Marijuana is a psychoactive substance containing delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Marijuana can be defined as a greenish-gray mixture of dried flowers, stems and seeds from the cannabis sativa plant that can be consumed via smoking joints, pipes or water pipes (sometimes referred to as bongs), blunts (rolled cigar wraps containing marijuana), edibles made by mixing it with food or vape pens called e-cigarettes.
THC interacts with CB1 and CB2 receptors located throughout the brain, which play a key role in memory, stress-responsivity, reward/motivation and self-monitoring.
Heavy marijuana users exhibit less activity in areas that regulate attention, learning and memory; some studies even demonstrate a decrease in their IQ; however, this effect is temporary and an individual’s IQ can rebound once they stop smoking pot. Long-term usage during adolescence could alter brain development further and increase risk factors associated with schizophrenia and psychosis as well as poor job performance and lower career achievements.
Studies indicate that chronic marijuana use raises the risk of testicular cancer and may also result in nausea and vomiting – although typically mild, in some people severe side effects may remain long after stopping to use marijuana.
As more research demonstrates the efficacy of marijuana to treat pain from multiple sclerosis and cancer, as well as as an alternative to opioid painkillers for conditions like fibromyalgia, endometriosis and interstitial cystitis, evidence is mounting that marijuana can help. It has also become popular as an effective solution to interstitial cystitis symptoms.
Researchers do not yet have sufficient data on marijuana’s safety or effectiveness against other types of pain, such as headaches and muscle spasms. Furthermore, it remains unknown whether cannabis can prevent or treat illnesses like depression, anxiety and insomnia or protect against HIV, AIDS and other infections.
Marijuana may interact with medications people take for medical reasons, including blood thinners (like warfarin), some chemotherapy drugs, anti-seizure medication and drugs to prevent organ rejection after transplant surgery. Marijuana could also interfere with driving or operating machinery safely.
If you use marijuana and require surgery, inform your physician immediately. THC can take up to 60 minutes to leave your system; during anesthesia sessions this could interfere with breathing.
Marijuana can pose numerous health risks when consumed through smoking and when combined with drugs that relax muscles (such as sedatives). Marijuana use may lead to lung problems when smoking it and an increased risk of heart attack and stroke when combined with other relaxation-inducing drugs, like sedatives. Marijuana use can impair thinking, reaction time coordination judgment which could prove dangerous when driving or operating machinery safely; make someone more susceptible to depression psychosis long term use can even lead to addiction; ongoing use during adolescence can have long term ramifications effects on learning and memory due to marijuana’s impacting parts of the brain that form during this critical development stage of brain development during this stage in brain development affecting specific parts of their development during these crucial years of growth affecting parts of their developing brain development during these critical years.