Marijuana has several names. If you hear the word cannabis, pot, grass, roach, joint, hashish, ganja, hemp, maui wowie, panama red, ragweed and weed, they all refer to marijuana. Marijuana is one of the most widely used illegal drugs, not only in the US but all over the globe.
In our society today, people from ages 13 and above are the most common abusers of marijuana. Experts say that marijuana can lead to psychological addiction. Clearly, people are abusing marijuana because they enjoy the feeling of euphoria which is generally observed after two or three hours of smoking. Another visible effect of smoking weed is a significant change in affect and emotion. Abusers often feel happy and relaxed. Similarly, they become very sensitive to humor, arts and most especially to music. These pleasant feelings, besides from bandwagon effect and peer pressure, are what tempting people to be addicted to marijuana.
On the contrary, there are effects of marijuana that are very harmful to the users and these are often overlooked. As marijuana abusers are only aware of the satisfaction they get from smoking but are completely unaware of the bad effects of it. Knowing these harmful side effects of marijuana will give abusers the reasons to stop abusing this drug.
So why should people stop smoking weed?
For Health Reasons
Smoking marijuana can cause temporary distortion of perception of the users which subsequently disrupts memory. Hence, leads to anxiety or panic attacks.
Furthermore, the abuse of this drug can cause significant lowering of blood pressure. At the same time, it increases the heart rate which leads to increase incidence of heart attack.
Experts say that one joint of marijuana is equivalent to one pack of cigarette. Just imagine how much damage marijuana can do to the lungs and throat of the abusers.
In addition, experts found out that abusers of this drug are likely to have impaired immune system predisposing them to many health care problems.
For Co-Curricular and Academic Reasons
Athletes who used to perform very well in sports are beginning to show trouble with coordination after marijuana abuse. The alteration of the brain activity particularly the coordination of the body is caused by the rapid lost of neurons in the brain due to chemicals found in the marijuana.
Moreover, researches showed that people, mostly teenagers who abuse marijuana tend to have poor performance in school. They are slow to response and hardly remember things. Memorization can be a great concern. They also have difficulties in sustaining attention, registering and processing information.
For Social Reasons
People who smoked this drug, regularly have red bloodshot eye that lasts within two to three hours. This makes them shy and aloof in the crowd and sometimes they only mingle with people who are marijuana addicts too.
Moreover, marijuana abusers seem to have lack of motivation and have no desire to work. They have a lack of concern regarding on how they look, behave and they do not care of the things happening around them. In connection, these attitudes and behaviors of the users are developed due to the psychoactive effects of marijuana. Users are used to pleasurable feeling they get after smoking marijuana.
Marijuana is restricted in many countries because it poses several dangers to the abusers. The things mentioned above are just some of the most obvious reasons to stop smoking weed. It is important to educate people regarding the dangers of marijuana. Teenagers should be the top priority, since they are in the stage wherein they are willing to try almost anything just to gain respect and acceptance from people around them.