Nearly three quarters of students have started to drink alcohol and nearly half (47%) have tried using an illicit drug (not including alcohol or tobacco) by the senior year of high school.” (Hassan, Harris, Sherritt, Van Hook, & Brooks, 2009)

“Marijuana is the most commonly used drug illegal drug in the world.” (“What is Marijuana”, 2013). It has recently become legal in a couple states, and more states are sure to follow their lead in the upcoming months. People can make the argument that marijuana does not have any negative effects, but they are wrong. Becoming addicted to marijuana is easy, and it only opens up the door for you to try other harmful drugs once marijuana quits getting you high. You need to know the whole story, how people become addicted, the negative effects it has on your body and mind, and what you can do once someone you know has become addicted.

Marijuana and alcohol have caused several problems over the past few years. However, alcohol has always been around. Marijuana has also always been around, but there was an absence of it for a good period of time. It is not becoming more popular all over the United States. Although neither stimulant 's are good for you, the usage of both is in a very high demand. Both marijuana and alcohol have different side effects. Being an alcoholic is by no means healthy for a person. Any person can easily get alcohol poisoning and death can result in it. More people are dying every day from people driving drunk. The effect alcohol has on one person body is far worse than being high from smoking marijuana.