Although marijuana is being celebrated for its therapeutic benefits, its chronic use has been found to have both short- and long-term effects on your brain.

Did you know it can negatively affect your brain function across all of its lobes?

Understanding these potential impacts and seeking out ongoing research is imperative to your brain health. Read on to discover all the different areas of your brain and the adverse effects cannabis can cause. Know before you light up!

Your brain stem is key in many areas including your sleep function, heart rate, blood pressure, balance, hearing, and digestion to name a few.
Marijuana use can cause:

• Lower blood pressure
• Lack of coordination and motor control
• Drowsiness
• Nausea and vomiting
• Faster heart rate
• Lack of sleep regulation
• Bloodshot eyes
• Sensory processing

Your cerebellum is involved in the regulation of your emotional control, cognitive functions, and motor control. Marijuana use can affect:

• Motor control and coordination
• Posture and balance
• Driving skills
• Reaction time
• Eye-hand coordination

Your frontal lobe controls motor functions, language, and executive functions. Marijuana use can cause:

• Lack of coordination and motor function
• Learning deficiencies
• Impaired impulse control
• Hallucinations and delusions
• Altered judgement and decision making
• Sudden mood swings
• Lack of concentration
• Impaired executive function

Your occipital lobe is integral in processing visual information. Marijuana use can cause:

• Enhanced visual sensitivity 
• Distorted perceptions
• Altered visual memory
• Decreased peripheral vision
• Impaired visual processing

Your parietal lobe regulates spatial processing, sensory information, and language processing. Marijuana use can cause:

• Slower reaction times
• Altered sensory perception
• Impaired spatial awareness
• Changes in attention
• Altered body awareness

Your temporal lobe impacts your emotions, language, visual perception, memory, and sensory processing. Marijuana use can cause:

• Slurred speech
• Changes in auditory perception
• Impaired memory 
• Impaired emotional regulation
• Impaired communication and language
• Perceptual distortions

Now let’s look at some of the commonly held beliefs about the benefits of marijuana. This is what people are saying, but is it based in fact or conjecture?

While you may think cannabis is helping you sleep, it is actually disrupting the stages of sleep which help you feel more refreshed in the morning. Your quality of sleep is actually poorer.

Cannabis may be helping you with pain in the short-term. But in the long-term, your pain sensitivity could be increased.

Many people think they have more creativity when they are high. But since your state of mind is altered, you’re not being as creative as you think you are.

Eating edibles is just as dangerous as vaping or smoking. Edibles take longer to have an effect, but their effect can last longer and be more extreme.

As more research comes to light, the dangers speak for themselves. The claims of medicinal benefit are unsubstantiated by research. In fact, as is noted above, the opposite is often the case. Now let’s look at some other adverse effects of marijuana use that are often overlooked but worthy of consideration:

• The munchies – Cannabis affects the neurons in your brain which control appetite and cause hunger. Extra calories may not be a good thing for you.
• Memory – Cannabis obstructs your working memory, which could affect your daily functioning.
• Brain development in teens – Cannabis causes a huge disruption in brain development, resulting in cognitive impairment and lower grades at school. 
• Psychotic Disorders (Schizophrenia) – Heavy use, especially during the teen years, can greatly increase the likelihood of developing psychotic disorders.
• Time Awareness – Time seems to slow down when you are high. This can disrupt your promptness and awareness of time.

If you or someone you love is struggling with cannabis use, please reach out to a program like Sanctuary Clinics. Sanctuary’s Marijuana Cessation Program is the only Christ-centered, evidence-based cannabis use disorder treatment program in America. Don’t be fooled. Don’t let cannabis have the last word where your health, wellbeing, and future are concerned.