The 8 Short-term Effects Of Marijuana On The Brain
Marijuana is one of the most consumed psychotropic substances in the world, and its legalization in various Western countries is causing more people to consume it regularly.
In this article we will see the effects that marijuana has on the brain in the short term that is, alterations that in most cases are transitory.
What are the main short-term effects of marijuana on the brain?
Frequent consumption of this substance can cause a wide variety of problems for both the physical and psychological health of the person who does it, problems whose variety always depends on the specific characteristics of the individual.
In addition to that, short-term marijuana use can also cause a series of symptoms and very harmful effects on the brain, due to the release of THC in the person’s nervous system, which has a powerful psychotropic effect
THC is one of the main active ingredients in marijuana and its effects are being widely studied by medical science.
Below we will briefly see some of the main short-term effects that anyone’s brain experiences when consuming marijuana.
1. Decreases the ability to concentrate
Decreased ability to concentrate is one of the first symptoms that a person who uses marijuana may experience. This is caused by the relative inhibition of brain activity in large areas of the frontal lobes in charge of executive functions.
This loss in the ability to concentrate can affect both your daily tasks, such as professional or academic work, and the ability to successfully establish social relationships of all kinds with friends, family or strangers.
2. It affects decision making
The lack of efficiency in decision making is another of the alterations that are experienced in the short term when a person begins to consume cannabis, and it is also one of the most obvious symptoms of cognitive deficit that can be observed in the performance of people who are under the influence of this drug.
The deficit in making complex decisions that a person experiences is produced by the amount of ADHD found in the brain, and it is the main substance that makes the correct functioning of the nervous system impossible (although in marijuana there are other molecules that interact with neurons, like CBD).
There are many tasks in which a deficit in decision-making can be seen due to cannabis use, some of them may be: performing mathematical operations, studying for an exam, etc.
3. Memory leak
Memory loss is another of the classic short-term effects of marijuana and is also one of the most visible symptoms that are easiest to detect for the person who has recently taken this drug.
This phenomenon has its cause in the effects that THC causes on the hippocampus, a brain region of great importance that has the function of, among other things, generating new memories. Therefore, although long-term memory is not affected, it happens that the person does not remember well what happened in the previous minutes or hours
Although annabis is popularly associated with relaxation and sociability, people who consume cannabis can also notice a notable impact on their personality and see how his character becomes progressively more irritable and even aggressive
This symptomatology does not affect everyone equally and is related to the impairment of ADHD in various regions of the brain responsible for controlling higher cognitive functions, movement or motor control, and body coordination.
5. Enhances anxiety
Although there is a myth that recreational marijuana consumption can have some therapeutic effects on the person, mainly related to the reduction of anxiety states, the truth is that in a large part of the population it can have the opposite effect.
Using marijuana for the first time can generate in some people a feeling of anxiety, discomfort or suffering that can be aggravated depending on how long the effects of ADHD last on their brain, and even lead to severe episodes of anxiety and paranoid thoughts It is due to the way in which the brain temporarily loses the ability to “counteract” the influence of the limbic system on the rest of the areas of the brain.
6. Generates disorientation
Disorientation is also one of the common effects that people who consume marijuana suffer in the short term and usually has to do with the accumulation of all the symptoms that we have seen previously.
THC consumption is closely related to losing track of time and the inability to know where one is.
7. Paranoia
Paranoia is related to the disorientation that cannabis causes in the body and the action of THC.
What often happens when someone uses this drug is that the person begins to have paranoid thoughts about the environment, assumption that exposes oneself to hostile persons or entities In extreme cases, a psychotic break occurs.
8. Appetite
When a person consumes cannabis they end up seeing their appetite increase after a few hours and feel a voracious need to eat any food that satisfies them, generally sweet foods.
This phenomenon is again due to the action of THC on brain receptors, mainly in the brain areas responsible for regulating emotions, as well as the release of the hormone that stimulates hunger, Ghrelin
9. Impulsivity
Impulsivity is related to the various changes that THC causes in the individual’s personality, especially in the action it exerts in areas such as the hypothalamus, basal ganglia or amygdala
This impulsivity may be related to carrying out actions that the person would not normally carry out or to risky activities that could endanger their life.
