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May 13 - July 14, 2019
These emotional effects of cannabis are not only pharmacological but also may stem partly from expectancies.
Thus, expectations about marijuana and its effects likely contribute a great deal to its emotional impact (Kirk, Doty, & de Wit, 1998).
Thought Cannabis’s impact on emotion may relate to some of its effects on thinking. Many of the drug’s cognitive effects appear in chapter 4
Perhaps the drug creates the illusion of improved concentration despite deficits.
Memory Marijuana alters some aspects of memory, as documented in chapter 4.
Laboratory studies generally confirm that people can remember old material while high. In contrast, users do report deficits in short-term memory during intoxication.
More than half of the sample stated that this forgetting of conversations occurred very often or usually.
Users appear to know that their short-term memory suffers after smoking cannabis, but they also claim that spontaneous recall of distant memories improves.
Sexuality Few topics are more controversial in American society than sex and drugs.
The most characteristic effect related to sex for Tart’s (1971) participants concerned enhanced orgasm.
Spirituality
The Coptic and Rastafarian Churches smoke cannabis as part of their religious practice, too.
Certain sects of Buddhism in Nepal use marijuana as a sacrament (Clarke, 1998).
Sleep Marijuana intoxication alters sleep.
Dr. J. R. Reynolds, chief physician to Queen Victoria, recommended the drug for insomnia.
They also reported improved sleep quality, especially at strong levels of intoxication.
Grinspoon & Bakalar, 1997). Although THC causes many of marijuana’s effects, cannabidiol appears to have the biggest impact on sleep.
Negative feelings associated with marijuana intoxication often receive less attention than the stereotypical euphoria.
Cannabis can create aversive reactions, particularly after extremely large doses or during the first exposure to the drug.
Common negative effects included an inability to think clearly, work accurately, or solve problems efficiently. Participants also said that marijuana made them feel physically weaker.
Laboratory research confirms slow and inefficient thought during intoxication.
Another potentially negative feeling associated with marijuana intoxication is depersonalization. Depersonalization typically involves an alteration in the experience of one’s self or reality. Feeling unreal, separated from one’s body, or anxiously unaware of identity is part of depersonalization.
Two other undesirable effects of marijuana include dry mouth and red eyes.
Users easily cure dry mouth with a few sips of liquid, and red eyes usually respond to drops. Thus, these negative effects are not strong deterrents to consumption of the drug.
These self-report data suggest that the aftereffects of marijuana do not feel as aversive as the hangover symptoms associated with alcohol or other drugs.
Laboratory studies do not consistently confirm the presence of a marijuana hangover.
Perhaps THC alone causes more negative aftereffects than the full combination of cannabinoids present in marijuana.
A study of nine airplane pilots showed an unsurprising impairment on a flight simulator after smoking one cannabis cigarette. In seven of them, performance did not return to unintoxicated levels, even 24 hours later (Leirer, Yesavage, & Morrow, 1991).
Nevertheless, literary examples, case studies, laboratory experiments, and reports from experienced users confirm several of cannabis’s effects.
The drug clearly alters perception. Time slows. Space appears more vast or variable. The senses generally seem more appealing and interesting, despite laboratory evidence that they may actually be impaired.
Visual acuity seems better. Sounds appear to take on new qualities. Touch and taste both seem more intriguing and sensual. Yet laboratory evidence does not support these enhancements.
Higher functions also change during marijuana intoxication. Emotions seem more salient or extreme. Euphoria predominates. Thoughts seem more focused on the current moment. Short-term memory clearly suffers, with users occasionally forgetting one sentence while uttering the next. Sexuality and spirituality increase. Sleep can improve at low doses or suffer at higher ones. A few negative subjective effects also seem common, including anxiety, guilt, paranoia, and perhaps hangover. Some of these effects may stem simply from expectancy, some vary with culture, and some clearly arise as part of the
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Marijuana contains more than 60 compounds unique to the plant called cannabinoids.
The cannabinoids alter the permeability of nerve membranes. They also react with their own special receptors—CB1 in the brain and nervous system and CB2 in the immune system.
Cannabis contains more than 400 different chemical compounds. At least 66 are unique to the plant and receive the name “cannabinoids.”
The best known cannabinoid is probably delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
Delta-9 THC and delta-8 THC appear to produce the majority of the psychoactive effects of marijuana.
The liver breaks delta-9 THC down into 11-OH-delta-9 THC (11-hydroxy-delta-9-THC).
Two other common cannabinoids are cannabinol and cannabidiol, depicted in figures 6.4 and 6.5, respectively.
Delta-9-THC, cannabinol, and cannabidiol are the most prevalent psychoactive chemicals in the plant and provide the majority of marijuana’s effects.
Research has uncovered six additional families of molecules unique to marijuana. All begin with the familiar “cannab” prefix. These include cannabichromene, cannabicyclol, cannabielsoin, cannabigerol, cannabinidiol, and cannabitriol.
Cannabidiol becomes THC as the marijuana plant matures, and this THC later breaks down into cannabinol.
The appropriate dosage, however, can decrease anxiety in healthy people. It also reduces psychotic symptoms such as hearing voices or thinking incoherently. In addition, cannabidiol induces sleepiness and may protect epileptics against seizures (Zuardi & Guimaraes, 1997).
Although cannabidiol slows THC metabolism, it also may limit the drug’s negative side effects. THC alone can produce anxiety, panic, and psychotic symptoms, particularly at high doses. Cannabidiol not only decreases anxiety on its own, but it also buffers against THC-induced panic and discomfort.
These findings may prove particularly useful given recent research on dronabinol (Marinol), the synthetic version of THC used to treat nausea and weight loss. Negative side effects of this drug might decrease if physicians combined it with cannabidiol (Zuardi & Guimaraes, 1997).
Nearly all parts of the marijuana plant contain psychoactive ingredients, but most of the cannabinoids appear in the resinous glands and flowering tops.
“Marijuana,”
a Spanish word purportedly coined in Mexico, originally meant cheap tobacco.
Later the word referred to the dried leaves and flowers of cannabis.
Residents of India distinguish among three forms: bhang, ganja, and charas.
