Effects of Weed on the Brain

Pot, weed, gag, sess, sens, grass, ganja and skunk are all nicknames of the plant which we know as marijuana. It has been studied that most weed users are in a complete denial of the negative effects of weed on the brain and on the body as a whole. If they are asked the question 'Is weed bad for you?', all they would have to say is 'No'. But the truth is, smoking weed is no less harmful than smoking cigarettes. In fact, weed users are 50 - 70% more vulnerable to develop cancer than tobacco users. And this fact is backed up by medical evidence. Due to this, the weed is regarded as federally prohibited drug in the United States. People use weed to smoke and even in recipes of baked brownies and cookies. Both these methods create euphoria and a sense of hallucinations in the users. Although this article describes the negative effects of weed on the brain, it is also true the plant is known to be used in treating a variety of medical disorders like AIDS, cancer, multiple sclerosis, and painful conditions. However, due to extensive research on the properties of this plant, scientists have been able to comprehend that marijuana affects the memory and movement of the user's brain. More data on this subject lies ahead.

In What Ways Does Weed Affect the Brain?

Scientists came to know the effects of weed on the brain by establishing the fact that the plant harbors different kinds of chemicals - 400 in number. About 60 of these chemicals were identified to be possessing psychoactive properties and these are the ones which are mainly responsible for interfering with the normal functioning of the brain. These chemicals are known as cannabinoid. And one of these classes of compound which was predominantly associated with the effects of weed on brain, was discovered to be known as tetrahydrocannabol, or THC. Now, the parts of the brain which are in charge of the memory response, thought process, sensation of pleasure, movement coordination, perception and concentration levels, contain cannabinoid receptors. So what the THC does, it latches on to these receptors and trigger them, resulting in a distortion in all such functions of the brain.

Some people experience unusual depression, anxiety for no apparent reason and other psychological disturbances as the long term effects of weed on brain. This is again due to the work of the THC, which affects the proper functioning of neurotransmitters ("vital for transmitting chemical messages between neurons"). In other words, weed impacts the functioning of the brain's neurons. This in turn cause the neurons to do opposite of what they were supposed to. For instance, it is common for people to experience difficulty in remembering instances which occurred 10 minutes before they started to take high doses of weed. This means that the neurons become unable to retrieve memory, once they are affected by the cannabinoid receptors.

To put the different effects of marijuana on the brain, and other parts of the body in points:

Smoking weed may...

• result in temporary short-term memory loss
• cause depression, and extremes of psychological behavior such as excessive laughter and intense sadness
• lead to delusions and disorientation
• cause hallucinations
• create an overpowering sense of fear and distrust
• impair emotions
• give rise to high blood pressure and rapid heart rate
• cause lung cancer
• aggravate ailments such as cough, lung infections, asthma, etc.
• make the regular users vulnerable to heart attack and other heart diseases

All these effects of weed on the brain have been advocated by various researchers, and many users have actually experienced them on themselves. People who deny such effects may feel so, because they might have not experienced any of these effects. But you may never be aware of the damage that the chemicals of the plant is doing to your body, although they are not visible. And by the time all such effects start showing up, matters might have already grown worse and difficult to be reversed. So, the next time you light up your weed, imagine your whole body burning up in smoke with it...