Marijuana:  Facts for Teens

Goal: 

Understand the effect of marijuana use on the physical, social, and academic well being of a person.

Grade Level:  9-12

Activity One:

Objectives: 

1) The student will understand the way in which marijuana use affects the brain regions and structures that control the five senses, heart rate, emotions, memory and judgment.

2) The student will use knowledge of brain-behavior relationships to determine the possible effects of marijuana on the ability to perform certain tasks and occupations.  

Activity:  Review the ways in which marijuana use affects the brain regions and structures that control the five senses, heart rate, emotions, memory and judgment.  Students then randomly select an occupation and are asked to act-out, in front of the class, how marijuana use might specifically affect the performance of a person in that occupation.  Examples of occupations can include: an airline pilot, doctor, professional basketball player, an attorney, a truck driver, a construction worker, a truck driver, a waiter/waitress, etc.  Students will identify the brain regions and structures affected by marijuana use, and describe the link between these structures and behavior.

Activity Two:

Objective:  The student will understand how marijuana interferes with information transfer and short-term memory.

Activity:  Read a list of 20 words aloud to the class and then ask the students to write down as many words as they can remember.  Then have several students stand, in pairs, at various points in the room and carry on loud conversations as you read a list of 20 new words for the students to remember.  Ask students to again write down as many words as they can remember.  Compare the performance between the two trials.  Mention to the students that, like the disruptive students, marijuana interferes with normal information transfer and memory.  Students will identify the areas of the brain and structures responsible for these functions and will be reminded that marijuana alters neurotransmission in these areas.  

Guidance Lesson Submitted By:  Scott Harrison