You may know that cannabis makes you high but this is exactly what the drug is doing to the different parts of your body.
Cannabis is the most popular illegal drug in the UK but many people have no idea what it does to their bodies.
What exactly does the class B drug does to your brain, heart and internal organs?
When you smoke a spliff, its active chemical Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) travels through your body and effects your brain.
Marijuana lingers in the system longer than most other drugs and can still be detected in your urine, blood and hair for up to 90 days afterwards.
Brain
Marijuana messes with the way your brain processes information.
It contains at least 60 types of cannabinoids, chemical compounds that act on receptors throughout our brain.
These keep neurons firing, magnifying your thoughts, imagination and perception, and makes you feel high by boosting your dopamine levels.
But having too much makes you anxious, paranoid or panicky.
Like other drugs, continued use can lead to addiction.
Heart
Just minutes after you’ve taken your first puff, your heart rate speeds up by 20 to 50 beats per minute.
This can continue from 20 minutes to three hours later.
Eyes
Cannabis makes blood vessels expand making your eyes turn red. It may also make your pupils dilate.
Weed also affects the parts of your brain that process what you see, leading to hallucinations.
Stomach
People who smoke weed get the “munchies” and feel incredibly hungry. A study that looked into pot’s effect on mice found the drug basically flips a switch in the brain that is normally responsible for controlling appetite.
Long-term effects
Chronic cannabis users, who light up at least three times a day, tend to have smaller grey matter volumes in the orbitofrontal cortex – which unsurprisingly is the part of brain tied to addiction.
But interestingly marijuana use was also linked with greater connectivity in the brain.
There was evidence to suggest that the drug could help fight Alzheimer’s and dispelled the myth that smoking weed lowers IQ.
