Immediate effects

Small amounts
If you have a small amount of marijuana, the effects can last up to five hours.
You may:

• feel unusually well and happy
• do or say things which you normally wouldn’t
• talk and laugh more than usual
• have bad balance and coordination
• find it hard to concentrate
• feel hungry
• have a faster heart rate
• have red eyes
• focus on one particular thing and ignore all other things.

These effects usually lead to feelings of slowing down and sleepiness.

Large amounts
If you take a large amount of marijuana, you may:

• feel confused
• be restless
• feel excited
• see or hear things which are not there
• feel anxious or panicky
• feel distant or separate from reality.

Marijuana can also cause problems with:

• remembering things
• thinking clearly
• movement
• ability to do things like drive or operate machines.

These symptoms usually disappear when the effects of marijuana wear off.

Long-term effects
If you take marijuana regularly over a long period of time then you may experience the following health problems:

• An increase in the risk of getting bronchitis, lung cancer and other diseases of the respiratory system.
• A decrease in motivation.
• A decrease in concentration, memory and ability to learn new things.
• A decrease in sex drive.
• A decrease in sperm-count in men.
• Irregular menstrual cycles in women.
• Some people may have psychological effects. This is more likely if the person already has a schizophrenic condition.

Note. There is no record of any deaths being caused by marijuana.