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Summary: The Health Benefits Of Marijuana

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Marijuana is the dried leaves and flowers of the hemp plant that is smoked as a drug. Marijuana can be used as a safe and effective treatment for certain complications of conditions such as: cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, pain, migraines, glaucoma, and epilepsy. Although marijuana has several health benefits, marijuana has several drawbacks. Marijuana can affect your short-term memory, coordination, learning, movement control and higher cognitive functions. In the following paragraphs I will describe how marijuana affects the brain. Scientists have known an active chemical in marijuana called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).THC is the main active ingredient in marijuana. This active chemical affects the brain by binding to and activating …show more content…

Recognition memory is the ability to recognize correct words. When a list of words was presented to a group of smokers they usually recognized words that they previous saw before smoking, but also stated that they recognized words that they did not previously see before smoking. This is known as memory intrusions. Memory intrusions is the result of THC affecting the free cell of the brain. If a list of vocabulary words was presented to the intoxicated subject and few minutes later they had to remember the words that were on the list. The only words that they remember are the last group of words and not the words that are in the beginning of the list. This is a sign that their memory storage has been …show more content…

Marijuana effects the central nervous system by attaching to brains neurons and interfering with normal communication between the neurons. As a result the nerves respond by alternating their behaviors. A nerve helps one in retrieving short-term memory, cannabinoids receptors make them do the opposite. Therefore people who smoke a high dose of marijuana have trouble remembering what they did minutes before smoking. THC also affects coordination, which the cerebellum controls. The basal ganglia direct unconscious muscle movements, which is another reason why motor coordination is impaired when under the influence of marijuana. Cannabis also distorts your sense of time. THC affects your brain's dopamine system, creating a stimulant effect. When people are high they often feeling excited, anxious, or energetic as a result. Marijuana affects people's sense of time, that is why people who are “High” feel that time goes by fast, and then goes by slow when there “High” wears

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