SoberBlog

The short-term effects of marijuana include: problems with memory and learning; distorted perception (sights, sounds, time, touch); trouble with thinking and problem solving; loss of coordination; and increased heart rate, anxiety. These effects are even greater when other drugs are mixed with the marijuana; and users do not always know what drugs are given to them.

What are the long-term effects of marijuana use?

Findings so far show that regular use of marijuana or THC may play a role in some kinds of cancer and in problems with the respiratory, immune, and reproductive systems.

Cancer

It's hard to know for sure whether regular marijuana use causes cancer. But it is known that marijuana contains some of the same, and sometimes even more, of the cancer-causing chemicals found in tobacco smoke. Studies show that someone who smokes five joints per week may be taking in as many cancer-causing chemicals as someone who smokes a full pack of cigarettes every day.

Lungs and Airways

People who smoke marijuana often develop the same kinds of breathing problems that cigarette smokers have: coughing and wheezing. They tend to have more chest colds than nonusers. They are also at greater risk of getting lung infections like pneumonia.

Immune System

Animal studies have found that THC can damage the cells and tissues in the body that help protect people from disease. When the immune cells are weakened, you are more likely to get sick.

Resources:

National Institute on Drug Abuse

Preventing Drug Abuse Among Children and Adolescents

Marijuana:

Addictive drug with potentially hallucinogenic properties, obtained from the flowering tops, stems, and leaves of the hemp. Resins found on the surface of the female plant are used to prepare the most potent form of marijuana, hashish. The primary active substance is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Marijuana is prepared by crushing the dried flowering cannabis top and leaves into a tealike substance, which is usually rolled into a cigarette (a joint) and smoked. The effects are felt within minutes. The user may experience a distorted sense of time and distance, suffer reduced attention span and loss of memory. Higher doses also cause impaired judgment, slowed reaction time, limited motor skills, confusion of time sense, and short-term memory loss.

Marijuana Signs And Symptoms:

The primary effects of marijuana are behavioral, because the drug affects the central nervous system (CNS). Popular use of marijuana has arisen from its effects of euphoria, sense of relaxation, increased visual, auditory, and taste perceptions that may occur with low to moderate doses of the drug. Unpleasant effects that may occur include depersonalization, changed body image, disorientation and acute panic reactions or severe paranoia. Some cases of severe delirium and hallucinations have also been reported. Such cases should raise suspicion that the marijuana may have been laced with another agent such as PCP.Other marijuana effects may include injected (blood-shot) eyes; increased heart rate and blood pressure; bronchodilatation, or in some users, bronchial irritation leading to bronchoconstriction and/or bronchospasm; pharyngitis, sinusitis, bronchitis, and asthma in heavy users; reversible infertility due to decreased sperm motility and counts in male users; and possible detrimental effects upon the immune system.Other Signs include: panic and paranoid reactions, depression, schizophrenia behavior, short term memory loss, excessive hunger and thirst.

Resources and Support:

SoberRecovery: Alcohol and Addictions Help Site

Promises: Residential Treatment in Southern California

Support Systems Homes: Treatment and Sober Living in Northern California

The Treatment Directory: Inpatient, Outpatient and Detox Referrals

Certain behaviors are known to be possible early signs of an alcohol problem. These include any established pattern of drinking, such as heavy regular alcohol consumption and/or frequent intoxication, which poses a high risk of future damage to physical or mental health and which places the drinker at risk of accidents, arrests, poor job performance or other social problems.

Alcohol dependence, sometimes referred to as alcoholism, is the most severe type of alcohol problem and is characterized by three of seven symptoms experienced during a one-year time period. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, the symptoms of alcohol dependence include:

1) Neglect of other Activities - Important social, occupational, or recreational activities are given up or reduced because of alcohol use;
2) Excessive Use - Alcohol is consumed in larger amounts over a longer period than intended;
3) Impaired control - Ongoing, unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control alcohol consumption; 4) Persistence of Use - Alcohol consumption is continued despite knowledge of having a persistent or recurrent physical or psychological problem that is likely caused or exacerbated by alcohol;
5) Large Amounts of Time Spent in Alcohol Related Activities - A great deal of time is spent in activities necessary to obtain, use or recover from the effects of alcohol;
6) Withdrawal - Withdrawal symptoms, such as nausea, sweating, shakiness, and anxiety when alcohol use is stopped after a period of heavy drinking;
7) Tolerance - The need for increasing amounts of alcohol in order to feel its effects.

Alcoholism:

A treatable illness brought on by harmful dependence upon alcohol, which is physically and psychologically addictive. As a disease, alcoholism is primary and chronic, with genetic, psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development and manifestations. The disease is progressive and fatal. It is characterized by continuous or periodic: impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and distortions in thinking, most notably denial.