Marijuana And Where Does It Fit In With Work and School?

2009.05.03

The real question here, on whether marijuana fits at work or school is “Does marijuana fit in at all”? Long thought to be harmless. Marijuana is now under the intense scrutiny of medical professionals who have gathered a lot of information on weed had its effects over the years.

Many studies have come out now that reveal pot users susceptible to poor cognitive abilities, and generally poor attentiveness either in the workplace or at school. Studies indicate that workers who smoke cannabis experience increased absences, lateness, higher job turnover and more worker compensation claims. Students who smoke marijuana are more prone to experience lower grades, and are therefore less likely to graduate from high school.

Studies also indicate that mothers who smoke grass during pregnancy have babies who have altered perception, and problems with visual stimuli, and have an increase in a shaking, which, along with a high- pitched cry indicate that there is some problem in neurological development. Pre-schoolers have been monitored to have a decreased ability in performing tasks that require sustained attention and memory.

Hash  was actually believed to be more liberating than alcohol, and had no serious side effects as with tobacco, but that was all part of the hippie movement. This was a backlash to the post World War Two era, as seen in the TV show Mad Men. Where there was the pile of cigarette butts in the ashtrays, and everyone drank all the time. It went to a point where if you didn’t smoke or drink you were a social outcast, so there was always the peer pressure to join in. Cannabis use came about because of that backlash, and it was chosen as the substance of choice of the “back to nature” movement.

Now, there are some who suggest that the whole Hippie movement and the anti war peace movement that went with it – basically outlining and rebelling against the “old school” way of life was a war waged by the Communists who knew they could never win a conventional war, and, instead funded campus groups to wage war socially. It has even been suggested that the Communists knew the effects of marijuana, and actively got its use into the whole sub culture as a sort of emblem.

Marijuana, like all things, has ceased to be a fad, and has now entered into the realm of a drug that is addictive as alcohol and tobacco can be. The myth is beginning to unravel, and it is revealing that marijuana dulls not just the senses, but actually decreases awareness, perception, and intelligence. It affects everyone who has exposure to it, whether in the workplace, at school, or in the womb.

Marijuana then must be looked at in a different light, as a substance that can have devastating results for the regular or heavy user, and can affect ones who are unborn; whose mothers are frequent users.