Research on cannabis
Cannabis is considered an innocuous drug; however, it has been known for people to become very dependent on it and can cause some adverse effects particularly with people who have suffered with anxiety and mental health problems in the past etc.
Results on cannabis use
Many cannabis users have reported short lived adverse effects from the drug. These have included psychotic states during heavy consumption and increased anxiety. People with mental illnesses such a schizophrenia are especially vulnerable to the use of cannabis because it can aggravate the existing symptoms.
Normal brain vs cannabis user’s brain
Above there is a diagram that shows the effects that marijuana has on the brain. The brain on the left is healthy and well-functioning, while the brain on the right has a become unhealthy due to its lack of blood flow. Research shows smoking marijuana can seriously increase the risk of Alzheimer’s. This is due to cannabis being eligible to cause many short-term memory problems which then makes it possible to far more serious brain disorders as a person gets older.
Areas of brain affected by cannabis
Above is a diagram of how marijuana can affect the brain in many ways. It includes talking about the memory, emotions, learning etc. All these issues that cannabis can cause makes it more likely for people to develop a different mental frame. This can include many mental problems such as increased anxiety and can even cause people to hallucinate if they’ve taken a lot of it and inability to learn and develop new skills.
It can physically also cause problems such as decreased coordination and loss of control of the muscles.
According to the NHS website cannabis also makes it a lot more likely for people to get cardiovascular disease. This is because of the fume’s cannabis can produce when smoking it. The fumes can fill the blood vessels leading to the heart with tar, which can lead to increased risk of heart disease and heart attacks.
It can also cause sleeping problems, once again according to the NHS people who have high dependency on the drug say they sleep better when using it, however if they come off it, withdrawal symptoms can set in such as sleep insomnia, restlessness and paranoia.
Are there benefits to cannabis?
According to the leaf science article cannabis can be beneficial to things such as the skin. It contains powerful antioxidants that are apparently ‘’thought to protect the body from oxidative stress’’ (Leafscience.com 2017)
The article also goes on to say that cannabis can be a good stress reliever.
In fact, a Canadian study on medical marijuana users found that 40% of people who were taking benzodiazepines for their anxiety were able to stop their medication completely within 90 days of cannabis treatment. (Leafscience.com 2017)
According to an article produced by ‘’life hack’’ cannabis can even help stop the spread of certain cancer cells. It was found in the study, published in the journal Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, that Cannabidiol has the ability to stop cancer by turning off a gene called Id-1. (Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2007)
Evaluation
I have researched a few different sources on the effects of marijuana, and I have found that they have many different affects on people physically and mentally. Its an unusual drug as some would argue it has both positives and negatives. All articles have different viewpoints and the most reliable sources I found was the one that had information from health organisations such as the NHS etc. I could relate more to the NHS’s information as it’s a far more localised source.
I felt some sections of a few of the sources were arguably more opinion based as where on these topics I believe research from medical professionals and psychologists is the best source of information as they would deal with this on a regular basis.
Bibliography
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