IndexIntroductionEvidence to support that marijuana has a negative impact on mental healthEvidence to support that marijuana does not have a negative impact on mental healthComparisonConclusionReferencesIntroductionWith the recent national legalization of marijuana In Canada, recreational and medical use of marijuana is becoming increasingly common. Marijuana is known to have many different effects, from pain relief to temporary anxiety induction. There are many uncertainties about its effects on people's mental health and there is much debate about whether it helps or not. Public concern and interest in the potential dangers of marijuana has led to research into whether or not marijuana use has a negative impact on a person's mental health. After careful consideration, it has been determined that marijuana use has a negative impact on mental health. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Evidence to Support That Marijuana Has a Negative Impact on Mental Health People who chronically use marijuana have been shown to exhibit symptoms of anxiety and depression, however, it is unclear whether these symptoms are caused by the use of marijuana or whether they are pre-existing. It has been found in numerous studies that long-term use of marijuana can increase symptoms of depression and anxiety. A study was conducted on 1,601 students aged 14 to 15 to determine whether marijuana use can cause symptoms of depression and anxiety. Each student indicated how often they use marijuana, symptoms of depression and anxiety, use of alcohol and illicit drugs, and antisocial behavior. All had a follow-up report 7 years after these initial investigations, as well as a report every 6 months until the final year of the study. The participants had not shown any signs of mental illness at their initial assessment. Among male participants who used marijuana weekly, 49% reported symptoms of depression and anxiety. The results for women showed that girls who used marijuana almost every day had five times more people with depression and anxiety than girls who did not use marijuana. Similarly, women who used marijuana daily as teenagers were found to be four times more likely to develop symptoms of depression and anxiety later on, and women who used marijuana weekly as teenagers were twice as likely to develop such symptoms later. followed. The study indicated that those who began using marijuana frequently had significantly increased depression and anxiety compared to those who did not use it or used it very little. Frequent use of marijuana can also increase the risk of developing schizophrenia. A study was conducted on 45570 Swedish conscripts aged 17 to 21 analyzing their drug use, alcohol use, social background, psychiatric history and psychiatric status. The study was conducted over a period of 15 years and each participant's psychiatric status was tested by a psychiatrist and, if necessary, a diagnosis was made. The results showed that those who used marijuana were 2. times more likely to develop schizophrenia than those who did not use it at all. As marijuana use increased among participants, their likelihood of developing schizophrenia compared to non-users increased 6-fold. All this was concluded taking into account all external social and medical factors. Although the incidence of people using marijuana in this study was notfrequent, the results show a clear trend that marijuana use can lead to the onset of schizophrenia. There has also been research showing that marijuana use can worsen existing mental illnesses. such as post-traumatic stress disorder. A 19-year study was conducted to observe the effects of marijuana on 2,276 PTSD patients. Each person was admitted to a treatment program and classified as non-user (did not use marijuana at the time of treatment), at admission and discharge), stopper (used marijuana at admission but stopped after discharge), continuous user (used both on admission and on discharge) or starter (not used on admission but on discharge). The study analyzed PTSD symptoms, violent behavior, and drug and alcohol use. Continuous users and those who entered treatment were found to have a notable increase in the severity of PTSD symptoms, as well as an increase in violence and drug and alcohol use. Those who never used and those who quit smoking had the smallest and least severe symptoms of PTSD. It was therefore concluded that frequent use of marijuana could lead to worsening of PTSD symptoms, and stopping marijuana use may help reduce the severity of PTSD. Evidence to support that marijuana does not have a negative impact on mental health. Other studies have shown that marijuana can be used to treat mental illnesses and thus have a positive impact on the mental state of those people. There was a study showing that people who suffered from severe social anxiety and public speaking phobia had significantly reduced symptoms after using marijuana. CBD in marijuana has already been shown to have anxiolytic (anxiety-reducing) effects on the limbic and