We are now going to take Marijuana, specifically THC through our series of questions to determine what type of impairment exists, if any. We have already seen that it does interact with certain cannabinoid receptors that cause physiological and psychological changes in our body/mind.
QUESTION #1 Does ingesting cause an altered state? Yes, people use marijuana because the high makes them feel happy, relaxed, or detached from reality. No one can disagree with this, otherwise why use it?
QUESTION #2 Does that state cause impairment in the average person? Yes, it is basically a depressant.
QUESTION #3 What functions are specifically impaired? As is with most substances that depress body and mind functions:
http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/marijuana-use-and-its-effects#1
Physical effects of marijuana include: dizziness, shallow breathing, increased appetite and slowed reaction time (If you drive after using marijuana, your risk of being in a car accident more than doubles.) Also, you might have a distorted sense of time, random thinking, paranoia, anxiety, depression, and short-term forgetfulness.
Of interest is that Synthetic Cannabinoids have the same impact; but at a much higher degree of effect, due to the nature of how they directly chemical bind to the receptors. This is a good indicator of what will happen as THC becomes more potent.
https://www.drugabuse.gov/drugs-abuse/synthetic-cannabinoids-k2spice
My belief is that, like alcohol is a point of too much THC strength to the point of death, so there will be an end of increase levels at some point in the future. The body can only handle so much potency before it becomes toxic. Alcoholics can tolerate “heavy doses of alcohol, but it destroys their body and mind
QUESTION #4 What are the activities affected by this type of impairment? Like opioids, anything that requires attention and motor skills around movement and time.
QUESTION #5 Does an impairment in performing certain specific activities cause harm to oneself or others? Yes. as a reminder, here is a listing