According to the National Institutes of Health, marijuana addiction impacts all Americans with a cost of more than $400 billion annually for health care, job loss, traffic accidents,and crimes associated with the drug. Occasional marijuana use can easily lead to a later marijuana addiction. Once addiction to marijuana is established, there are several consequences that could result.
Health Consequences
Marijuana addiction primarily impacts the lungs, brain and heart. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that marijuana is a worse carcinogen than tobacco to the lungs as it contains 70 percent more toxins. Marijuana users typically inhale deeper and for longer periods of time which increases the exposure of the lungs to more potent carcinogen effects. Studies are currently exploring the impact of marijuana use as a cause in lung cancer. Marijuana increases the heart rate right after smoking and this impacts the heart for up to three hours after cessation. The increased heart rate significantly impacts the chances of heart attack within an hour after smoking marijuana. The more cardiac problems a person has, the more likely a heart attack can occur during marijuana use. Marijuana impacts the brain significantly by altering chemical transmission that tells the body what to do after the brain has made a command. In a basic sense, the brain becomes confused or clouded, and this impacts memory, thinking, perception and movement.
Social Consequences
Due to the impact marijuana addiction has on altering the way the brain processes information, this can further impact how non-marijuana users relate to marijuana users. In fact, there is a higher rate of anxiety, depression and paranoia in people who are addicted to marijuana, which can cause alienation from others due to feeling different. This tends to lead marijuana addicts toward people who can relate, which is typically other marijuana users. Additionally the need for being with people who relate can perpetuate isolation, increase marijuana use and alter relationships. The consequences of isolation and increased use correlates with job absence, lack of concern for maintaining a job, quitting jobs, accidents at work due to impaired perceptions and lack of ambition toward building a solid career.
Legal Consequences
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that marijuana has been found in the toxicology of up to 20 percent of people involved in car accidents. Although this is not as significant a statistic as alcohol-involved accidents, it is important to note since many people who use marijuana indicate that they are not impaired while driving. Another important legal consequence is that marijuana use has been linked to serious crimes of assault and homicide in addition to the marijuana related crimes of possession, sales and distribution. The cost to the individual let alone society is immeasurable once they have been branded by the legal system for narcotics related criminal activity.
