Marijuana use during college and its effects on life outcomes Elizabeth Wong St. Edward’s University Introduction Attitudes about marijuana usage are dynamic amongst college-aged individuals. Additionally, marijuana use is influenced by many outside factors, such as timing and rate of exposure, familial factors, educational goals and expectations, and social norms and influences. Emerging medical claims about marijuana’s potential medical benefits further influences the climate around marijuana usage. These factors are contributing to an increased need to understand how college students perceive marijuana usage and also the effects potential marijuana usage may have on them and their life outcomes. Theme X: Marijuana …show more content…
The researchers designed this experiment to overcome issues associated with previous studies by using data that spanned a seven-year period. The goal of the study was to assess post-college health as a measure of health outcomes for college marijuana users. 1,253 first year college freshmen were recruited for the study. These participants then had an interview with researchers each year for seven years to assess their health status over time. Impairment caused by injury, emotional/mental health issues, quality of life, and illness were assessed to measure health outcomes. Researchers created 6 trajectories to categorize participants (non-use, low-stable, late-increase, early-decline, college peak, and chronic). Calderia, et al., (2012) found that non-users displayed the best health outcomes while late-increase users and chronic users showed the worst health outcomes among participants. Differences among trajectory groups were not noticeable in year one but post-college trajectories differed significantly. The results demonstrated that heavy marijuana use in college can produce negative health outcomes in post-college life. The data suggests that the more frequent marijuana usage is, the more likely someone is to experience negative health …show more content…
(2009). Adverse health effects of non-medical cannabis use. The Lancet, 374, 1383-1391. Hara, M., Huang, D., Weiss, R., & Hser, Y.-I. (2013). Concurrent life-course trajectories of employment and marijuana use: Exploring interdependence of longitudinal outsomes. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 45, 426-432. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2013.05.011 Lev-Ran, S., Le Foll, B., McKenzie, K., & Rehm, J. (2012). Cannabis use and mental health-related quality of life among individuals with anxiety disorders. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 26, 799-810. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2012.07.002 Macleod, J., et al., (2004). Psychological and social sequelae of cannabis and other illicit drug use by young people: a systematic review of longitudinal, general population studies. The Lancet, 363, 1579-1588. Moore, T., Zammit, S., Lingford-Hughes, A., Barnes, T., Jones, P., Margaret Burke, & Lewis, G. (2007). Cannabis use and risk of psychotic or affective mental health outcomes: a systematic review. The Lancet, 370, 319-328. Swain, N. R., Gibb, S. J., Horwood, L. J., & Fergusson, D. M. (2012). Alcohol and cannabis abuse/dependence symptoms and life satisfaction in young adulthood. Drug and Alcohol Review, 31, 327-333.
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Armand, Wynne. "Marijuana: Health effects of recreational and medical use". Ed. Armand,Wynne.Research.2016.Armand provides research information that recreational marijuana can cause health issues in one's life in the forms of long-term and short-term use ranging from battling one's memorization skills, cognitive skills, to how damage to the lungs like bronchitis and asthma. Armand expresses that recreational marijuana is a common use among teenagers to young adults. That how among that age bracket, marijuana consumption is the highest in the nation. That among this bracket when marijuana is consumed in the body, it creates short term effects that can damage these developing brains, which could lead them from growing at the regular pace for
Hall, P. W., & Degenhardt, P. L. (2009, October). Adverse Health Effects of Non-Medical Cannabis Use. The Lancet, 374(9698), 1383-1391.
The marijuana screening inventory is an individually administered test. It was developed as a psychometrically reliable and valid tool for clinical use in general health and primary care settings. This is a thirty-one question assessment that assess the participant need for marijuana. The assessment is completed with paper and pen and takes approximately ten minutes to complete. Participants have the ability of answering yes or no to each question. After the participant has completed the assessment the scores are added calculating yes as one point and no for zero points. Seven or more “Yes” responses suggest a “High Risk-Problematic” pattern of marijuana use; four to six “Yes” responses suggest a “Moderate Risk” pattern; one to three a “Low
“Long term marijuana use can be addictive for some people” (CQ Researcher 531). For those
The use of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana within America throughout the twenty and twenty-first century has been heavily disputed within our own government as well as shaped many of our leaders lives. Even currently, the argument for legalized marijuana is heavily debated and brought to the American public eye through vast media sources. The health risks involved in partaking of tobacco, marijuana, and alcohol can be very consequential, or not at all. Many current political acts, such as Colorado legalizing recreational marijuana, have brought the eligibility of past studies on the health risks of marijuana to the surface as well as the health factors involved with other legal substances. This act followed by many other states has forced the government to reevaluate their stances on the legality of mind altering substances.
