Marijuana Users example essay topic

Marijuana and Consciousness Does marijuana create an altered state of consciousness, or does it simply allow users to interpret more information at a quicker speed giving us the illusion of being "stoned"? For many years people of all ages have been using marijuana mainly for recreational purposes, not knowing that it increases their senses and perhaps even helps cure or prevent disease. After many carefully constructed experiments, it is now accepted by several scientists around the world that marijuana effects the human body as a whole, thus creating an altered state of consciousness. The impending paragraphs will discuss how marijuana users are affected while intoxicated. Some of the areas that will be covered include how marijuana affects the users long-term and short-term memory, as well how marijuana has the ability to construct false memories. The paragraphs will also discuss how the human body changes as a whole, how users perceive themselves at any particular time, the way in which individual senses increase with the use of marijuana, and finally the psychological affects that may differ from user to user depending on their current emotional state.

Long-term memory is crucial to human processing, without it people would remember nothing. Marijuana in some cases can actually heighten long-term memory. For example, some marijuana users may experience distance memories such as childhood experiences more vividly while intoxicated then when not under the influence. This is said to happen because while intoxicated, users are in a "dream like state", allowing the brain to bring back memories which may have been forgotten (Lens on, 2001). For example, many users tend to reminisce with old friends about experiences they may have had many years earlier. With that said, long-term memory or recall can also worsen with very high levels of intoxication.

For example, while intoxicated people have a tendency to forget what they were going to do, or sometimes they will complete a task without knowing why they did so (Tart, 2001). There is no complete explanation for why this happens, but one reason may be that because marijuana increases human senses, it allows more information to be processed in a smaller amount of time. As a result, there may be too much information available and certain things may be temporarily forgotten. Another possible reason why this may occur is because short-term memory is also affected.

Accordingly you may forget to complete a task simply because you never stored it in memory in the first place, causing you to forget what you were supposed to do as soon as you thought of it. In instances where an individual completes tasks without the knowledge or awareness of why they did it, it may be because when they started the task they knew what they were doing, but by the time they finished, they had been distracted with other various stimuli, allowing them to forget the reason for doing that particular task in the first place. Short-term memory is very important in our everyday lives. It is what allows people to remember many various things such as, phone numbers, directions to a friends house, and so on.

Short-term memory impairment is fairly obvious with marijuana users. Many of the times users frequently forget the beginning of a conversation, or even the beginning of a sentence, but regularly they are still able to complete what they were saying without any knowledge of the topic (Tart, 2001). It is still unknown why this happens, but it is feasible that it relates back to the problem of too much information being processed faster then usual, allowing for distractions to take over the person's mind, making them forget what they were originally talking about. A very common incident that happens while heavily intoxicated is the presence of thinking that someone had said something that they never actually said, creating false memories. This happens because marijuana is mild hallucinogens, making people see and hear things that don't exist. In their mind the event happened however, which is the key factor in creating false memories.

A further common occurrence during intoxication is the feeling of d'ej'a vu (Tart, 2001). D'ej'a vu is the feeling of being in a situation that you have previously experienced. This occurs while intoxicated because marijuana increases the amount of information being processed, making situations that have been previously experienced seem unfamiliar to the user, thus giving them the feeling of d'ej'a vu. Since marijuana is considered an altered state of consciousness, people view situations in different ways than they would if they were not intoxicated. As a result, this makes normally familiar situations feel unfamiliar, supporting the concept that marijuana changes the users way of thinking, ultimately changing their state of consciousness. Perhaps the most noticeable affect of marijuana is the changes that one feels about their body.

For example, pain receptors seem to be less responsive to pain, and consequently the user doesn't usually realize anything has happened to him / her. On the other hand, pain seems to increase if the user notices the problem and evaluates the severity of the injury (Tart, 2001). The tendency to exaggerate the event occurs at this time. Along with this is the sensation of being able to feel all of your organs and internal processes. Other symptoms include the perception of being more in tune with what is happening with their body at any particular moment (Tart, 2001).

For example, if a person was hungry, they could feel their stomach more intensely and vigorously than if they aren't intoxicated. In the vernacular, this is often referred to as the "munchies". There are many sensations that one may feel while "high" but it is a function of the individual users state of mind. Factors that may influence their behaviour include whether they are happy or sad, under stress or relaxed, or just feel like having a good time with friends. Again, there is no clear-cut definition on what marijuana will do to the user; it all depends on the users emotional state, and whether or not the user accepts the so-called "high". If the user doesn't want to feel the "high" then in most cases they will not.

There are two senses that will affect everybody when they smoke marijuana; hearing and vision. This is not to say that it will affect everybody in the same way, but they will feel a significant difference within these two senses. Conceivably the most common activity to do when intoxicated is to listen to music, mainly because there is an abundance of auditory stimuli, giving the user a choice to choose from many different sounds and tones to focus on. Very rarely will a heavily intoxicated user listen to everything going on in the song. Usually the user will focus on one particular beat, or tone within the song and focus on it while ignoring everything else in their immediate environment.

