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Smoking Marijuana Research Paper

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Quinton Malpass Anna Richardson ENG 112 5 March 2018 Effects of Smoking Marijuana Who doesn’t like a nice rolled joint? There are quite a few people that don’t like the thought of smoking this drug called marijuana because of the stigma that it has. But on the other hand, there are many people the acknowledge some unique benefits that the drug may potentially offer. Marijuana has surfaced as a hot topic among the research industry in the effort to discover the extent of the good and bad effects that the devil’s lettuce has on a person’s body, mind and emotional state. Marijuana has some positive and negative effects on the body. Some of the negative effects occur in the nervous system and the immune system. As for other negative effects, …show more content…

When it comes to mental effects from using marijuana, there are short term effects and long-term effects. As for short-term effects, there are changes in mood, impaired body movement, difficulty with thinking and problem-solving, impaired memory, and when taken in high dosages the effects are hallucinations, delusions, and psychosis (Abuse). In the long run for long term effects of marijuana use, marijuana can affect brain development. According to the drug Abuse website, “a study from New Zealand conducted in part by researchers at Duke University showed that people who started smoking marijuana heavily in their teens and had an ongoing marijuana use disorder lost an average of 8 IQ points between ages 13 and 38. The lost mental abilities didn 't fully return in those who quit marijuana as adults. Those who started smoking marijuana as adults didn 't show notable IQ declines” (Abuse). In another study on twins, those who used marijuana showed a significant decline in general knowledge and in verbal ability (equivalent to 4 IQ points) between the preteen years and early adulthood, but no predictable difference was found between twins when one used marijuana and the other didn 't (Abuse). This suggests that the IQ decline in marijuana users may be caused by something other than marijuana, such as shared familial factors (e.g., genetics, family environment) (Abuse). In addition to brain …show more content…

Accessed 22 February 2018 Welsh, Jennifer. “23 Health Benefits of Marijuana.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 20 Apr. 2014, www.businessinsider.com/health-benefits-of-medical-marijuana-2014-4?op=1. Accessed 22 February 2018 Shaw, Jerry. “Emotional Effects of Marijuana Addiction.” LIVESTRONG.COM, Leaf Group, 14 Aug. 2017, www.livestrong.com/article/89510-emotional-effects-marijuana-addiction/. Accessed 23 February 2018 Abuse, National Institute on Drug. “Marijuana.” NIDA, Feb. 2018, www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana. Accessed 25 February 2018 Gowin, Joshua. “Long Term Effects of Marijuana on the Brain.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 18 Sept. 2014,

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