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The purpose of this research is to discover the long term effects that marijuana may have o the body and mind. Marijuana has no physically addictive qualities and is widely regarded a s a casual drug however the use of marijuana is increasing as is the potency. Marijuana is chi angina too much to be able to deem it safe or that its health benefits outweigh its negative effects , until we have a clear study that says otherwise marijuana should be illegal and its effects shoo old be studied more.
Marijuana affects your brain and body in different ways, physical symptoms I include, dizziness, dilated eyes, increased appetite and slowed reaction time. Mental e effects can be anything from elation, relaxation, increased interest and creativity to time didst oration, paranoia and anxiety. TECH is the active chemical in marijuana and it affects your entire brain, but mostly affects the hippopotamus, nucleus acumen’s and magical. The amount of T HOC contained in the average strain now is around 13%, 20 years ago it was closer to 4%. NIH 1 ) The potency is rapidly increasing, as are the amount of users, especially youth. Close to h of the population has used marijuana at least once in their lives. (WebMD 1) With the growing ammo ants Of TECH found Hamilton Gentry 2 n the marijuana the effects on the brain and body are changing. The act of be inning high prevents new memories from being formed and is typically referred to as “Greening O t. ” Marijuana is a very lucid drug and is thought to be something that inspires creativity by pop inning up your mind.
This is where health concerns begin to be raised. Different strains of marijuana a create a different high and affect different parts of your body during your high. Static is a very mental and thoughtful high where as Indict can be described as something that is a more harsh and heavier body high. If we can differentiate and mass produce something that affects the brain or body to a different extent out of something that is supposed to be natural, is it really an trial?
With the rising TECH percentage and the mass production of the drug that can take on a NY characteristic the idea of lab created marijuana is not only relevant but it is almost impossible el to overlook. Altering the plant so that it is more potent and breeding the different plants t gather to create “hybrid” strains that contain both the effects of Static and Indict can hardly b e considered natural anymore. With so many trying the drug at its increased potency level ND not really knowing what goes into it anymore, performing research to discover if the dry ugh affects the brain is absolutely imperative.
Emergency room visits related to marijuana have nee early doubled, from 66,000 in 2004 to 1 29,000 in 2011 , according to the Substance Abuse and Men tall Health Services Administration. In addition, because it is so easy to get high now due to the rising potency of the drug mental addiction to the drug has skyrocketed, to 1 in 1 1 I n adults and 1 in 6 in teenagers (NIH 2) Recently, a study was performed by researchers at Northwestern and Hat-vary d University. This study took 40 students ages 1825, 20 of which smoke marijuana at least once a week and Hamilton Gentry 3 20 that do not and have never used the drug.
After conducting their research using Mrs. they were able to determine that two of the emotional and motivational controlling g parts of the brain, the magical and the nucleus acumen’s, are affected adversely by marijuana a. The studies have shown increased size and different shape of the nucleus acumen’s which “is at the core of motivation, the core of pleasure and pain, and every decision that you make,” explained Dry. Hans Beerier, a researcher at Northwestern University.
This study not only focused on those with long term use but began to investigate the brains of casual users which were chain gin like the heavy users but at a much slower pace. At the end of the experiment the casual use r s could be identified in the study, it was obvious that there was a difference from both extremes. T his challenges the age old idea that casual marijuana use won’t hurt you at all. In another study, Dry. Gillian, an instructor at Harvard University; studied the behavior of a chronic smoker named Emma to learn more about motivation, decision ma king, focus, memory and mental dependence.
Emma was asked to complete a series of tests that c loud be affected by high amounts of TECH, such as: the ability to delay gratification or monetary re ward ($30 dollars today or $45 in 10 days), motivation (a harder game offering a bigger payout), risk taking (asked to go bungee jumping and eat high cholesterol foods), and memory (read a list t of words and asked to repeat words back). To finish off, when she was done she was asked if she craved a joint, she answered “somewhat. ” This is the sign of mental addiction, after co melting roughly 3 hours worth of tasks she felt compelled to smoke marijuana.
Altering the ere art system of your brain is another issue that is being brought to the forefront of the argument, Dry. Follow, the expounder Of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, has reminded us that part Wing on Saturday and having the TECH in your system the next day can hinder motivation concern inning school work Hamilton Gentry 4 due to the fact that there is no reward except for getting the paper done. “Woo irking memory is key for learning,” Dry. Beerier said. “If I were to design a substance that is bad f or college students, it would be marijuana. The one drug that many people believe to b relatively safe is actually the worst thing to expose youth to due to their still growing brains an d learning still taking place. Several studies have been performed on rats to test how the TECH will affect the Eire brains in life. For example, rats exposed to TECH from their time in outer up until thee r adolescence show learning and memory problems later in life in addition to cognitive imp airmen. During the aging process people lose neurons in the hippopotamus which decreases the e ease and speed of learning new information.
