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Title: DrugFacts: Marijuana
Source:
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
URL Source: http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana
Published: Apr 25, 2015
Author: NIDA
Post Date: 2015-04-25 08:43:31 by Gatlin
Keywords: None
Views: 29104
Comments: 81
The need for promoting appropriate use of drugs in the health care system is needed….marijuana as a cure all mania is not. LF's Wacky Weed Kids are again making desperate attempts to promote irrational drug use. The dynamic duo posted two articles falsely showing the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) position on marijuana. You potheads want the NIDA position on marijuana, you can’t handle the NIDA position on marijuana….here it is anyway: Marijuana refers to the dried leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds from the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa. The plant contains the mind- altering chemical delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and other related compounds. Extracts with high amounts of THC can also be made from the cannabis plant (see "Marijuana Extracts"). Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States (SAMHSA, 2014). Its use is widespread among young people. According to a yearly survey of middle and high school students, rates of marijuana use have steadied in the past few years after several years of increase. However, the number of young people who believe marijuana use is risky is decreasing (Johnston, 2014). Legalization of marijuana for medical use or adult recreational use in a growing number of states may affect these views. Read more about marijuana as medicine in DrugFacts: Is Marijuana Medicine? at www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana-medicine. People smoke marijuana in hand-rolled cigarettes (joints) or in pipes or water pipes (bongs). They also smoke it in blunts—emptied cigars that have been partly or completely refilled with marijuana. To avoid inhaling smoke, more people are using vaporizers. These devices pull the active ingredients (including THC) from the marijuana and collect their vapor in a storage unit. A person then inhales the vapor, not the smoke. Users can mix marijuana in food (edibles), such as brownies, cookies, or candy, or brew it as a tea. A newly popular method of use is smoking or eating different forms of THC-rich resins (see "Marijuana Extracts"). Smoking THC-rich resins extracted from the marijuana plant is on the rise. Users call this practice dabbing. People are using various forms of these extracts, such as: These extracts can deliver extremely large amounts of THC to users, and their use has sent some people to the emergency room. Another danger is in preparing these extracts, which usually involves butane (lighter fluid). A number of people who have used butane to make extracts at home have caused fires and explosions and have been seriously burned. Marijuana has both short- and long-term effects on the brain. THC (in magenta) acts on numerous areas in the brain. When a person smokes marijuana, THC quickly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream. The blood carries the chemical to the brain and other organs throughout the body. The body absorbs THC more slowly when the person eats or drinks it. In that case, the user generally feels the effects after 30 minutes to 1 hour. THC acts on specific brain cell receptors that ordinarily react to natural THC-like chemicals in the brain. These natural chemicals play a role in normal brain development and function. Marijuana overactivates parts of the brain that contain the highest number of these receptors. This causes the "high" that users feel. Other effects include: Marijuana also affects brain development. When marijuana users begin using as teenagers, the drug may reduce thinking, memory, and learning functions and affect how the brain builds connections between the areas necessary for these functions. Marijuana’s effects on these abilities may last a long time or even be permanent. For example, a study showed that people who started smoking marijuana heavily in their teens and had an ongoing cannabis use disorder lost an average of eight IQ points between ages 13 and 38. The lost mental abilities did not fully return in those who quit marijuana as adults. Those who started smoking marijuana as adults did not show notable IQ declines (Meier, 2012). The amount of THC in marijuana has been increasing steadily over the past few decades. For a new user, this may mean exposure to higher THC levels with a greater chance of a harmful reaction. Higher THC levels may explain the rise in emergency room visits