This happens because their minds are affected emotionally by the music. This may not be recognisable to the user but the music has a profound affect on their behaviour while under the influence. If what they are listening to is depressing then this will accentuate their feeling of depression. This mood alteration will occur regardless of the type of music, whether it is lively, uplifting music or a sombre instrumental. Another change that might occur is the sound of your own voice. Many times individuals choose not to speak in front of people who are not intoxicated because they become paranoid that other people will notice that they are "stoned".

From the users point of view, choosing not to talk is the best way to go undetected because they believe their voice is noticeably different when "stoned". People generally talk at a slower and deeper tone when intoxicated. This occurs because the user has an increased feeling of relaxation, making them move and talk at a slower pace then normal. One of the most exotic phenomena associated with marijuana is synth esthesia, the experience of another sensory modality than the one actually stimulating the person. In an experiment many college students said, "Sounds have visual images or colours associated with them, synchronized with them (Tart, 2001)". Visual acuity is also one of the more noticeable changes when under the influence.

Whether they " re a first time user or a daily user, marijuana will have a significant affect on their vision. As with everything else involving marijuana, visual acuity depends on the person's emotional state. Normally if the user is highly intoxicated then their vision will be reduced, similar to that of alcohols effect. Conversely, if the user is only moderately intoxicated then their vision seems to be considerably clearer, seeing more detail, depth, able to make meaning out of ambiguous material, and sometimes hallucinations may occur. It is unknown why this happens, but it allows marijuana users to be able to experience visual imagery in a completely new way.

They not only see objects clearer, they become interested and curious about their surroundings, almost as if they are seeing it for the first time. Although they are in a different state of mind, this gives users a chance to explore their surroundings more thoroughly, making them think, thus allowing them to learn more about their surroundings from a different perspective. The last major affect that marijuana has on its users is it's psychological affects. Not only does marijuana benefit people psychologically, it can also be an extremely distressing and unwanted experience. The single most popular reason for using marijuana is for the "buzz" that you receive. The stage of being "high" lasts about 45 minutes where the user will feel an extreme fuzzy feeling all over their body.

This is the stage where people experience memory loss, and increased perception of their body and their surrounding environment. In most cases this stage is highly accepted by users, mainly because of its mood alteration ability. For example, if a person is in a bad mood then smoking marijuana will completely change their disposition into a reasonably good mood, and conversely, if the user is in a good mood then marijuana will make them relaxed and mellow. According to many daily users, feeling relaxed is the most enjoyable sensation, especially after a long hard day at work. It gives them an opportunity to disregard their problems and relax.

Even though marijuana has many positive psychological benefits, it also has its pitfalls. Marijuana has the ability to act as a loosening agent, so that whatever has been banned from the conscious mind may come cascading forth. For users to be able to uncover their deceptions without usual rationalization can be unpleasant, an experience that has turned many psychologically fragile individuals away from marijuana despite it's therapeutic catharsis (Anonymous, 2001). These thoughts that people may experience are unavoidable. It is similar with people who are not intoxicated when they have an unwanted thought and they try there hardest to disregard it, but it never seems to go away. When this happens to people under the influence of marijuana it is twice as worse and twice as hard to get it out of the mind.

The reason for this is that intoxicated users have a tendency to dwell on their personal thoughts, mainly because they try to repress their thoughts so that other individuals wont find out, but all this does is make it worse. It's much harder to forget when trying to forget. The only way to remove something from your conscious mind is to distract yourself with something else. Not only does marijuana affect human's conscious mind, but it also has a very positive effect on the unconscious. It allows the unconscious mind to relax and slow down, which will ultimately help the individual to become more refreshed compared to the individual who chooses not to smoke it (Anonymous, 2001).

This is a very subtle affect that can only be noticed with special tools and experiments, but it does occur, and it does help people to perform certain tasks more efficiently after the marijuana has lost its initial effect. Furthermore, marijuana is becoming more popular as the years go by, and people are starting to realize that there is more to the illegal drug marijuana then what most people think. An average person would never allow their child to smoke marijuana, mainly because there are a few health risks, similar to those of cigarettes. Some side effects of marijuana include lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, and various mouth diseases. But the truth is marijuana may in fact be healthy to some parts of the body. It allows the individual to experience familiar situations in a totally new perspective.

This not only gives the individual a chance to learn but it also gives the individual a chance to grow as a person, allowing him / her the ability to control their environment and enjoy it to its fullest capacity. So is marijuana an altered state of consciousness? Indeed it is. Everybody is different, and it's completely in the hands of the beholder on what the individual wants to experience.