Marijuana Information
Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in America, with
more than 14 million estimated users. A dry, shredded green/brown mix of
flowers, stems, seeds, and leaves of the hemp plant Cannabis sativa, it usually
is smoked as a cigarette (joint, nail), or in a pipe (bong). It also is smoked
in blunts, which are cigars that have been emptied of tobacco and refilled with
marijuana, often in combination with another drug. Use also might include
mixing marijuana in food or brewing it as a tea. As a more concentrated,
resinous form it is called hashish and, as a sticky black liquid, hash oil.
Marijuana smoke has a pungent and distinctive, usually sweet-and-sour odor.
There are countless street terms for marijuana including pot, herb, weed,
grass, endo, trees, ganja, sticky-icky, mary jane and hash.
Looking for
help for marijuana addiction? Fill out the form on this page or call
1-877-421-9659 to speak with a counselor that can
help.
The main active chemical in marijuana is THC
(delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). THC content can often store in a person's body
for many months after use has ceased, continuing to cause adverse
reactions.
The short-term effects of marijuana can include problems with
memory and learning; distorted perception; difficulty in thinking and problem
solving; loss of coordination; and increased heart rate. Research findings for
long-term marijuana use indicate some changes in the brain similar to those
seen after long-term use of other major drugs of abuse.
Some of
marijuana’s adverse health effects may occur because THC impairs the
immune system’s ability to fight off infectious diseases and cancer. In
laboratory experiments that exposed human cells to THC or other marijuana
ingredients, the normal disease-preventing reactions of many of the key types
of immune cells were inhibited.
Research demonstrates that marijuana has
potential to cause problems in daily life or make a person’s existing
problems worse. Because marijuana compromises the ability to learn and remember
information, the more a person uses marijuana the more he or she is likely to
fall behind in accumulating intellectual, job, or social skills. Workers who
smoke marijuana are more likely than their coworkers to have problems on the
job. Several studies associate workers’ marijuana smoking with increased
absences, tardiness, accidents, workers’ compensation claims, and job
turnover.
Long-term marijuana use can lead to addiction for some people;
that is, they use the drug compulsively even though it interferes with family,
school, work, and recreational activities. Drug craving and withdrawal symptoms
can make it hard for long-term marijuana smokers to stop using the drug. People
trying to quit report irritability, sleeplessness, and anxiety. They also
display increased aggression on psychological tests, peaking approximately one
week after the last use of the drug.
© 2009 Drug-Free Alliance