involving marijuana use. The popularity of edibles also increases the chance of users having harmful reactions. Edibles take longer to digest and produce a high. Therefore, people may consume more to feel the effects faster, leading to dangerous results. Dabbing is yet another growing trend. More people are using marijuana extracts that provide stronger doses, and therefore stronger effects, of THC (see "Marijuana Extracts"). Higher THC levels may mean a greater risk for addiction if users are regularly exposing themselves to high doses. Marijuana use may have a wide range of effects, both physical and mental. Long-term marijuana use has been linked to mental illness in some users, such as: Marijuana use has also been linked to other mental health problems, such as: Contrary to common belief, marijuana can be addictive. Research suggests that about 1 in 11 users becomes addicted to marijuana (Anthony, 1994; Lopez-Quintero 2011).This number increases among those who start as teens (to about 17 percent, or 1 in 6) and among people who use marijuana daily (to 25-50 percent) (Hall, 2009a; Hall, 2009b). Compared to nonusers, heavy marijuana users more often report the following: Users also report less academic and career success. For example, marijuana use is linked to a higher likelihood of dropping out of school (McCaffrey, 2010). It is also linked to more job absences, accidents, and injuries (Zwerling, 1990). Long-term marijuana users trying to quit report withdrawal symptoms that make quitting difficult. These include: Behavioral support has been effective in treating marijuana addiction. Examples include therapy and motivational incentives (providing rewards to patients who remain substance free). No medications are currently available to treat marijuana addiction. However, continuing research may lead to new medications that help ease withdrawal symptoms, block the effects of marijuana, and prevent relapse. For more information on marijuana and marijuana use, visit: For more information on marijuana as medicine and on state laws related to marijuana, visit: Monitoring the Future Learn more about the Monitoring the Future survey, which annually measures drug, alcohol, and tobacco use and related attitudes among teenage students nationwide: http://www.dr ug abuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana. A Few Good Men (1992):
Colonel Jessep: You want answers?! Lieutenant Kaffee: I want the truth! Colonel Jessep: You can't handle the truth!
The Science of Drug Abuse and Addiction
The mission of the NIDA is to lead the Nation in bringing the power of science to bear on drug abuse and addiction
DrugFacts: Marijuana
Revised April 2015What is marijuana
How do people use marijuana?
Marijuana Extracts
How does marijuana affect the brain?
Short-term effects
Long-term effects
A Rise in Marijuana’s THC Levels
What are the other health effects of marijuana?
Physical effects
Mental effects
Is marijuana addictive?
How Does Marijuana Affect a User’s Life?
How can people get treatment for marijuana addiction?
Points to Remember
Learn More
www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends- statistics/monitoring-future
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 13.
#7. To: All (#0)
Potheads are loaded with an arsenal of copy and paste topics to throw at anyone who objects to their grim habit. They try to show reasons why pot is good yet they will never admit that they smoke the drug simply to get high. Why they love to feel bleary and weak is unknown even to them. The escapism they seek can be described as extreme selfishness to avoid reality. The basic dishonesty concerning their motives is but one reason I will forever distrust the reefer freak.
...The escapism they seek... ...reefer freak.
These threads are pointless. No one is going to be convinced to change their position, nor is LF a site read by a lot of lurkers. So the viciousness of the infighting on these threads seems mostly due to there being so little to gain or lose.
Smoking pot is pointless. It results in weakened mental faculties and sometimes claustrophobic paranoia….meaning the pothead becomes utterly terrified of wandering alone in the intellectual desert.
#14. To: All (#13)
The absence of critical thinking in the pot culture is remarkably astonishing. Potheads will go to any extreme to destroy a thread critical of their actions. They are always willing to grasp onto any conspiracy theory and become gossip mongers to repeat unfounded information from some garish little blog….as long as it reinforces their drug of choice. But when faced with serious journalistic criticism, they scream lies, blody lies and paste irrelevant pictures.
Your life is pointless.