“The earlier marijuana use begins and the heavier it becomes, the stronger the tendency to use other drugs is” (Effects of marijuana on youth 2). For instance, it introduces that among high school seniors who use marijuana daily, four times as many report daily alcohol consumption; twice as many report daily tobacco use. People don’t realize how dangerous marijuana can be; when they smoke it, they don’t think about the future consequences but only of the momentaneous pleasure it gives
There are several myths presented to make marijuana seem harmful to one’s health, but many of them have been proven scientifically wrong. Three myths commonly presented and associated with smoking marijuana are: marijuana causes mental permanent mental illness, smoking marijuana is more harmful to the lungs than smoking tobacco, and also marijuana is a gateway drug. Through my research I have found that the commonly believed myths and misconceptions of marijuana intoxication are only social fears of those whom have not done any research on the effects of the drug.
Marijuana is considered in popular culture to be a widely accepted mainstream recreational illegal drug used in the United States; its use comes with severe adverse side effects that are often overlooked. Long-Term use of marijuana 'sis shown to have negative effects on physical, mental, and environmental health. Studies have shown that in the United States, up to 20% of daily marijuana users become dependent (Marijuana and Lung Health) showing a physical or emotional need for the drug. Marijuana use has the potential to affect every aspect of a person 's physical and mental wellbeing negatively. Its use also comes with potentially life-altering risks to one 's future including an individual’s likelihood of obtaining a degree, impacting their future earning potential and decreasing their overall reported life satisfaction. Once dependent on marijuana, people stop caring about their schooling. Long-term use of smoking marijuana can result in the inability to learn, retain information and think critically.
Due to ethical, funding and time constraints, it is incredibly difficult for researchers to get a clear picture of the effect cannabis use has on the development of mental illnesses such as schizophrenia. The field of research is marred with problems, there is still
Medical marijuana refers to the use of cannabis as medical therapy in the palliative sense to treat diseases or alleviate symptoms. This treatment modality has proven to be a highly debatable issue within the medical field due to the use of this substance as an illicit drug. “The National Youth Risk Behavior Survey monitors priority health risk behaviors that contribute to the leading causes of death, disability, and social problems among youth and adults in the United States” (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). The most recent survey conducted on ninth through twelfth grade students in public and private schools throughout the United States indicated that in 2011, a mean of 39.9% of participants reported ever using marijuana one or more times during their lives (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). Although this substance has been most often used for recreational purposes, recent studies have shown that an increasing number of people are fighting to have legislation passed in order for the use medicinal marijuana to be made legal. The populations most affected by such legislation include those positively affected by the use of medical marijuana, patients suffering from chronic and debilitating illnesses, and those who utilize the drug for other reasons associated with recreation and personal pleasure. The issue highlights the beneficial aspect of marijuana use detailing symptom management and improving overall quality of life; and conversely,
It seems every decade marijuana studies show that it has no side effects on users, in turn it become more available like when some states in America had legalized it. Dr Kevin M. Gray believes that the only side effect of smoking weed is the physical addictions it causes, he believes that over 51% of all teens have used weed at least once and the biggest problem we are facing with this rapidly growing drug use is only addiction. Dr Marshall M. Gay believes that the health effects of weed isn’t that much as smoking cigarettes and doesn’t see it a threat to people’s health. “More than half (51%) of adolescents reported that marijuana is fairly or very easy to obtain.2 this ease of availability may have contributed to a recently reported "reverse gateway" from cigarettes use to marijuana”. The more ignored belief is that marijuana can lead to a variety of developmental, mental and physical side effects. The effects of smoking weed can extend to those of smoking cigarettes “studies show regular marijuana use can lead to many of the same
Marijuana is a contrast to tobacco and alcohol when addiction characteristics do not show with the use of marijuana while addiction shows with legal tobacco and alcohol. It shows that less than one in ten marijuana smokers convert to consistent consumers of the drug, and most intentionally terminate their use after age 34, by comparison, 15 percent of alcohol users and 32 percent of tobacco smokers display indicators of drug dependency. Cannabis withdrawal indicators are uncommon and do not need replacement medication to stop the habit. When smoking marijuana comes to an end of an intake, the vast majority of smokers do not feel subjected to uncomfortable withdrawal indicators commanding restarting the use of marijuana.
Marijuana used as a recreational drug, was the subject along with fifty-seven other participants within an experiment. Four Northern Colorado graduates conducted a two-week experiment that requested its participant to smoke as they regularly would, then answer text messages sent at random times. The purpose of this experiment was to see the correlation between marijuana use and cravings. Then, how these factors might interfere with academic motivation and effort through college students. The aim was to see the consequences marijuana caused through the time spent studying, academic performance, and effort (Phillips, Phillips, Lalonde & Tormohlen 2015).
Gray, Kevin M, MD. (2007). Marijuana use, withdrawal, and cravings in adolescents. Psychiatric Times, 24(13), 57.