#3 - Weed Can Make You Crazy

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The whole draw to smoking pot is the feeling of getting high. THC relaxes muscles and alters brain receptors to create a euphoric feeling. It's also well documented that weed can heighten emotions which can cause some users to feel paranoid or anxious, hallucinate, and even convince them that Phish and the Grateful Dead are great bands. For heavier users, it could literally make them go insane.

A great number of studies have been conducted in an attempt to correlate the use of pot and the onset of schizophrenia. The results have been mixed, however one common thread seems to be the age at which people start using marijuana and a family history of mental illness. The thought being that early use alters the development of brain receptors, known as endocannabinoid receptors, which control the brain's dopamine systems. It's believed that changing the way endocannabinoids influence dopamine during development could result in a chronically high level of dopamine in some regions of the brain, which may increase the likelihood of psychotic episodes.

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