Psychological Effects Of Marijuana Research Paper

Psychological Disorders associated with Marijuana
When I started my research I was initially interested in marijuana legalization and the debate between why or why not our country should legalize the substance all together. However, throughout my time researching valid points on why cannabis is illegal now and reasons why it shouldn’t be illegal, I found myself more drawn to the psychological studies of the substance. The certain psychological effects the drug has on certain people became very appealing to me, as I wanted to learn more and find out the reason marijuana effects some people in a psychologically negative way. The one thing that turned me on to further investigate the topic of the psychological effects of marijuana, was when
In the journal entry "Psychiatric Effects of Cannabis," by Andrew Johns, Johns described the short-lived psychological symptoms of smoking marijuana by quoting, “Cannabis use can lead to a range of short-lived symptoms such as depersonalisation, derealisation, a feeling of loss of control, fear of dying, irrational panic and paranoid ideas.”(Johns 116) Johns supports this quote by supporting it with the research conducted by researcher Thomas H. Thomas H. conducted a survey for cannabis users, and discovered that 15% described feeling psychotic symptoms such as hearing voices or having unwarranted feelings of persecution or risk of harm from others. Johns also uses the finding of researcher W. Hall to further support his statement were W. Hall addresses the fact that marijuana triggers a psychosis in many people by quoting, “Cannabis use may lead to an acute functional psychosis, similar to an acute schizophrenia like state and lacking the organic features of a toxic psychosis.”(Johns 116) The definition of psychosis is, a mental disorder in which thought and emotions are so impaired that contact is lost with external reality. All of the short-lived symptoms of cannabis users experienced explained by Johns, are all examples of a temporary psychosis according to the findings of
Szalavitz starts the article off by stating, “Researchers have also long noted a link between marijuana use and the chronic psychotic disorder, schizophrenia.”(Szalavitz 1) The reason this quote went so well with the research of the psychological disorders attributed to marijuana use is because she compares the two major disorders, psychosis and schizophrenia, so well by explaining how schizophrenia is just a chronic psychotic disorder. I found this article so valuable because she knows she is not a scientist but she is taking valid facts and using them in a way that doesn’t make any false assumptions but rather interesting results. For Example, Szalavitz quotes, “Studies have found that people with schizophrenia are about twice as likely to smoke pot as those who are unaffected. Conversely, data suggest that those who smoke cannabis are twice as likely to develop schizophrenia as nonsmokers.” (Szalavitz 2) The first part of this quote supports the above article by Verdoux, were Szalavitz states people with schizophrenia are about twice as likely to smoke pot as those who are unaffected, just as Verdoux made the point that people with psychosis are more likely to smoke pot as well. These two articles make it evident that people with a vulnerability to these two mental