How Smoking Weed Affects the Brain
- Marijuana is made up of more than 400 different chemicals. More than 60 of these chemicals are cannabinoids. Cannabinoids form in the human body after cannabis (marijuana) is metabolized. They are psychoactive compounds. The most prominent kind of cannabinoid is tetrahydrocannibol (THC).
- Cannabinoids, and most particularly THC, affect the brain by binding to and activating certain key receptors in the brain. The receptors affected by THC are known as cannabinoid receptors. Cannabinoid receptors are in charge of concentration, thought, memory and time conceptualization. Therefore, people who smoke weed are likely to see noticeable affects or impairments in those areas of thinking.
- When cannabinoid receptors are activated by THC after a person smokes weed, noticeable changes can occur in the way the person thinks or perceives their surroundings. Short-term memory is compromised after someone smokes weed. People suffer from shorter attention spans after smoking weed. Thought processes can become muddled due to the affect of THC on cannabinoid receptors in the brain.
