In normal circumstances, an individual may smoke marijuana and inject cocaine and then do something physically stressful that may significantly increase the risk of overloading the cardiovascular system. Marijuana affects memory. A study of college students has shown that critical skills related to attention, memory, and learning are impaired among heavy users of marijuana, even after discontinuing its use for at least 24 hours. Compared to the light users, heavy marijuana users made more errors and had more difficulty sustaining attention, shifting attention to meet the demands of changes in the environment, and in registering, processing, and using information. The findings suggest that the greater impairment among heavy users is likely due to an alteration of brain activity produced by marijuana, a residue of the drug in the brain, or an actual drug withdrawal syndrome from marijuana.
Marijuana affects pregnancy.
When a compound was added to block activation of the receptors, the embryos developed normally. These findings suggest that exposure of embryos to the cannabinoids can often prevent the embryos from attaching to the uterine wall. Marijuana affects the user's ability to confront problems. However, researchers found that users were actually more willing to tolerate problems, suggesting that the drug served as a buffer for those who would rather avoid confronting problems than make changes that might increase their satisfaction with life. The study indicated that these subjects used marijuana to avoid dealing with their difficulties and the avoidance inevitably made their problems worse.