The cognitive effects of marijuana are best described and organized in terms of a model of attention. Sack's model includes three factors of attention: resistance to distraction, set-shifting, and field articulation. The acute cognitive effects can be seen as decrements in resisting distraction and in shifting set, i.e., voluntarily shifting the focus of one's attention. Chronic use of the drug seems to cause similar decrements, although the evidence for them is not as strong. Further research is needed, using longitudinal studies so that measurements of attention before and after drug use will be available.
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