Social effects

There are three main hypotheses about the social consequences of cannabis use and the effects on the human environment that will attract our attention: the role of marijuana in enhancing interpersonal qualities, the effect of cannabis on aggression and cruelty, and the role of using marijuana in what is called a loss of motivation syndrome.

Many young marijuana smokers claim that they use the drug to enhance their social skills, and that the drug allows them to become more competent in various social situations. For complete confirmation of such statements there is not enough information, however, this is confirmed by one study. It turns out that the user is either (or) more relaxed in a certain situation and thus shows less anxiety, or (b) treats his behavior differently under the influence of marijuana. In any case, marijuana does not greatly enhance the competence of a person in various social situations.

A fairly well-established thesis on cannabis use dating back to the 1920s, when newspaper articles appeared in New Orleans, suggests that marijuana provokes a smoker to aggression and cruelty. However, a myriad of conclusions from clinical observations and laboratory studies suggest that marijuana does not cause aggression. When aggressive actions are observed, they are likely to indicate the impact of the conviction and individual characteristics of the smoker. In fact, using cannabis smoking reduces the degree of aggressiveness.

The third, and perhaps most controversial, effect of cannabis use on the social and human environment is a syndrome of loss of motivation. The term was introduced into circulation in the early 1960s to describe the clinically observed “influence of cannabis use on the emergence and development of more passive personality characteristics, unmotivated personalities locked into the inner world.” The list of syndromes includes apathy, hypersensitivity, lack of desire, reduced sense of tasks and goals, difficulty in concentrating and concentrating. Moreover, based on research data, we can conclude that this phenomenon occurs more often in young smokers who use marijuana every day and in large doses.
However, it can be said that the role of cannabis use in spreading these characteristics in a marijuana smoker is not clear. Also, there are discussions about how exactly the syndrome occurs, given that it does not always occur. In addition, anthropological studies of serious smokers of marijuana in other countries have not brought evidence to support the existence of a loss of motivation syndrome. Also, this hypothesis was not supported by laboratory studies on cannabis use by humans. Moreover, survey data do not always reveal differences between marijuana smokers and people who do not use drugs, which is unusual, since marijuana causes a certain set of symptoms to appear. Also, the syndrome of loss of motivation was sometimes observed in young people who did not use marijuana, and is not always observed in drug users every day in large doses. Thus, it can be assumed that the existing personal characteristics and some of the effects of the drug together can influence the emergence and expansion of what has been called the syndrome of loss of motivation.