paralimbic areas of the brain, which are primarily associated with emotions and thinking. This study randomly selected 24 subjects with generalized social anxiety disorder (SAD) and 12 without (healthy controls). In a double-blind procedure, 12 SAD subjects were given CBD, another 12 were given placebo, and the remaining 12 healthy controls were given no drugs. Each subject had not used marijuana or any other illicit drug in the past year and no more than 5 times in his or her lifetime. After the subjects were given the appropriate dose, they had to give a 4-minute speech in front of the cameras. Measurements of factors indicating anxiety levels were taken before the subject's CBD or placebo dose, 80 minutes after ingestion, immediately before the speech, during the speech, 15 minutes after the speech, and 35 minutes after the speech . The results of this experiment indicated that patients who were administered CBD significantly reduced anxiety during speech. When compared to healthy controls, it was revealed that their levels of distress, alertness, and cognitive impairment were very similar, indicating that CBD helped SAD patients achieve a healthy mindset. From this experiment it can be concluded that marijuana has a rapid therapeutic effect on people suffering from anxiety. Another study showed that marijuana is beneficial for people with schizophrenia. In this study, patients with schizophrenia were randomly selected and used in a double-blind test. Similar to the public speaking experiment, 45 patients were given CBD and 45 patients wereadministered placebo. They were all evaluated before and after the treatments and the results showed that after 6 weeks, patients using CBD marijuana had lower levels of schizophrenia symptoms compared to the placebo group. According to the treating doctor, the symptoms of the CBD-treated groups improved and they were considered less ill than the placebo group. This can conclude that CBD marijuana helps reduce the symptoms of schizophrenia. There is also research showing that marijuana can help with bipolar disorder. Over a 4-week period, 12 subjects with bipolar who smoke marijuana (MJBP), 18 with bipolar who do not smoke marijuana (BP), 23 without bipolar who smoke marijuana (MJ), and 21 healthy controls (HC) rated their mood 3 times a day, including immediately after each use of marijuana. The results showed that the MJBP group had significantly reduced bipolar symptoms such as lower levels of anger, tension and depression compared to the BP group. It showed that there are some short-term benefits to smoking marijuana for people with bipolar disorder, however there was no evidence demonstrating long-term benefits. Overall these studies concluded that marijuana has a positive effect on existing mental health disorders. Comparison In the study that concluded that marijuana had a negative impact on PTSD patients, there appeared to be some confounding effects. In every patient who used marijuana frequently and had worsening PTSD symptoms, they also had increased use of other drugs and alcohol. It is therefore unclear in this study whether drugs and alcohol were actually a factor that worsened the symptoms rather than marijuana. In the study that concluded that marijuana can cause schizophrenia, the results were determined with strict consideration of all external factors. The other conditions that could influence the development of schizophrenia such as family background, socioeconomic class, living conditions, alcohol use, other drug use, etc. have all been considered and adjusted so as not to influence the results. In the case of marijuana causing depression and anxiety, it was not indicated in the experiment whether a low or high dose of THC marijuana was used. If the patients were given high doses, this would explain why they had increased anxiety because high doses of THC produce anxiety reactions. Furthermore, none of these studies contained any real medical reasoning or explanation for their conclusions, but all were based on observations and surveys. However, each of these studies was conducted over long periods of time (many years) and therefore provides a more accurate conclusion about the true effect on a person's mental health. In comparison, the study that concluded that CBD helped reduce public anxiety symptoms was a double-blind design with randomization that reduces the bias of the experiment and increases its validity. However, the results of this experiment do not necessarily prove that marijuana has a positive impact on mental health because the results were short-term and situational. It has been shown to help temporarily relieve public speaking anxiety, but may not cause any long-term effects or its effects in other cases of anxiety. For the study on marijuana's reduction of bipolar symptoms, results showed that the MJBP subjects all had worse overall bipolar symptoms than the BP subjects. This may indicate that even if symptoms improved soon after marijuana use, these improvements are very temporary. 11, (2016)