Marijuana—What Are It’s Effects?
Studies
done in July 2014 and reported in psychologytoday.com (https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/you-illuminated/201407/7-short-term-effects-marijuana-the-brain)
report several effects of marijuana over the short term; these effects include
impaired memory, reduced anxiety, increased appetite, elevated heart rate, and
reduced pain. Sleep alterations have also been reported; but the alterations
are variable—some people report interruption of sleep and others report more
relaxed, early onset sleep. One consistent finding is decreased REM sleep—that is
sleep that contains dreams.
1) Euphoria, intoxication
2) Relaxation, detachment,
decreased anxiety and alertness
3) Altered perception of time
and space
4) Intensified experiences
5) Laughter, talkativeness
6) Depression
7) Amnesia, confusion,
delusions, hallucinations, psychosis
8) Mania
9) Short term memory
impairment
10)
Sudden
increase in heart rate and risk for heart complications
11)
Lethargy
12)
Decreased
concentration
13)
Slurred
speech
14)
Cough,
wheezing, and phlegm production
15)
Increased
risk of cancer
16)
Frequent
chest illness including lung infections
17)
Impaired
immune system
18)
Alter
hormones and disrupt menstruation cycle
19)
Negatively
impact male and female fertility
20) Negative impact on
birthweights, cognition, and increased risk of cancers for children born to
marijuana using mothers
21)
“Flashbacks”
of drug experiences while not using
22) Paranoia, panic disorder,
fear.
Long-term
effects occur because tolerance builds to the drug, and users tend to use
larger and larger doses. The long-term effects include:
1) Irritability, anger,
aggression, restlessness
2) Depression, anxiety
3) Stomach pain
4) Decreased appetite, weight
loss
5) Tremor
6) Sweating
7) Drug craving
8) Difficulty sleeping
Long-term
marijuana use can lead to negative effects on the# brain that can affect memory
and learning:
1) Inability to focus,
concentrate and retain information
2) Decreased math and verbal
skills
Effect
of recreational marijuana sales on police reported crashes in Colorado, Oregon,
and Washington
Study
done in October 2018 https://www.iihs.org/frontend/iihs/documents/masterfiledocs.ashx?id=2173
(A comprehensive statistical study of the subject.)
In January 2014, Colorado
became the first U.S. state to allow retail sales of recreational marijuana,
with Washington (July 2014) and Oregon (October 2015) following shortly
afterward. With more states weighing legalization, it is important to
understand the degree to which recreational marijuana legalization has affected
traffic safety outcomes. The current study was based on the 2018 Highway Loss
Data Institute research on the subject, which estimated that the legalization
of retail sales was associated with a 6.0% increase in insurance collision
claims compared with control states. The current study investigated
police-reported crashes rather than insurance claims. Crash rates were computed
for each month between January 2012 and December 2016 for the three study
states as well as their neighboring states, which served as controls.
Controlling for several demographic factors, the change in crash rate that
occurred after recreational marijuana was legalized was compared with the
change in crash rate in the control states over the same time frame. The
legalization of retail sales in Colorado, Washington, and Oregon was associated
with a 5.2% higher rate of police-reported crashes compared with neighboring
states that did not legalize retail sales. These results contribute to the
growing body of research on the impact of recreational marijuana legalization.
In contrast to the above
report, the American Public Health Association published in August 2017 the
following conclusion of their study having to do with auto fatality rates: “Three
years after recreational marijuana legalization, changes in motor vehicle crash
fatality rates for Washington and Colorado were not significantly different
from those in similar states without recreational marijuana legalization.”
All
the above summarize the pertinent scientific information about the effects of
marijuana on the human psyche, auto crashes, and auto fatality rates. Now, I
want to express my own opinion about this subject: In the 1960’s the Surgeon
General of the United States Public Health Service, published a book entitled “Smoking
and Health,” which chronicled all the bad effects of smoking. That book changed
the attitude of the American public drastically; and as a result, large numbers
of Americans quit smoking. The improved health effects were stunning. The
incidence of heart disease and cancer plummeted. We must remember that the data
which underlaid that report took decades to accrue. But…it produced a
monumental public health improvement. I have often wondered why it took all that
time and statistical study to come to the conclusion that smoking was bad for
health. It seemed to me that the conclusion should have been made on the basis
of a little common sense. Taking all that smoke into the human body should have
intuitively informed us of its dangerous nature.
I
believe that the same trajectory in knowledge about marijuana smoking and other
intake will be about the same for that drug as it was about nicotine in
cigarettes. It seems to me that applying common sense to the subject should point
to the same kind of conclusion, e.g., smoking marijuana is bad for one’s health
and the health of the surrounding society. This conclusion should not take a rocket
scientist to figure out.
(There
is an even more graphic illustration of the dangers of marijuana in the
Imprimis publication by Hillsdale.edu for January 2019.)
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