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Effects Of Chronic, Heavy Cannabis Use On The Executive Brain Function

What is cannabis?

This is a plant which is commonly known as marijuana and by many other names. Though this plant is sometimes used for medicinal value, it is commonly used for recreational purposes as a depressant. If the drug is taken in large doses it can be an hallucinogen.

What makes cannabis to have effects in the brain?

Heavy Cannabis There is a specific chemical which is found in the cannabis, and which is responsible for the effects that cannabis have in the brain. This chemical is called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). This chemical varies in quantity in the cannabis depending on factor such as the part of plant that is used, the plant variety, and the condition under which the plant was grown. This is what makes cannabis from different geographical areas to be different.

When this chemical enters in the brain, it causes the user to have a ‘high’ feeling. This is because the chemical (THC) enter the brain reward system and activates it. This occurs by stimulating the brain cells to release another chemical known as dopamine.

How does cannabis have medicinal value then?

Cannabis when taken in small doses may cause little or no harm in your body. When it is abused can have an intense negative effect on your body though. For medicinal value of cannabis, small doses are administered due to the properties of the chemical THC which emulates properties which make it have medicinal value. These properties are:-

Cannabis has shown to be effective as an anti-nausea drug.
It has also shown to be effective in the treatment of glaucoma, which is a very serious eye condition.
It has likewise shown to be valuable in stopping loss in weight, improving moods and also easing of pain. This is according to (National Task Force on Cannabis 1994:17)

What are the effects of using cannabis?

Just like we earlier mentioned, when cannabis is abused it can have effects on the user. These effects can be categorized as either short term or long-term effects. There are effects which will be witnessed after a short period of abuse, while there are others which may take quite long before they are witnessed on the cannabis user. In most cases, the short-term effects are the ones considered as effects of cannabis abuse.

The following are the general effects of cannabis abuse:-

Mood fluctuations – the person experiences mood changes occasionally, revolving around relaxed, ‘high’, sleepy, anxious depressed and many other mood forms.
Impaired memory and attention – the person faced difficulty in remembering as well as paying attention.
Stronger sensory experience
Increased heart beat rate may result
The person may be faced with dizziness and nausea
Cannabis abuse has been associated with abnormal hunger.
May cause dilated pupils and blood-shot eyes.
Other effects of cannabis abuse worthy mentioning are confusion, anxiety, hallucination, delusion, agitation and sometimes paranoia. In the long run, apart from these short term effects of cannabis, it may lead to smoking related cancers. This is in the most cases the respiratory system cancer. It may also lead to permanent memory loss and difficulty in learning.

What effects can cannabis abuse have on employees?

The effects of cannabis in employees may make the workplace an abyss. In any given workplace, teamwork is key, but how the employees relate determines whether teamwork will ever exist in a given firm. The usage of cannabis by either the employees or the CEO affects the workplace in the following ways:-

Poor interpersonal relations – the employees will not relate well, since the cannabis effect of ‘highness’ cause disrespect. The cannabis user rarely relates well with the other employees and hardly respects the authority.
Poor/ low output – the output of the employees who use cannabis decline. This is as a result of impairment in memory and retention of instruction. For instance, a person may forget how a given machine is normally operated, though he/she has been working with it before.
Activities such as meetings and time bound tasks will be negatively affected. This is especially the case with the person whose memory has been affected and cannot remember scheduled events like meetings.

Heavy Cannabis

Accident proneness – the employee who uses cannabis will be at a high risk of causing accident especially if he/she is working by use of machines which can cause accidents. For instance, if an employee was using an electrically powered machine, a small mistake may lead to shock or even loss of one’s live.
The levels of error are high- this can be a serious problem especially with doctors, where a small error may cost life of a patient. If a doctor is using cannabis, errors such as wrong prescription of drugs, inappropriate operation, misinterpretation of results etc. may occur, causing damage or loss of live of the patient. Imagine of a surgeon who is to do a surgery but he/she is in cannabis ‘highness!’ actually a serious damage may occur, since the surgeon cannot be keen with details.
Relationship with clients will be negatively affected. A cannabis user cannot maintain good relationship with the clients since his/her attention may be impaired. This causes clients/ customer decline in numbers over time and hence losses to the firm.

If you need help with cannabis addiction or know of a friend suffering from this addiction, call in live or email us and we will help you get trusted treatment and advice. We are true professionals with proven track records and are very reliable in treatment.