Should it be legalized? The 411 on the 420

A New York Times article on Sunday discussed the debate over whether the potent types of cannabis affects the levels of addiction to the drug.  This particular issue is the main concern over the large debate of whether marijuana should be legalized.  Many antidrug activists dispute that if the drug is legalized more people will use it and addiction will worsen, as well.

Marijuana is a green, brown, or gray mixture of dried, shredded leaves, stems, seeds, and flowers of the hemp plant. You may hear marijuana called by street names such as pot, herb, weed, grass, boom, Mary Jane, gangster, 420, or chronic. There are more than 200 slang terms for marijuana.

Marijuana contains THC, which is short for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, along with over 400 other chemicals.  However, THC is the main active chemical that determines the potency of the drug.  Marijuana is mind-altering and changes how the brain works.  THC is rapidly absorbed by fatty tissues in various organs.  It can be detected by standard urine testing methods several days after a smoking session.  In heavy users, it can be traced weeks after they have quit.

This drug is commonly advertised on shirts, bumperstickers, internet, movies, and songs.  This peer pressure usually encourages teenagers to start smoking.

Short-term effects:

•  problems with memory and learning
•  distorted perception (sight, sounds, time, touch)
•  trouble with thinking and problem-solving
•  loss of motor coordination
•  increased heart rate

Long-term effects:

• cancer: usually because most marijuana users also smoke cigarettes
• lungs & airways: such as coughing and wheezing, or even pneumonia
• immune system: impairs the T-cells in the lungs' immune system to fight off infections

What are the signs if someone is high?

• seems dizzy or having trouble walking
• seem silly and giggly for no reason
• have very red, bloodshot eyes
• have a hard time remembering things that just happened

Once effects have faded, users normally become sleepy.

 

Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug used by teens today. Approximately 60 percent of the kids who use drugs use only marijuana. Of the 14.6 million marijuana users in 2002, approximately 4.8 million used it on 20 or more days in any given month.
    The marijuana that is available to teens today is much stronger than the marijuana that was available in the 1960’s. Sometimes it is also laced with other, more potent drugs, such as cocaine. Marijuana is physically addictive. Each year, 100,000 teens are treated for marijuana dependence. Teens who smoke marijuana heavily experience much of the same symptoms of withdrawal as users of nicotine.

If  you know of a teen that is experiencing addiction problems with marijuana, visit http://www.marijuana-anonymous.org/, or call the hotline (800) 766-6779.