Memory and intelligence Edit

Acute cannabis intoxication has been shown to negatively affect attention, psychomotor task ability, and short-term memory.[2][3] Studies of chronic cannabis use have not consistently demonstrated a long-lasting or refractory effect on the attention span, memory function, or cognitive abilities of moderate-dose long-term users. Once cannabis use was discontinued, these effects disappeared in users abstinent for a period of several months.[4] Chronic use of cannabis during adolescence, a time when the brain is still developing, is correlated in the long term with lower IQ and cognitive deficits. It is not clear, though, if cannabis use causes the problems or if the causality is in the reverse. Recent studies have shown that IQ deficits existed in subjects before chronic cannabis use, suggesting that lower IQ may instead be a risk factor for cannabis addiction.[5]

Dependency Edit

Mental health Edit

Gateway drug hypothesis Edit

Main article: Gateway drug theory § Cannabis The gateway drug hypothesis asserts that the use of soft drugs such as cannabis, tobacco or alcohol may ultimately lead to the use of harder drugs. Whether the role of cannabis in other drug use is causative or simply the result of the same influencing factors of drug use in general is debated. Large-scale longitudinal studies in the UK and New Zealand from 2015 and 2017 showed an association between cannabis use and an increased probability of later disorders in the use of other drugs.[39][40][41]

Physical health Edit

See also Edit