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What Is It? |
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Marijuana is a mixture
of the fried and shredded leaves, stems, seeds, and flowers of the
hemp plant. The mixture can be green, brown, or gray. Hemp's
scientific name is Cannabis sativa.
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A bunch of leaves seems harmless, right? But think again.
Marijuana has a chemical in it called tetrahydrocannabinol. Better
known as THC. A lot of other chemicals are found in marijuana too -
about 400 of them, some of which can cause lung cancer. But the THC
is the main active ingredient1. |
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What Are The Common Street Names? |
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Pot
- Herb
- Weed
- Boom
- Mary Jane
- Gangster
- Chronic
- Bud
- Sinsemilla, ganja, hashish and hash oil (stronger form of marijuana).
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How Is It Used? |
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Marijuana is used in many ways. Some users brew it as tea or mix
it with food. Others smoke blunts - cigars hollowed out and filled
with the drug. And sometimes marijuana is smoked through a water pipe
called a bong. The most common method is smoking loose marijuana
rolled into a cigarette called a joint or nail.2
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Short-term Effects of Using Marijuana |
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Memory Problems
- Impaired Coordination
- Distortions in senses of sight, hearing, touch, time and depth
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Long-term Effects of Using Marijuana |
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Addiction |
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Here's the thing. Once dopamine starts flowing, a user feels the
urge to smoke marijuana again. and then again, and then again.
Repeated use could lead to addiction, and addiction is a brain disease.
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Smoking Marijuana Can Make
Driving Dangerous |
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The cerebellum is the section of our brain that does most of the
work on balance and coordination. When THC finds its way into the
cerebellum, it makes scoring a goal in soccer or hitting a homerun
pretty tough.
THC also does a number on the basal ganglia, another part of the
brain that's involved in movement control.
These THC effects can spell disaster on the highway. Research
shows that drivers on marijuana have slow reaction times, impaired
judgement, and problems responding to signals and sounds on the road.
In one study of 150 reckless drivers, 33 tested positive for marijuana,4
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Smoking Marijuana May Lead to
Lung Cancer |
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The list of negative effects goes on and on. Smoking marijuana may
increase the risk of heart attack. Smoking marijuana may cause lung
cancer-causing substances as tobacco. Plus, marijuana smokers tend to
inhale more deeply and hold their breath longer than cigarette
smokers do. So more smoke enters the lungs. Puff for puff, smoking
marijuana may increase the risk of cancer even more than smoking
cigarettes does.
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What About Medical Marijuana? |
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THC, the main active ingredient in marijuana, produces effects
that potentially can be useful for treating a variety of medical
conditions. It is the main ingredient in a pill that is currently
used to treat nausea in cancer. It is the main ingredient in a pill
that is currently used to treat nausea in cancer chemotherapy
patients and to stimulate appetite in patients with wasting due to
AIDS. Scientists are continuing to investigate other potential
medical uses for cannabinoids.
However, smoking marijuana is difficult to justify medically
because the amount of THC in marijuana is not always consistent. It
would be difficult - if not impossible - to come up with a safe and
effective use of the drug because you could never be sure how much
THC you were getting. Moreover, the negative effects of marijuana
smoke on the lungs will offset the helpfulness of smoked marijuana
for some patients.
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References: |
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Pa. Department of Health, Bureau of Drug and
Alcohol Programs |
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U. S. Department of Health and Human Services -
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration |
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National Institute on Drug Abuse:
1National
Institute on Drug Abuse; Marijuana: Facts for Teens, NIH Pub.No.
98-4037,. Bethesda, MD, NIDA, NIH, DHHS, Revised Mar. 2003
2National Institute
on Drug Abuse, Marijuana: Facts parents need to Know, NIH Pub. No.
02-4036, Bethesda, MD, NIDA, NIH,DHHS, Revised Nov. 2002
3National
Institute on Drug Abuse, NIDA Info-Facts; High School and Youth
Trends, Bethesda, MD, NIDA, NIH, DHHS, Revised June 2003
4National Institute
on Drug Abuse, NIDA Research Report-Marijuana Abuse, NIH Pub.No.
00-3859, Bethesda, MD, NIDA, NIH, DHHS, Printed Oct. 2002. |
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