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How does Marijuana affect the human body?

Introduction:

There’s been a question that has been lingering for quite some time. How does marijuana affect the human body? I was interested in learning about this because as a kid I was taught drugs were bad and I see most people especially adults and teens smoking marijuana almost every single day. I expect to find out what happens when you smoke marijuana and the effects of it whether they be short-term or long-term effects. If I find information that goes against what I expected to find, I will not throw it away. I will write about it one way or another assuming that the information goes totally against it. I will change my own assumptions and be open to new possibilities because this is something I’m interested in.

Source Entry #1:

WHO. Health and Social Effects of Nonmedical Cannabis Use (the), World Health Organization, 2016. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/citytech-ebooks/detail.action?docID=5910096.
Created from citytech-ebooks on 2022-10-20 05:30:34.

The book, “The Health and Social Effects of Non-medical marijuana” created by the World Health Organization (W.H.O) based in Switzerland explains the effects of marijuana health-wise and social-wise. Marijuana or also known as cannabis is a psychoactive dried flower bud, leaves, or preparations (such as hashish) or chemicals (such as THC) that are derived from the cannabis plant. Marijuana came from Central Asia before people brought marijuana to Europe, Africa, and the Americas. This drug can be smoked like a cigarette or through a bong. Before marijuana was used for medical purposes but now it is mostly used as a recreational drug nowadays. When marijuana is smoked and inhaled, the chemical known as THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) is released through the bloodstream. THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) is the main component in marijuana that is responsible for psychological effects. After being smoked, THC floods the body with its chemical creating the infamous so-called “high.” The marijuana “high” results from THC’s impacts on the nerve cells that control sensory perception and pleasure. When high, you develop an increased appetite and the feeling of a relaxed state. According to the book it states, “These conditions apply to the short-term euphoric and relaxing effects sought by cannabis users and to some of its dysphoric effects (e.g. anxiety symptoms that are experienced by some users).”  some other symptoms include euphoria and disinhibition, anxiety or agitation, suspiciousness or paranoid ideation, temporal showing (a sense that time is passing very slowly, and/or the person is experiencing a rapid flow of ideas, impaired judgment, impaired attention, impaired reaction time, auditory, visual, or tactile illusions; hallucinations with preserved orientation; depersonalization, derealization, and interference with personal functioning. Over time this drug can become highly addictive to have psychological disadvantages like lowering brain function and frequent mood swings.

The organization that wrote this article is the World Health Organization (W.H.O). “World Health Organization is the United Nations agency that connects nations, partners, and people to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable so everyone everywhere can attain the highest level of health. Founded in 1948, WHO leads global efforts to expand universal health coverage. They direct and coordinate the world’s response to health emergencies.” The primary audience is teens and adults who smoke or want to learn more about t. Another audience might be teachers using this to teach kids about drug use. They get their message across by using an informative tone to explain the effects to the readers. You can tell how this organization uses an informative tone when details and descriptions are written without any bias. The reason the agency posted this is to educate and inform people about this popular drug and what it can do to your body mentally and physically. To learn more about this, you can search it on their website, www.who.int.

Key Quotes:

• “The short-term effects of cannabis use are those that can occur shortly after a single occasion of use. These short-term effects depend on the dose received, the mode of administration, the user’s prior experience with cannabis, any concurrent drug use, and the “set and setting” – i.e. the user’s expectations, attitudes towards the effects of cannabis, mood state, and the social setting in which it is used (Fehr & Kalant, 1983)”
• “This report evaluates the evidence on whether long-term cannabis use is a contributory cause of the following health outcomes: dependence, cognitive impairment, mental disorders (psychoses, depression, anxiety, and suicidal behaviour), and adverse physical health effects such as cardiovascular disease (CVD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and respiratory and other cancers. More information can be found in chapters 6 and 7 of this report.”
• “Brain imaging studies comparing school students who are regular long-term cannabis users and non-using students typically find poorer cognitive performance and large decreases in perfusion in the former using SPECT scans (Mena et al., 2013). These changes could partially explain the lower educational attainment and lower grades among chronic cannabis users (Volkow et al., 2014a) and are discussed in more detail in section 6.1.2.”

Source #2

Frysh, Paul. “Effects of Marijuana Use: How Weed Affects Your Mind & Body.” WebMD, WebMD, 19 Dec. 2021, https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/marijuana-use-and-its-effects.

The article, “How Pot Affects Your Mind and Body ” discusses the effects marijuana has on the body. It shows all the side effects that people could have from being paranoid to being hungry more often. The article tells us, “Marijuana can make it harder for you to focus, learn, and remember things. This seems to be a short-term effect lasting 24 hours or longer after you stop smoking. But using pot heavily, especially in your teen years, may leave more permanent effects. Imaging tests with some — but not all — adolescents found that marijuana may physically change their brains. Specifically, they had fewer connections in parts of the brain linked to alertness, learning, and memory, and tests show lower IQ scores in some people.” This means that this drug makes focusing and learning things harder and that is more common with adolescents and teenagers which reflects on test scores, school work, etc. Different studies show that marijuana causes increased appetite for some people. This side effect can be helpful for people who suffer illnesses that cause people not to gain weight. According to the article it also states, “Marijuana can cloud your senses and judgment. The effects can differ depending on things like how potent your pot was, how you took it, and how much marijuana you’ve used in the past. It might: Heighten your senses (colors might seem brighter and sounds might seem louder), Distort your sense of time, Hurt your motor skills and make driving more dangerous, Lower your inhibitions so you may have risky sex or take other chances”  This is one of the most common sides from marijuana. It feels like you can see everything more clearly and time has slowed down but not at all. It is just the chemical in the marijuana, THC, tampering with your brain functions, making you have that euphoric feeling.

