Marijuana is a plant that is commonly smoked for it’s pleasure-enhancing effects. Most plants reach between 1 and 5 feet tall, and can be grown indoors or outdoors with the right amount of light. Marijuana also has medicinal uses for people with depression, glaucoma, AIDS, cancer, migraine headaches, pruritis, asthma, severe pain, dystonia, and sclerodoma. Another name for this particular drug is cannabis. Marijuana is currently the most abused substance in the United States amongst teenagers and adults.
Approximately 14.2 billion people over the age of 12 consume marijuana at least once per month. Some of the street names for marijuana include “joint”, “blunt”, “mary jane”, “green”, and “weed. Despite the controversy, it has been proven that there are not only benefits, but disadvantages to consuming the drug as well. One of the many disadvantages proven by medical researchers is the effects the drug has on the lungs. Smoking marijuana increases an individual’s risk for developing emphysema, lung cancer, asthma, and bronchitis.
Smoking one marijuana joint contains just as many carcinogens as five tobacco cigarettes. Another disadvantage includes the effects that it has on mental health. People who are not immune to the “high” effects marijuana produces may not be tolerant of all of the intense sensations, thus causing their bodies to overreact. The drug can produce both relaxing and stimulating effects. The stimulating effects can become so intense that it they cause anxiety, fast heart beat, fainting, and can also produce episodes of psychotic behavior and paranoid thinking.
There continues to be a heightened concern over teenagers abusing marijuana as a way to obtain a high and the negative impacts on their behavior. Diminished inhibitions have the tendency to follow shortly after a high has been obtained, and can cause an individual (particularly a teenager) to make a numerous amount of bad decisions. Most teenagers smoke marijuana due to peer pressure. To this day, marijuana is still considered a “gateway” drug.
A typical high can last for as little as 30 minutes and as long as 2 to 4 hours. Urine tests can trace the drug for up to 3 days after consumed. Blood tests have been known to pick up traces of THC as far back as 4 weeks.
The brain contains several cannabinoid receptors, which is what makes experiencing the “high” possible. Areas where the receptors are found are those that influence coordinated movement, time perception, concentration, pleasure, memory, thought, and sensory. For some, eating the drug can cause delusions, hallucinations, and impaired memory. Marijuana typically effects everyone differently, depending on a number of factors including weight, whether or not the individual has developed a tolerance, current mental health, as well as current mood.
Consumption of marijuana while pregnant may cause neurological complications in the fetus. Problems with judgment skills, vision, birth weight, and concentration can all develop when a fetus is exposed to the ingredients and chemicals in the drug.
Currently, marijuana has only been made legal in 14 states for medical purposes only. It still remains an illegal substance if someone without a prescription is caught with it and carries numerous legal consequences from fines to jail time.
