Neurological Effects of Marijuana

The recreational consumption of hemp has become an almost mainstream composition of our party today, so mainstream in fact that 16. 8% of Canadians older than 15 manipulation it. In political relation, the see to legalize ganja has broad gone back and forth in so far never coming to a conclusion. But in this get by is the government really examining the psychological personal final results of the medicate, or atomic number 18 they just concerned with the money aspect.In one study of the neuropsychological effects of marijuana it was concluded that The low process produced generalized impairment of all rational processes (concept formation, memory, tactile form discrimination and motor function). The research question of this seek is Are the short and long term neuropsychological effects of marijuana severe enough to leave ratiocinationing impressions on our baseball club? single-valued function The thesis of this essay is the neuropsychological effects of marijuana are ery sheer by means of experimental research and the deficits fetchd by marijuana could become subgross in our society and create problems down the road. The essay will elapse in the order of first examining a case of neuropsychological effects on heavy marijuana collapselingrs, then we will examine nigh of these effects and they way they impact teenage marijuana economic consumptionrs. It will in whatever case be examined how marijuana may be seen as a ca drug abuse of psychotic disorders, and also the way marijuana affects aggression. ArgumentThe use of marijuana affects the brain and our neuropsychological functions such as memory. But how memory is ab normal is it long term or short term memory and is this a lasting effect or non. In a study performed by Kanayama, Rogowska, Pope , Gruber , and Yurgelun-Todd (2003), 12 heavy hangmans rope smokers, and a controller mathematical group of 10 former(a)s were to realized a spatial operatives memory epito me that included two tasks a perception task and a short-delay working memory task while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging.The results showed that the novel ganja users displayed greater and more widespread brain activation than normal subjects when attempting to perform the aforementioned task. This call downs that the recent cannabis users may experience any(prenominal) neuropsychological deficits and they compensate for these deficits by calling upon different regions of the brain to serving step forward in completing the task. This study shows that for a heavy cannabis user, simple tasks require extra effort from different regions of the brain in order to accomplish said task.This experimental study was well conducted and provided solid commentings regarding the neuropsychological functions of a heavy cannabis user. These findings show that the heavy cannabis users had to work harder to accomplish the task at hand, and even though they bland managed to ac complish the task, the neurological deficits shown through this study could leave them crippled or handicapped later in life with come ond use of the drug. The debate continues in that raft are unsure whether neurological deficits associated with cannabis last only as long as the drug does or if the continue afterwards and are more permanent.For example, Fried (2005 cited in Murray, Morrison, Henquet, Di Forti 2007) et al. piece no bear witness of cognitive deficits in cannabis users after three months of abstention66, whereas Bolla (2005 cited in Murray, Morrison, Henquet, Di Forti 2007) et al. found persisting deficits in decision- qualification and brain activity among heavy cannabis users who had been abstinent for 25 days. This inconsistency could be due to the age of participants or any number of other uncertains, which is why this sort of experiments can be unclear and inconclusive at times.One aspect of the age variable is that most experiments of this type are performe d on prominent participants and so does not show how the neurological effects of cannabis might affect the exploitation mind of a teenager. In a study performed by Harvey, Sellman, Porter, and Frampton (2007), 70 adolescents aged 13-18 were recruited, and after a 12 hour abstinence from marijuana performed several test. These tests included a demographics questionnaire, a Timeline Follow-Back (TLFB) questionnaire for drug use in the past 28 days.Intelligence was measured using the Wechsler Abbreviated master of Intelligence. The Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery was used and the tests administered were Motor screen (visual and movement problems), Rapid visual information processing (attention and memory), Spatial working memory (memory and strategy), Intradimensional extradimentional shift (attention), and Paired Associates learning (visuo-spatial and spatial span). The pen and paper cognitive tests used were Rey Auditory-Verbal Learning Test, and Symbol Digit Modalities Test.Psychiatric carrying out measures used were Visual Analogue Scale for Mood (present mood), Beck Depression register II, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Conduct inconvenience oneself and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The Timeline Follow-Back showed that 68. 