Marijuana Case Study

Amber Delacruz

Mr. Lawrence

AP Psychology

November 27, 2012

Marijuana

What is marijuana? Marijuana is a psychoactive drug also known as weed, pot, grass, etc. The main ingredient in marijuana is called THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), which travels through the bloodstream to the brain and other organs. Marijuana has various effects when being used. It can also have both long term and short term effect on your body. There are multiple ways to treat this when people get addicted to the drug.

The effects of marijuana usually depend on differing factors from the person's state of mind to how the high comes within doses. When taken in low doses, it causes to have an heightened state of intense happiness and excitement. In medium doses, it causes a person to see different things compared to "normal responses", but different from an hallucination. High doses can come with hallucinations, delusions, and may cause an inability for a person to see themselves at a normal body image, but will make them feel their body is distorted.

Marijuana can have both short term and long term effects on the human body. Some short term effects include loss of coordination and distortions in the sense of time, vision and hearing. Other short term effects are sleepiness, reddening of the eyes, increased appetite, relaxed muscles and heart rate can increase. School performance is also reduced through impaired memory and lessened ability to solve problems. Long term use can cause psychological problems. It also can wreck the heart, the lungs and worsen the symptoms of bronchitis and cause wheezing and coughing. It might also reduce the human body's ability to fight off lung infections and illness Although marijuana can cause various changes in brain functioning, there is no evidence that long term marijuana use can cause permanent damage.

The more a person induces marijuana, the more a person becomes addicted. When becoming addicted, it means that they have a compulsive want to get and use the drugs. When you have an addiction, you should get treatment. Individuals with drug problems do not realize this and therefore, do not seek help. What is the best way to seek help? The first step in getting this treatment is admitting you have a problem. It seems like an easy step, but for drug abusers, it is very difficult because they are so dependent on it. These people find it difficult to get over because they believe this is their solution to problems, fears, etc. Once you admit you have a problem, you can actually take the next step, which is to legit enter a program. Within that program, they have four goals: Help the person face up to their addiction. Then, they have you begin a stress management program, which is to help reduce anxiety and tension without drugs.