Marijuana is a more harmful drug then people make it out to be. Over 70 million of American’s ages 12 and over have tried marijuana at least once. You might ask why. Are they aware of the harmful effects marijuana has to the body? A growing problem with teenagers is believing that marijuana will not do anything to them. They enjoy the high they experience for a short amount of time but do not think it will make a long term impact in their lives. Some of them just end up as burnouts with no aspirations in life like Sean. It is important for people of all ages to know that marijuana destroys relationships, causes a loss of motivation, and inflicts mental and physical problems.

There are many negative effects and consequences associated with using marijuana regularly. The main chemical that your bodily systems react to in marijuana is called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). It is not the only chemical that is working when you’re puffing away (Goodwin 21). There are over 1000 chemicals in marijuana that work to affect your body (Hager 23). Within approximately ten minutes of having marijuana in your system you will start to feel the effects. Short term negative effects of marijuana include anxiousness and paranoia. This is more common in inexperienced users. Regular users report having anxiety attacks when trying more potent marijuana (Goodwin 21). Your short term memory will also be temporarily impaired (“Marijuana: Personality & Behavior”). In an interview with a marijuana user he tells me of his experiences. In reference to memory loss he said, “Sometimes, I’ll just be sitting there, and I’ll completely forget where I am. Then a few seconds later I remember. It’s weird” (Interview). The reason you lose short term memory is because the cannabinoids, which are all the chemicals found exclusively in marijuana, attach to the hippocampus section of the brain. This is a region of the brain where new information is processed and sent to your long term memory. The marijuana user also said, “Sometimes I don’t remember much of what happens when I smoke weed” (Interview). The process of transferring information from the short term memory to long term memory is interfered in the hippocampus, therefore the information is lost. This is why students who go to school high have an impaired capability of learning. Regular users will start to see a decrease in their school and athletic performance. Grades will begin to drop and previous interests will not matter anymore. “Yeah, I used to play sports. Not anymore, though” (Interview). Teenagers may become so involved in the drug that nothing else matters anymore. Eventually, some will struggle to maintain certain relationships, including family members. “When I started smoking weed it brought me into a different crowd of friends and I didn’t talk to my old ones as much. I hardly see them around anymore” (Interview). The old loyal friends who they grew up with suddenly do not seem as interesting to heavy users anymore. They would rather talk about drugs and the old friends may not be into that. The user will find friends with similar interests, pot, and will soon forget about the old friends. When I asked about his relationship with his family he said, “Ehh. They don’t know what I do so I don’t really get in trouble for that. I don’t talk to them much but enough. They nag me about my grades a lot” (Interview). I then proceeded to ask what kind of grades he got. “I get mostly C’s and D’s. I’ve only failed one class. I don’t do that bad in class. I don’t get in trouble” (Interview). When I asked him what kind of grades he receive

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