Abuse and Abdication

 Abuse and Abdication

            Cannabis, also referred to as marijuana, is considered to be a   serious drug that is abused by most people, particularly the youths across the globe.  Most of the marijuanausers usually start to use the drug either formedical or recreational purposes; however, most of the users usually end up being addicted.  In most cases, the use of marijuana tends to affect people’s consciousness in different ways.  Some of the effects on consciousness include; first, it affects the memory in two different ways that include reducingthe availability of the automaticmemory images and also increasing the strength of the memory particularly when it is relevant to the existing central needs(Volkow et al., 2014). Secondly, it affects the attention process mainly by narrowingthe amount of content that one is able to focus or pay attention on.

Marijuana addiction tends to have server consequences both to the user and the community. Some of the effects of addictioninclude; first, one becomes susceptible to abusing other types of drugs such as heroin, and cocaine. Secondly, one is likely to engage in criminal activities in order to raise the capital needed to buy the drugs. The government, in partnership with other support organizations, have come up with several interventions to curb the increased cases of marijuana abuse and addiction. Some of these intervention strategies include, first, introducing strict policies that prevent the sale and use of marijuana.  Most states within the United States that have already developed and implemented these policies have noted a significant change since the rate of marijuana use, and sale has reduced(Volkow et al., 2014). Secondly, the government have also introduced educational programs that are aimed at educating the youth on the dangers of marijuana use.  The main reason for introducing the program in schools is because most of the marijuana abusers and addicts are the teenagers and young adults. .

References

Volkow, N. D., Baler, R. D., Compton, W. M., & Weiss, S. R. (2014). Adverse health effects of marijuana use. New England Journal of Medicine, 370(23), 2219-2227. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4827335/