A study that exposed the animals to TECH everyday f or 1/3rd of their ivies showed that the level of nerve cell loss equaled that of unexposed anima Is twice their age. (NIH 2) The most prevalent question for those studying this is “if a chronic use r stops using drugs that contain TECH will the effects on the brain go away? ” In short, yes. Aft weeks, about the amount of time it takes to flush marijuana out of your system for a drug test, brain function returned to normal in all cited tests.
In conclusion, constant use of m Managua compounds the effects on the brain but as soon as the TECH exposure is cut o fifth brain will eventually return to normal. Not only the brain but the body is affected as well. Swelling of the blood vessel Is in the eyes is what gives that trademark red and glassy look, heartbeat speeds up by about 2050 beats per minute due to the stimulation despite the relaxed feel that comes with the e effects, and the harsh smoke can damage your lungs and throat. (WebMD) Many who frequent TTYL smoke marijuana consistently have a severe cough that can lead to upper respiratory problems later in Hamilton Gentry 5 life.
Despite not having the added chemicals of cigarettes the act of inhalation is the same and this can create acute chest illness and an increased chance of lung infection. I n addition, it is possible that smoking marijuana could contribute to lung cancer due to the c organogenesis in the plant but this has not been proven, just speculated. The reason this is a cone urn is because of the smoke form of the plant has a large amount of enzymes that convert certain benign molecules in cancer causing molecules at an increased rate.
Holding the smoke in for longer r exposes the lungs to the carcinogenic smoke for an extended period Of time, which makes the p recess accelerate even more. This however, has not been proven and an unidentified active ingrain denied in the plant mess to protect against the increased conversion rate which disproves most of the studies regarding the increased possibility of cancer. In another study in the Journal of the International Neurophysiology Society y an experiment similar to the one at Northwestern and Harvard Universities was conducted in 2003 with over 1 000 people.
This study found almost none of the same evidence the at the more current study found. Only 8 of the 1, 1 88 people showed the same symptoms as the p attentions found in the current study. The differentiation found in the brain in this study can be ruled as an outlier whereas in the current study it was close to law. In fact the only things that w ere found to be even remotely wrong with the chronic users was their memory and it ‘Was in t he acceptable safety range due to the health benefits of the drug. Is this due to the rising a mount of TECH found in marijuana or was the current study simply less thorough than the pa SST? In the current study each patient was only given one MR. which leaves out the (slim) possible itty of the sample group having a similar tendency that has the same effect on the brain. For ex ample, alcohol. The Hamilton Gentry 6 duty has given us good data but the thoroughness was severely lacking and t his jeopardizes the validity of the results. The health benefits of marijuana aren’t often talked about but should at least enter the discussion if the drug is being treated as a danger.
From stopping the pain an d spread of certain cancer cells (different from the possible carcinogenic cells created mentioned earlier) to easing the pain of multiple sclerosis and preventing seizures. It has health benefits, b UT many only see it as a harmful drug. Reducing anxiety, increasing appetite and promoting health why rest may not me like Very important things to many but for some marijuana is the only the inning that can help them feel calm or get a good nights rest. Aside from the specifically disease TA regret health benefits it has a plethora of other effects that make it a very useful tool for so me that struggle with everyday issues.
In summary, much of the research points to negative long term health effects and many problems that could end up affecting you for life. However, negative changes I n attention and drive last less than 24 hours and most, if not all, other negative health effects return to normal a month after use is discontinued. Psychiatry Reports) A concrete and definitive e study is necessary to test the long term effects of marijuana on the brain and body. D abates between negative and neutral positive effects on mental and physical health while using marijuana are split right down the middle, just like legalization of the drug.
The one reason why no tests that give a definitive answer have been performed, legality. Until the drug is legalize De we won’t know what it will do to us, but to legalize it we need to know how we will react to chronic use. Study after study shows that marijuana is not doing the damage that it is port rayed to be causing y big name research studies that are influenced by certain interest groups. A t the moment it is Hamilton Gentry 7 illegal, and the only concrete research we have is that the drugs long term beef sects may cap at a month and won’t affect people after its completely out of the system.
