(The scale = centimeters)
Hash Oil, Hashish, Marijuana, Marinol, Dranabinol, Thai Stick.
Acapulco Gold, Aunt Mary, Bambalachacha, Betas, Bhang, Bo-Bo Bush, Boo, Broccoli, Bud, Canadian Black, Chicago Green, Colombia Red, Chronic, Cheeva, Ding, Donjem, Dope, Dubie, Fu, Gange, Ganja, Gates, GOM (Good Old Marijuana), Grass, Greefo, Griffas, Gauge, Giggle Sticks, Gunga, Gunja, Hay, Hemp, Herb, Honey, Indian Hemp, Jay Smoke, Jamican Red, Joint, Joy Smoke, Ktutchu String, Kona, Kif, Laughing Grass, Light Green, Loco Weed, Love Weed, Maggie, Marijuana, Mary Jane, Mary Worner, Mary Weaver, Megg, Mexican Brown, Mexican Commercial, Mez, Moahsky, Mocoha, Moocha, Mooster, Mota, Mu, Mutah, Number, Pod, Pot, Reef, Reefer, Roach, Sinsemilia, Ses, Smoke, Snop, Splim, Tea, Texas Tea, Thai Stick, Viper Weed, Wake and Bake, Weed, Weed Tea, Yesca.
Cannabis appears to interfere with a person's ability or willingness to pay attention. People under the influence of marijuana do not divide their attention very well. When driving, they may attend to certain parts of the driving task but ignore other parts. For example, the driver may continue to steer the car but ignore stop signs, traffic lights or pedestrians. Cannabis will generally diminish inhibitions, impair perception of time and distance, create disorientation, and can cause body tremors.
User's of marijuana generally feel the effects within 8-9 seconds after inhaling the smoke. The effects will reach their peak within 10-30 minutes, and usually last for approximately 3-6 hours. The user will typically feel "normal" within 3-6 hours after smoking marijuana.
Evidence of marijuana can be disclosed in some blood and urine tests long after the effects have dissipated. This is because certain chemical tests do not seek to find THC, Delta-9 Tetrahydrocannabinol - the active ingredient in cannabis that causes intoxication, but instead looks for metabolites of THC, or chemical by-products. Some tests can indicate the presence of THC metabolites for up to 45 days after smoking marijuana.
Two important metabolites of THC affect the duration, and perception, of the effects of cannabis. One of these metabolites is Hydroxy THC: this causes the user to feel euphoric, so that he or she is aware of the effects. Hydroxy THC usually is eliminated from the blood plasma within about 6 hours. The other important metabolite is Carboxy THC. This metabolite also causes impairment, but no feeling of euphoria, so the user might not be aware that he or she is still impaired. Carboxy THC may be found in the blood plasma for several days following marijuana use. Therefore, the user may actually be impaired for a good deal of time after his or her perceptions of impairment have ended.
Excessive use of marijuana can create paranoia and possible psychosis. These same effects may develop from long-term use of the drug, which has also been observed to produce sharp personality changes, especially in adolescent users. Other long-term effects include: lung damage, chronic bronchitis, lowering of testosterone, acute anxiety attacks, chronic reduction of attention span, and possible birth defects, still births and infant deaths.
Marijuana-Related Emergency Department Visits on the Rise
Visits to hospital emergency departments because of marijuana use have risen steadily during the 1990s, from an estimated 16,251 visits in 1991 to 76,870 in 1998. Since 1998, the number of marijuana mentions during an emergency department visit have been equal to the number of heroin mentions. Cocaine continues to be the illicit drug responsible for the most emergency department visits, accounting for a projected 154,956 visits in 1999.
Source: Data from Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services-- March 2000.
More Problems With Marijuana
There's one more potential problem to add to those already known about marijuana: the ingredient that gives it its kick, also influences tumor growth. According to researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) 'promotes tumor growth.'
The finding has implications for cancer patients who use marijuana to fight chemotherapy-induced nausea. Researchers suggest that tumor growth may result from using marijuana.
The investigators point out 'the tar in marijuana smoke, compared with that of tobacco, contains higher concentrations of carcinogenic substances including benzapyrene, which has been shown to be a key factor in promoting lung cancer.'
And if that were not enough, the authors add, 'four times as much tar is deposited in the respiratory tract from the smoke of marijuana than from that of a comparable amount of tobacco, thus amplifying respiratory exposure to the cancer-causing substances in marijuana smoke.'
SOURCE: 2000 July - Journal of Immunology
Pot--'Gateway'to Harder Drugs
Two recent studies strongly suggest that pot is a 'gateway' drug whose use leads some people on to abuse of so-called hard drugs, such as cocaine and heroin.
One study in the journal Science, demonstrates that the stress and anxiety associated with withdrawal from long-term use of marijuana produce the same biochemical changes associated with withdrawal from the harder drugs. This is the 'negative reinforcement' that causes a person to take more drugs to alleviate the stress.
A second study, also in Science, demonstrates for the first time that marijuana activates the same pleasure centers in the brain that are targeted by heroin, cocaine and alcohol, again providing a reason to seek out the drug. 'We now have...a smoking gun--a biological mechanism by which this gateway phenomenon could be occurring,' said Dr. Herbert Kleber, medical director of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University and the Chairman of the all-volunteer DARE America Scientific Advisory Board.
The backdrop to these studies show that an individual who uses marijuana is 17 times more likely to use cocaine than one who never smoked pot.
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CNS STIMULANTS | CNS
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The "Rave" Scene
