“Mind Matters: The Body's Response to Marijuana''

 


Addiction has been a huge concern for adolescents throughout history. Trying to limit exposure of harmful substances to the youth of this country is essential in containing the amount of overdoses in this country. As future educators this is something we need to take seriously as drugs and alcohol can lead to students underperforming in the classroom and letting their bright futures fade away. Growing up many kids will want to be rebellious and think that drinking underage or smoking weed is cool, but we must implant the idea that it is not, and can possibly ruin their mind and future. 

When reviewing  the website, Lesson Plan and Activity Finder from the National Institute on Drug Abuse I decided to focus on one of the lesson plans “Mind Matters: The Body's Response to Marijuana”. My reasoning behind choosing this topic is because growing up I noticed a lot of kids first experimenting with marijuana in high school, and since I plan on being a high school history teacher I wanted to get a better understanding on the effects marijuana has on the body and mind. 


Link to the lesson plan below, if you want to read for yourself https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/parents-educators/lesson-plans/mind-matters/marijuana 


 “Mind Matters: The Body's Response to Marijuana'' does an excellent job describing the harmful effects marijuana has on a developing mind. It starts by giving a basic definition of what the drug is and how it is characterized, this is important because it gives the adolescent reading an understanding of what it is and why it is harmful to the body. Capturing the reader and making them interested in reading more.




Here we can see how use of marijuana has gradually increased among adolescents over a relatively short amount of time 

They also do an excellent job giving the effects marijuana can have on the body with a list, 


Short-Term Effects

  1. Loss of cordination and slower reactions

  2. Altered sense of time

  3. Feeling relaxed

  4. Anxiety, fear, distrust, or panic (in some users or when taken in high doses)

  5. Increased hunger

  6. Faster heart rate

Long-Term Effects

  1. Problems with memory and learning skills

  2. Problems with breathing

  3. Cough or lung sickness

  4. Severe nausea and vomiting

This simple yet informative list makes it easy for the reader to understand what can happen if they partake in ingesting marijuana. 

The next point I wanted to highlight was how it talks about marijuana being addictive. It has been said by many individuals that marijuana is not addictive and that “You can quit whenever you want”. This can not be any further from the truth. Over time the body will build a tolerance to marijuana and make you feel not like yourself if you go without it for an extended period of time. This will make the body crave marijuana. 

Another great point the lesson highlights is “What about medicinal marijuana”. This is important to take note of because it can make adolescents think it is not bad for you because they use it in medicine. They use it medicinally to aid in pain relief. Just because it is used in medicine does not make it any less harmful to an adolescents mind.

The main issue I have with this lesson plan is that it doesn’t bring to light cultures and backgrounds of students who are reading through the lesson plan. Certain areas can be more susceptible to marijuana use such as low income urban environments. While the lesson does give a wide variety of information on how marijuana is harmful to you, it needs to do better at being culturally sensitive to address the needs of all students. This lack of understanding can lead to the lesson being ineffective to certain individuals. Based on the type of school district I am working in I would change some of the ways this lesson describes the use of marijuana and try to be more descriptive on the harmful side effects that can come from the use of marijuana.



Reference 

Abuse, N. I. on D. (n.d.). Mind Matters: The Body’s Response to Marijuana. National Institute on Drug Abuse. https://nida.nih.gov/research-topics/parents-educators/lesson-plans/mind-matters/marijuana 



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