Within t he next 10 years a more clear picture will be formed, but at this point we just don’t know enough to justify dubbing this drug as something safe for recreational use. Hamilton Gentry 8 Reflection 1 . What is your thesis statement? Copy and paste here. Marijuana is changing too much to be able to deem it safe or that its health b unfits outweigh its negative effects, until we have a clear study that says otherwise marijuana SSH loud be illegal and its effects should be studied more. 2. Who is your audience?
You and my classmates, I am writing in a way that communicates the informal ion but provides scientific evidence behind it to establish my credibility and make the paper SE me very research focused despite having an emotional topic. 3. What kinds of rhetorical strategies did you employ in order to persuade you our audience? (Ethos, pathos, logos, others? ) Provide one specific example of a rhetorical star taste that you use in your essay. Seed Logos in my paper, for a research paper this is the most relevant and e effective rhetorical strategy. Only 8 of the 88 people showed the same symptoms as the Patti .NET found in the current study. ” (JINN 1) 4. How is the evidence you use especially relevant to your audience? The brunt of my evidence is research studies about my topic. As I said earlier I was trying to approach this from a scientific standpoint that everyone could understand. Ex planning negative health effects to academics through science is the most effective way to do the at. 5. How is your organization especially relevant to your audience?
Hamilton Gentry 9 My essay organization simply divided up each study or question and gave it a separate paragraph. 1 . Which peer comments did you use in your revisions? Which did you ignore? Be specific and explain why you used or ignored them. Was absent for peer reviews. So I didn’t receive any feedback but still felt strop Eng about this. 2. What did you do particularly well in this essay? (You might point to a particular paragraph or even a particular sentence. ) What makes this part noteworthy? Live my use of evidence and commentary on the evidence was the strong est. part of this say, there wasn’t anything incredibly specific but feel that overall it’s very s throng; 3. If you had more time, which part would you continue to work on? Why? Suppose cleaning up the latter half would be good, it’s not bad I just feel that the front half is stronger. 4. Did you enjoy choosing your own topic or would you have preferred an assai need topic? Can go either way to be honest, I liked the freedom from this but I think an e exciting research topic would be fine too.
For example everyone could write down their topics a ND then you assign random topics from the pool to everyone, so we effectively research the inter SST Off peer. That could be fun. 5. How would you change this research assignment? Please be specific! Your c moments help me generate and revise assignments for future classes. I greatly appreciate et your suggestions and feedback! Hamilton Gentry ID wouldn’t change this, this is a good project and it’s valuable to us because w e have to learn to do this since it appears it’ll be happening a lot no matter what major you are.
The study was conducted with 40 college students, 20 who smoked and 20 who didn’t. The study showed that several p arts of the brain were affected by the use of marijuana. All of the researchers involved in this project re specialized neuroscience. I plan to use this source to showcase the dang errs of marijuana on the brain, this will allow me to give adverse commentary on the us object. Rating, Melinda, MD. “Marijuana Marijuana Use and Effects of Marijuana. ” We BMW. WebMD, 09 cot 2014. Web. 05 NOVO. 2014.
This source is a compilation of research about the effects of marijuana on the brain and body. This is laid out well and easy to understand which will allow me to take the baa sic points and effects of the drug and reiterate them for my audience. This is a relatively short article but the quality and density of the information is my objective. The article speak KS about Hamilton Gentry 11 physical and mental effects while using the drug in addition to the accompany De risks. I plan to use this article to give basic information about the drug for someone who does not know the effects.
Follow, Nora D. , MD. “Marijuana. ” How Does Marijuana Use Affect Your Brain and Body? National Institute on Drug Abuse, 13 July 2012. Web. 05 Novo. 2014. This source bridges the gap between the current research and the basic inform nation I have about the drug offering an in depth analysis of the effects of the drug and it’s effect s on the body and brain explained through science. This source provides a scientific explanation of how the drug works and gives an in depth description of it’s effects and the consequences t hat could be suffered on you.
I plan to use this source as material that will back up other re search that I have, I see this is a complementary SOUrce because Of how it explains things. Rearmament, Paul. “Why the Media’s Overmastering on Marijuana Effects on t he Brain Is Faulty. ” Alternate Drugs. Alternate, n. D. Web. 18 Novo. 2014. Attempted to create a short rebuttal to the overwhelming amount of negative e studies and evidence that I was using. This makes discussion more of an option than giving the reader a one sided view of the topic.