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Recommended: Psychological effects of marijuana use

Cannabis stimulates the brain because of the active ingredient Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which stimulates special receptors in the brain. Different strains of cannabis either effects the Cannabinoid receptor type 1(CB1) or Cannabinoid receptor type (CB2). These receptors are stimulated by THC which acts similarly to the substance Anandamide, which develops naturally in the brain. Like all psychoactive drugs, cannabis activities the mesocorticolimbic dopamine pathway which helps stimulate the “pleasure center” of the brain. All forms of addiction are derived from this pathway as dopamine is the one chemical in your brain that every psychoactive drug impacts. The CB1 and CB2 receptors are found throughout all the neurons in the brain which attributes to the many effects of cannabis. Cannabis affects the brain by blocking the inhibitory systems in the brain. By blocking this system in the brain that blocks your senses, effects such as increased awareness, slower perception of time and euphoria occur when one is using cannabis. In addition, effects such impaired memory, broken speech and impaired mechanical ability are also caused by cannabis use. Cannabis can be consumed by smoking, vaporizing, eating or being applied to the body surface by some form of cream. When compared to legal and illegal drugs, cannabis has been recently perceived as less harmful and less addictive. This change is perception has led nations to reevaluate the legal status of cannabis to determine should it be decriminalized and legalized. Countries like the Netherlands and Uruguay have either legalized it for personal use or total while countries like the United States has cannabis declared illegal on the federal level but many states have chosen to decrimin...

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... whether nations that prohibit drugs should really consider decriminalizing drugs as their policies place an unfair target on certain segments of the population and use money that could be used for treating drug addiction instead of criminalizing users. The future brings us uncertainty about drugs and our world and we need to be prepared to address these issues as they arise in order to promote good public health which will lead to a healthier society.

Works Cited
Degenhardt, L., Lepine, J. P., Kostyuchenko, S., Karam, A., Chiu, W., Sampson, N., et al. (2008). Toward A Global View Of Alcohol, Tobacco, Cannabis, And Cocaine Use: Findings From The WHO World Mental Health Surveys. PLoS Medicine, 5(7), e141. der Brink, W. v. (2008). Forum: decriminalization of cannabis. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 21, 122-126.

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