5% of participants had used marijuana in the last 28 days. The results found from this well conducted study show that adolescents who were regular cannabis users showed a importantly worse performance on four measures of cognitive functions attention, spatial working, memory, and learning.These results suggest that the young mind could be more susceptible to the neuropsychological deficits experienced through frequent use of marijuana. This is very nix considering 68. 5% of participants use marijuana frequently and thus has neurological deficits when it comes to attention, spatial working, memory and learning. If this hear is a close representation of the teenage population then our socie ty could ready problems down the road.If these teenagers continue to consume cannabis regularly through to adulthood then we could see these neurological deficits etting worse and worse as these teens earn more responsibility as they progress through life. other possibility of problems that could come from this is the possibility that cannabis use could occur to psychosis or schizophrenia. It is unclear whether this is true or not but, but in about cases cannabis has been deemed a causal risk factor for schizophrenia. Richard Reading (2004) examined the evidence behind these claims and identified five studies that included a well-defined take drawn from population-based registers or cohorts and used prospective measures of cannabis use and adult psychosis.After examining these cases thoroughly he concluded that cannabis is a part cause to psychosis. It is part of a complex mix of different factors which lead to psychosis down the road. Through these findings Reading deemed tha t cases of psychotic disorder could be lessen by discouraging cannabis use to vulnerable youth. Considering how 16. 8% of Canadians use marijuana on a regular basis, this is a very negative finding.Even if marijuana is only one little factor which contributes with many another(prenominal) other factors to the chance of a psychotic disorder, then having this many people partaking could increase the number of psychotic disorders in Canada by quite a bit. We also know that a very large part of teenagers use cannabis as a social activity, and when used frequently for long periods of time these teenagers could develop psychotic disorders early on in life, making it difficult for them to contribute to our society to their full potential. On the other hand however marijuana could possibly give some positive to our society as well.In an earlier study conducted by Myerscough and Taylor (1985), the aggression levels of 30 male college students were examined while under the influence of eit her a light, medium, or heavy dose of marijuana. Since the U. S. government released Reefer Madness in 1936, it has been in question whether marijuana really does drive people crazy and amps up their aggression. The subjects were given either a low, medium, or towering dose of marijuana then were sat in booth which corresponded with the booth of another participant.They were told that by pressing on one of eleven buttons they could choose the intensity of an voltaic shock that would be administered to their corresponding subject and vice versa. The person who completed this task faster would not be administered the shock but would find out what level of shock the other had picked for him. When the participants would see the aggressiveness of the others choices and receive shocks they would perhaps become more aggressive themselves. In concluding the data they had gathered showed that people in the low dose group tended to respond more aggressively than those in the mid to high lev el groups.Those participants in the high dose group were for the most part non-aggressive throughout the entire experiment. These findings indicate that when people are on marijuana they tend to be more calm and relaxed, and less easily aggravated. This could service many people by armed serviceing to ease stress. It could also help to lessen the aggravation behind many acts of crime, and violence in our society. unfortunately we could not really use these findings to our advantage because we are unable to control who does what, and when. This does help shed some light on the benefits marijuana could have for our society.Conclusion The mainstream use of marijuana as a party drug or social tool in our society has started to get out of hand. Adults and teenagers alike take part in this illegal habit, but what are the consequences. As we see throughout this paper marijuana causes deficits in the neurological processes of adults by making the brain work harder to accomplish certain t asks. withal in teenagers the mental processes of memory, spatial working, attention, and learning were slowed by the frequent use of marijuana and showed deficits that could be worsened with time.It has also been shown here that marijuana could be a causal factor in the development of psychotic disorders. though all of these experiments and research show how marijuana negatively influences people in our society there are many discrepancies in the research through with(p) on marijuana, and some do show no negativities whatsoever. Though the special and controversial data we have on marijuanas effect on psychological processes is incomplete, it is hard to say if it will have a lasting negative impression, however we know that marijuana is not having any useful positive effects on our society.