Today within our society Marijuana is used by many Americans. Marijuana is a combination of dried seeds, stems and flowers of a hemp plant named Cannabis Sativa. This plant is a drug because of a mind altering chemical named delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is found in the plant. This drug today is being used by individuals of all age groups, some for recreational purpose and others for their own use.

Within some areas of the United States marijuana has become legalized for medical purposes, for example it is used by cancer patients in order to help them cope with chemo therapy pain. This drug is becoming more acceptable in our society because people are beginning to see the positive effects and uses of the drug. Its recreational purposes to cope with stress, build up appetite, help lose weight etc., are some reasons why people are having more open views towards marijuana use. But still, marijuana has its cons, which outweighs the good. Many studies have observed the negative effects of marijuana on attention, behaviors such as mood alterations, impulsivity and many more.

Several studies have been done to study the effects of marijuana on our behavior. Its been said that in both men and women marijuana may display similar affects in cognitive abilities as a result of marijuana use (Anderson et al., 2010). Several studies have been done to analyze the effects of marijuana on the impulsivity of preteens and young adults. One study observed how level of impulse control and attention led to the exposure or use of drugs and alcohol in adolescents / preteens. This study found that adolescents who have shown continuous increased problems with attention and impulse control from a young age, end up developing substance abuse problems such as marijuana addiction. (King, Fleming, Mohann, and Catalano, 2011) Dougherty et al., (2012) found that marijuana is associated to consequence impulsivity sensitivity, cognitive and behavioral impairments and short term memory recall. However, it’s been exemplified that the more control and resistance a person obtains results to increased control over the “high” and its affects (Simons and Carey, 2002).

References
Anderson et al. 2010. Sex, drugs and cognition: Effects of marijuana. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs.
Dougherty et al. 2013. Impulsivity, attention, memory, and decision-making amongst adolescent marijuana users. Pharmacology.
King, Fleming, Mohann, & Catalano. 2011. Changes in self-control problems and attention problems during middle school predict alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use during high school. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors 25.1.
Simons & Carey 2002. Risk and vulnerability for marijuana use problems: The role of affect dysregulation. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors 16.1.