Currently, marijuana is one of the most used drugs in colleges (Suerken et al. 2014). A recent study in the United States indicated that, 46.4% of students in colleges have used marijuana at least once in their lifetime (Arria et al. 2015). Upon joining colleges, students experience issues that have both positive and negative effects on them. At this stage in their life, most young people, majority fresh from high school, perceive college as a place to experiment many things, among them marijuana use. During the 19 th century, marijuana was recognized as a medicinal herb, but it was later restricted following the realization that, most people were using it in the wrong way (Suerken et al. 2014). To most youthful college students, marijuana use is a major cause of low cognitive abilities, mental diseases, reduced overall motivation, and murderous rage among others. It has negative effects on students pursuing college education through as it affects their memory. As a result, they experience difficulties solving problems, poor academic performance, sleeping problems, health issues, personality problems, and slowed reaction time in case of an emergency.
A study conducted by Becker, Collins, and Luciana (2014) revealed that, Marijuana use among college students has dire negative effects. The three authors conducted a study on 73 college students between 18 and 20 years old (Suerken, Reboussin, Sutfin, Wagoner, Spangler & Wolfson, 2014). The participants were taken through numerous tests on processing speed, working memory, decision making, motor functioning, verbal attention, and verbal fluency. Both the test and control groups did the tests in a sober state. The three researchers found out that, the marijuana users test group displayed a desirable performance on externally motivated tasks. Those students fond of using marijuana portrayed memory deficits, difficulties in solving problems and motivated decision making. Based on their findings, Becker, Collins, and Luciana (2014) concluded that, students who use marijuana while pursuing college education are mostly poor at handling tasks that demand intrinsic motivation.
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In 2012, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration carried out a study, which showed increased use of marijuana among college students. The participants were both males and females aged 18-22 (Borcherding, 2016). According to the findings, increased use of marijuana had a direct negative effect on their academic performance. Most marijuana users were unable to handle technical assignments, and store information in their memories for a long period. In a 2005 survey by the same organization, the researchers revealed that, 17.9% of undergraduate college students with a GPA of 1.0 had used the drug in the past. Notably, those students who scored 3.5 GPA and above were not associated with marijuana use (Borcherding, 2016). In view of the above evidence, it becomes obvious that, marijuana use among undergraduates has huge negative impacts on their academic achievement.
Evidently, whenever most college students decide to use marijuana, they seem not to understand the negative effects that come with the behavior. Sections of the students use it for recreational purposes, while others find it as a remedy for sleeping problems (Bolin, Pate & McClintock, 2017). Notably, college life comes with the freedom of living independently, with fewer restrictions from parents. As a result, most students tend to remain awake late into the night either to meet academic demands or socialize (Bolin, Pate & McClintock, 2017). Research shows that, individuals with tendencies of operating at night have tendencies of abusing drugs (Bolin, Pate & McClintock, 2017). In fact, such categories of people have been associated with suicidal thoughts, higher depression scores, extreme levels of anxiety, paranoid symptoms, and impairment in handling various activities (Bolin, Pate & McClintock, 2017). In that sense, it is appropriate to conclude that, use of marijuana among college learners has negative effects on them.
In 2013, a study conducted for ten years on 1200 college students made its finding public (Alexis et al 2017). It revealed that, prolonged use of marijuana was the major cause of short-term academic challenges. Consequently, most students failed to complete their studies. Majority of the participants associated with marijuana use did not complete their bachelor’s studies (Alexis et al 2017). Recent studies have equally corroborated the above findings, revealing that, most college students who abuse marijuana end up dropping out of college. Conclusively, the negative impact of marijuana is evident, as students can end up dropping out of college, and eventually fail to graduate.
According to Suerken et al. (2014), use of marijuana among students pursuing college education exhibits negative impacts on their health. College students using marijuana stand a high risk of getting respiratory diseases such as emphysema and bronchitis. Considering that most students are young people still in the stages of development, they risk delays of experiencing reduced sperm production, among other sexual development problems (Suerken et al. 2014). For females in colleges, use of marijuana can affect menstrual cycles, leading to ovulation problems. Research shows that, prolonged use of marijuana destroys the immune system. As such, college students are exposed to risks of getting infections. Accordingly, weak immune system makes it difficult to heal common diseases such as flu and cold (Suerken et al. 2014).
Marijuana use among youths is associated with change in personality. For most college students in the habit of abusing marijuana, personality changes are almost seen immediately as most of them have blood shot eyes, dry mouth, and increased heart rates (Bolin, Pate & McClintock, 2017). They can hardly concentrate in class, as they tend to lose coordination. Their level of concentration is equally affected as they can hardly remain contained in class and listen to their teachers. Personality change among students who have abused marijuana makes it difficult for them to learn new concepts, and retain the newly acquired information. According to Alexis et al (2017), marijuana users have a problem learning new ideas, considering their psychological functioning is affected leading to memory loss. For that reason, students suffering from its addiction spend time outside college seeking treatment. Therefore, they waste precious time that could have been used to study.
Most undergraduate students reveal they usually abuse marijuana as it enables them to have fun, reduce stress, and social bonding. However, researchers argue that, marijuana does not allow one to achieve such things. They observe that, most college students who use it do not report positive well-being, and reduced negative well-being (Bolin, Pate & McClintock, 2017). Instead, heavy use of the substance has been cited as one of the major causes of negative well-being. Evidently, consistent uses of marijuana among college students expose them to risky behaviors. In most cases, people who use marijuana tend to release inhibitions, which influence them to risky behaviors. According to Arria, Caldeira, Bugbee, Vincent & O'Grady (2015), most college students who use marijuana are also smokers and alcohol takers. As such, they increase their chances of engaging in risky behaviors that expose them to sexually transmitted diseases. In the same vein, marijuana is associated with slow reaction times. For that reason, college students who drive under its influence are likely to cause accidents (Arria, Caldeira, Bugbee, Vincent & O'Grady, 2015).
In overall, use of marijuana while pursuing college education has negative effects on students. Studies have shown that, college students who use marijuana tend to display memory deficits, difficulties in solving problems and motivated decision making. According to a study by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, college students perform badly in their academics, and reduce their ability of retaining information owing to prolonged use of marijuana. The students experience sleeping difficulties, which is often associated with depression, and lack of concentration in class. In most cases, they fail to complete their degree, and their health is affected, as they risk getting respiratory diseases such as emphysema and bronchitis. Finally, marijuana use among college students leads to change in personality, negative well being, and slowed reaction time.
References
Becker, M. J., Collins, P. F., & Luciana, M. (2014). Neurocognition in college-aged daily marijuana users. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology , 36 (4), 379-398
Alexis, B. et al (2017). Marijuana and College Students: A Critical Review of the Literature. American Journal of Health Education , v48 n3 p167-184
Arria, A. M., Caldeira, K. M., Bugbee, B. A., Vincent, K. B., & O'Grady, K. E. (2015). The academic consequences of marijuana use during college. Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors , 29(3), 564-75.
Bolin, R.M., Pate, M. & McClintock, J. (2017). The impact of alcohol and marijuana use on academic achievement among college students. The Social Science Journal . Volume 54, Issue 4, Pages 430-437
Borcherding, M. J. (2016). "Marijuana Use Among Community College Students: A Study of Academic and Social Involvement" Culminating Projects in Higher Education Administration. Paper 7.
Suerken, C. K., Reboussin, B. A., Sutfin, E. L., Wagoner, K. G., Spangler, J., & Wolfson, M. (2014). Prevalence of marijuana use at college entry and risk factors for initiation during freshman year. Addictive behaviors , 39(1), 302-7.
