To what extent would the legalisation of cannabis affect its users?

Health issues:

Cannabis has many affects it's short term effects include:

• Distorted perception (time, sight, touch, light). 

Problems with learning and memory. 

Loss of coordination. 

Trouble with thinking and problem solving. 

Increased heart rate, reduced blood pressure.


Sometimes cannabis use can also produce anxiety, fear, distrust, or panic.

Cannabis also has long-term effects on parts of your body these include:

-Your brain:

The active ingredient in marijuana, delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, acts on cannabinoid receptors on nerve cells and influences the activity of those cells.

- Your heart:

Once smoked cannabis causes your heart rate to increase and you blood pressure to decrease. Within the first few minutes your heart rate can increase by 20-50 beats per minute. Research shows that in the first hour after smoking cannabis you are four times more likely to have a heart attack.

-Your lungs:

Cannabis smoke contains about three times more tar than tobacco smoke. Although you would consume less cannabis than you would tobacco, they have some of the same effects. Regular users may experience many of the following:

•Daily cough and phlegm production.
More frequent acute chest illnesses.
Increased risk of lung infections.
Obstructed airways.

-Other health affects:
-Cancer:
One study found that cannabis smokers are 3 times more likely to develop cancer in the head or neck than non-smokers. It could not be proven by further analysis.
Cannabis smoke contains three times the tar in tobacco and 50 percent more carcinogens. So it would seem logical to deduce that that there is an increased chance of lung and chest cancer. But researchers have not been able to prove a link because their studies are unable to adjust for tobacco and other factors that could affect the study.

-Immune system:
Research indicates that THC badly affects the immune system, preventing the actions of key immune cells. Leaving the body exposed common diseases. Another study found that THC increases the risk of developing brain tumors and bacterial infections.

-Effects of exposure during pregnancy:
Mothers who use while pregnant can affect their baby in many ways, these include:
Altered responses to visual stimuli.
Problems with sustained attention and memory.
Poor problem solving skills.

So how bad is cannabis?
Despite all the above health issues caused by cannabis, no one in the US has ever been recorded to die from cannabis. In the UK only 1 person has ever been