Reasons Why Marijuana Is Popular Among Adults

Marijuana is popularly used for its recreational and medicinal benefits. Many people buy marijuana and seem to enjoy the after effects of smoking marijuana or applying its products. Marijuana can help one get high due to its psychoactive effects.

Its products can benefit one medically by relieving pain, alleviating cancer-related symptoms, reducing depression and anxiety, and reducing acne among others. It is prevalently used by young adults over the past few years. By the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, more than 25 percent of adults, between the age of 18 and 24, have been using marijuana for the past year. As a result, this has become a significant concern, and many people raise eyebrows and ask why do people smoke weed. Hence, many people have been developing interventions to target young adults whose smoking habits form when marijuana is being introduced to them.

However, for the studies to be effective and efficient, researchers first need to try and understand why people, especially young adults, are smoking weed. This article seeks to state and discuss some of the reasons why marijuana is prevalent among young adults.

Peer influence

Peer influence is an act which makes many young people submit themselves into any activities that seem enjoyable and cool to them. Many young adults may view smoking marijuana as a cool thing. This is because as they try to adjust to the new lives in high school, college, the university, their places of work, or a vacation, they form new friends. They also get to sort out their identities and their means of interacting or socializing.

And, while at it, some come up with the ideas of the things they have tried doing or will try to with their lives. Some may state how exciting and fascinating it was. Thus, they may ask their peers to try it out too. And, the majority will fall for it because, during a vulnerable moment of transition, it is easy to influence one’s social environment especially when it comes to experimenting or trying out something.

For instance, marijuana. Peer pressure does not only occur among friends. It can also happen among family members. Peer pressure is the influence of people much older or younger. When a young adult notices or witnesses an older member of the family smoking marijuana or using it, they can be significantly influenced into using it. Also, another form of peer influence is pop culture. Many teenagers and young adults believe it is cool and enjoyable to use marijuana as they watch or listen to songs about them.

The stereotype that marijuana is non-hazardous

Marijuana is known to get one high as well as benefit them medically. Thus, this has made many people develop the stereotype that marijuana is harmless or non-hazardous. Also, research has not been able to prove the adverse or damaging health effects of using marijuana in the long run. As a result, many people have presumed marijuana to be innocuous or harmless as compared to other illicit drugs. They perceive it to be more appealing and pleasurable.

Nonetheless, there are physical and psychological health effects of smoking or using marijuana. First, using marijuana in the short run can lead to memory loss or thinking problems, anxiety, altering senses, and loss of direction. Second, using marijuana in the long term can increase one’s heart rate, weaken the immune system, lead to temporary hallucinations and paranoia, and augment their chances of lung infections.

Third, people who use marijuana as compared to those who do not encounter relationship problems, poor physical and mental health, and lower life fulfillment. Finally, using marijuana can make one develop substance use disorder with ease because of the server use. Hence, this can lead to addiction.

Availability

Accessibility is another key factor which contributes to marijuana being popular among adults. It is easy today for young adults to access marijuana unlike back then. Many states have been legalizing the consumption or use of marijuana for its medical and recreational purposes. This grants them the opportunity to smoke it hence any people come to see how cool it is. Many college and university students may find it easy to smoke marijuana as there is little or no supervision. Where legal you can buy souvenir marijuana seeds covering a lot of strains and you can grow your own cannabis at home.

Additionally, they have privacy. According to research conducted by the National College Health Assessment, almost forty percent of students in college have used or tried marijuana. Thus, marijuana usage has been increasing tremendously in the college years with more students, especially seniors, using it more than the freshmen.

Other facts

Besides the reasons discussed above, there are also some other potential reasons to smoke weed among young adults. A study in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs shows that young adults use marijuana to ease monotony or dullness, upsurge or lessen the effects of other drugs, seek more profound intuitions or understandings, escape issues, or feel good. Many young people consider these as some of the uses of weed. Thus, they do not bother about the after effects of it as they perceive they benefit from it.

Motivations for using marijuana

Young adults can also be motivated to smoke pot by weed chats. They can quickly notice how weed conversations go about hence may want to try using it. However, this determines whether they will encounter problems such as substance abuse disorder or not. For instance, an adult may try to use marijuana to notice its after effects.

This leads to fewer problems. Another adult, on the other hand, may use marijuana to survive thus this can lead to significant issues in the future. It is essential that experts gain knowledge on what motivates or influences young adults to try out the weed. This will act as the first step to coming up with effective techniques to prevent them from using marijuana.

In conclusion, weed is popularly used for its medicinal and recreational uses. However, it has come to grown to be popular among students in high schools, the university, and colleges. Many people are wondering why this is so and have thus tried to develop interventions to discover why young adults use marijuana.

Above are some of the reasons why young people use weed and why it has grown to be popular among them. A young adult may, for instance, choose to try pot due to witnessing old men smoking marijuana. This can trigger them to try it out to observe the after effects. Additionally, they may also be motivated to use when they notice the weed screensavers used by other students thinking it is cool. However, it is essential that effective strategies are developed to help prevent the use of marijuana among students.