“How Pot Affects Your Mind and Body ” was created and published by Paul Frysh. Paul Frysh is a senior health writer who writes for WebMD. Frysh is from South Africa originally and has been writing for almost 20 years. Frysh has written many pieces for newspapers, videos, magazines, etc on topics containing Science, education, medicine, etc. He has been writing for WebMD since 2016 about health and medical-related issues. He has also won two Peabody awards for his team at CNN Digital and his coverage of the news about the 2008 presidential election and Hurricane Katrina. This article was published and then reviewed by Dr. Jennifer Casarella on December 19, 2021. The primary audience is adolescents, teens, and adult who smoke marijuana or is thinking about it. The secondary audience is people who don’t smoke to see what marijuana does to a person without actually doing it. The purpose of this article was to inform the readers of the different side effects marijuana has on someone. The genre of this article is nonfiction because it expresses facts about this drug that can be verified in real life. This is the best genre to address the audience because it is facts that can be backed up by other sources without bias and/or opinions. The author’s tone is very informative in the way it was written. Frysh wrote this without putting any of his feeling and opinions in the article. This answers my question because it clearly shows and states what marijuana does to the body without biased opinions. This can be verified through other sites like the CDC(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) and books. Frysh also had his own cited sources listed at the end of his article.

Source #3

CDC. “Health Effects of Marijuana.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2 June 2021, https://www.cdc.gov/marijuana/health-effects/index.html.

The article, “Health Effects of Marijuana” discusses the different ways in which marijuana affects different parts of the body. The article states, “Marijuana can make the heart beat faster and can make blood pressure higher immediately after use. It could also lead to an increased risk of stroke, heart disease, and other vascular diseases. Most of the scientific studies linking marijuana to heart attacks and strokes are based on reports from people who smoked marijuana (as opposed to other methods of using it). Smoked marijuana delivers tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and other cannabinoids to the body. Marijuana smoke also delivers many of the same substances researchers have found in tobacco smoke—these substances are harmful to the lungs and cardiovascular system.” This means that smoking marijuana is bad not only for your respiratory system but also for your cardiovascular system. Smoking marijuana can increase your chances of having a stroke, heart attack, etc because of the increase in blood pressure after the use of such a drug. According to the CDC, it states, “Smoked marijuana, regardless of how it is smoked, can harm lung tissues and cause scarring and damage to small blood vessels. Smoke from marijuana has many of the same toxins, irritants, and carcinogens (cancer-causing chemicals) as tobacco smoke.⁵ Smoking marijuana can also lead to a greater risk of bronchitis, cough, and mucus production, though these symptoms generally improve when marijuana smokers quit.” Smoking this causes irritation in the chest which causes trouble breathing, etc when started. These lung issues can later lead to bronchitis, mucus production, or emphysema ( stemming from shortness of breath). All of these potential symptoms will only result in death if not careful. Whether you smoke a joint, a bong, a bowl, or a blunt all of the side effects will remain the same.

Rhetorical Analysis: “Health Effects of Marijuana” was created by the CDC. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) is a national public agency in the United States. The CDC is one of the best science-based organizations in the world. The CDC helps give knowledge of health-related diseases, illnesses, or outbreaks like COVID-19. The CDC wants to protect people from diseases and potential new ones like they have been doing for the past 70 years. The primary audience is adolescents, teens, and adults who smoke or want to learn more about it. Other audiences might include more people who are interested and want to learn the effects of the drug because of their curiosity about the subject. The purpose of this article was to inform the readers of the different side effects marijuana has on someone and the things it can do it the human body. The genre of this article is nonfiction because it gives us nothing about facts about this drug that can be verified in real life. This is the best genre to address the audience because it is facts that can be backed up by other sources without bias and/or opinions. The author’s tone is very informative in the way it was written because no words that resemble opinions or personal feelings were used. This answers my question because it clearly shows and states what marijuana does to the body without any biased opinions. This can be verified through other sites like the one the CDC has cited. CDC used references which are located at the bottom of the article.

Conclusion:

Overall, Marijuana affects you in various ways. Although, Marijuana is a recreational drug it has many side effects whether it be positive or negative. Marijuana is a psychoactive dried flower bud, leaves, or preparations (such as hashish) or chemicals (such as THC) that are derived from the cannabis plant that can be smoked like a cigarette or through a bong. This drug can cause a temporary high that makes you have more of an appetite, distortion of time, and that overall calm euphoric feel. In “The Health and Social Effects of Non-medical marijuana” the World Health Organization (W.H.O) explains to us the short-term effects of what happens when marijuana and its main chemical compound, Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) enters the body. The short-term effects, come with some other minor effects as well. In “How Pot Affects Your Mind and Body ” Paul Frysh also tells us about how marijuana can cloud your senses and judgment and makes it harder for you to focus. Many people say this doesn’t happen to them but the majority can because of tests and what is shown. Lastly, the article, “Health Effects of Marijuana” by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warns us about the more serious consequences of smoking including having an increased risk of a stroke, heart disease, and other vascular diseases. Also increased greater risk of bronchitis, cough, and mucus production. I was generally surprised that marijuana can cause this much damage to the human body even though it is a recreational drug and even medical depending on the situation. I always thought that marijuana had no long-term effects because of how much our society this day and age uses it. Now I understand why it is considered illegal in different states but now I wonder why cigarettes aren’t illegal too when they cause even more harm to the human body than marijuana. I learned that marijuana can benefit some people while having a negative impact on others. I believe that people of all ages who smoke marijuana need to hear about the potential dangers of this drug first before it is too late. Marijuana smokers should know what they are getting themselves into before deciding what to do with the information because at the end of the day it’s still the person’s choice whether to stop or not. It is their life and their decision but knowing what you are putting yourself into is better than not knowing at all.