Physical and Mental Impacts of Cannabis Usage
There are many negative physical and mental impacts of using cannabis. Some of the immediate impacts that occur when you're smoking cannabis includes, anxiety, paranoia, altered vision, low blood pressure, increased heart rate, loss of coordination and balance. Some of the long term effects include impaired memory and learning ability (cannabis damages the central nervous system which controls these things), cannabis-induced psychosis and even chronic disease. All these impacts make performing simple, everyday tasks like driving and going to school etc... extremely difficult. For example, if you are under the effects of cannabis, there is two times the risk that you will have a car accident when you are driving. Being under the influence of cannabis is extremely dangerous for not only yourself physically, but others around you.
The photo below show the long term effects of cannabis on the body.
The photo below show the long term effects of cannabis on the body.
Economic Impact of Cannabis Usage
Constant cannabis usage, especially for teenagers who often don't have a steady source of income, can have large economic impact. For example, to purchase cannabis, especially if you become addicted, is costly and then having to pay for medication to overcome its physical impacts adds financial pressure. Also, if after constant cannabis usage you develop a serious disease, or if you were to have a car accident induced by cannabis, the hospital bills would be extremely expensive and create a huge negative, economic impact on yourself and your family. Finally, it costs the government to provide facilities and resources like ambulances, hospitals, doctors etc... to care for people with drug use related problems/accidents caused by drugs. These issues could be easily avoided if people did not do drugs, but instead, it is costing the government a huge amount of money, which could have been spent on something more worth while like education.
Social Impact of Cannabis Usage
There are multiple negative social impacts caused by teenage cannabis usage. For example, family relationships will begin to crumble. If you are constantly high on cannabis, you are unable to engage and connect properly with your family. This can lead to distance between you and your parents or siblings. Another point regarding teen cannabis usage and it's social impacts, is it that it destabilises family dynamics. If you are under the effects of cannabis, you can turn angry, anxious, moody, depressed and even violent. Your family will not want to be around you, which can cause feelings of isolation, leading to heavier drug use. Overall, teenage drug usage takes a huge social toll on families. Another example of a social impact caused by cannabis usage is conflict between friends. Often, peers will try to help a friend when they sense drug usage going on which can provoke an argument between the friends, as the drug user will most likely get defensive and irrational, especially if they are under the influence. Eventually, none of your friends will want to spend time with you, if you're constantly high as you can't participate in conversations and activities fully, making you a negative person to be around. You will start to develop a bad reputation and most likely find yourself with very few friends left.
Legal Impact of Cannabis Usage
There are huge legal impacts of cannabis usage, even if you're just a teenager. For example, if you are caught in possession of cannabis you can get fined, or if you have a large amount, even go to jail. These things will be on your criminal record forever, which will make finding a job in the future harder. Also, people in the community are not as accepting to people with a criminal record and could treat you differently forever.