You’ve probably seen those “Above The Influence” anti-drug commercials in which they show worst scenario outcomes to people smoking weed. Really depressing sh*t. They always make the person out to be an accidental murderer, or homeless, jobless, friendless. No prospects of anything positive on the horizon. Well, we have a list of the smartest people who ever admitted to smoking pot as a nice complement to the most successful people who owned up to puffin’ dope. Suck it, ATI. It’s been reported the Apple co-founder smoked pot and took LSD in his first semester at Reed College in Portland, Oregon in 1972. Since dropping out from the school, he’s only gone on to become one of the most successful and wealthiest people in America. In 1984, he received the National Medal of Technology from President Ronald Reagan. In 2007, Fortune Magazine named him the most powerful person in business and then California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger inducted him into the California Hall of Fame. Fortune also named him CEO of the Decade in 2009 while Forbes ranked him #57 on their list of the World’s Most Powerful People that same year. The Financial Times named Jobs its person of the year for 2010. I’m not sure, but I don’t think you can have those kind of accolades being dumb. Plus, the guy’s a Beatles fan, dated Joan Baez, and sold one of his houses to Bono from U2. That’s some hip, hip company, my friend. Astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, pothead. It’s hard to argue for pot slowing you down when you look at Carl Sagan’s record. Apparently a confirmed and admitted stoner, among his many achievements are a Pulitzer Prize, an Emmy, a best-selling novel, as well as more than 500 science papers and articles. He was a founding member of the Planetary Society, and he won a pipe load of scientific awards. Hardly surprising, he is said to have believed in the validity of stoned insights. I believe in them too, it’s just that Carl’s revolved around the origins of the cosmos, not which bagel store is open at 3 in the morning. Paleontologist, biologist, science historian. Most famous scientific contribution was the theory of punctuated equilibrium, which says that most evolution is marked by long periods of stability. Kind of like most of us after a good bong hit. One of the most influential and best read writers of popular science, Gould became an advocate for medical marijuana following his diagnosis with cancer. He claimed it had an “important effect” on his recovery. He also testified in court to the benefits of marijuana, and is quoted as saying “it is beyond my comprehension that any humane person would withhold such a beneficial substance from people in such great need simple because others use it for different purposes.” Gould used pot to help retain his health for twenty years, the same period during which he wrote The Structure of Evolutionary Theory, not what you might call an insignificant work. Won a Nobel Prize for figuring out the double-helix structure of DNA. Rumor has it that he was on acid at the time. Crick wasn’t the first to see twin twisted monsters coming at him during an acid plunge, but he was the first to recognize as an important scientific discovery. As a founding member of Soma, a legalize cannabis group, he also experimented pot, which he believed helped to remove the filters of abstract thought. Ok, so it’s probably not totally accurate to describe Margaret Mead as a pothead, but she was a major proponent for marijuana, so we’re going to widen the definition a bit. When she died in 1978, Mead was possibly the most famous Anthropologist on the planet. Time had named her Mother of the World in 1969. She authored or co-authored around 40 books, received 28 honorary doctorates, and was President of both the American Anthropological Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Most famously, she testified before Congress on the legalization of marijuana. She testified on lots of stuff, but it’s this one everyone remembers. Afterwards, she was called a dirty old lady, crazy, and no doubt many other things. Had a mushroom named after him. Do we need to know any more? Well, yes, we do. Although he looks like he’s been binging on an all-night high, Dr. Weil has medical and biology degrees from Harvard, is a naturopath, as well as a widely acknowledged expert on medicinal herbs, alternative medicines, and mind and body interactions. He was on the cover of Time, has written a bunch of books, and used to write for High Times. He talks about the advantages of stoned thinking, as well as an innate need to alter consciousness. Is that him or us? Whatever, it’s clearly worked for him. Another Nobel Prize winner, another stoner. Mullis tried heavier drugs than just pot. He invented the polymerase chain reaction, which if it’s slipped your mind, is the one that allows duplication of parts of DNA. He says acid helped him to develop it, perhaps along with pot, which he allegedly smoked just before his first trip. While most of us have trouble figuring out how a chair works when we’re high, this guy was working out how to mimic nature. If you’ve seen “Awakenings” with Robin Williams, you already know something of Oliver Sacks’ work. He’s a neurologist, the film based on his book of the same name. He also wrote The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. Sacks is an Oxford graduate and professor of neurology at Columbia Medical Center. He’s been referred to as the poet laureate of medicine, and received numerous awards and honorary doctorates in the field of neurological science. Not bad for a man who’s admitted to using marijuana on a more that recreational level, seeing it as a potential gateway to other minds and other consciousnesses. Physicist who helped design the atomic bomb. Well, nobody said anyone on this list was wise, just smarter than average. Feynman used pot to enhance his out of body experiences while in a sensory deprivation tank. When he came out, he won a Nobel Prize for his theory of quantum electrodynamics. He has a BS from the University of Maryland, a MS from Stanford and took PhD courses at Stanford before putting that on hiatus to co-found Google with Larry Page. His dad’s a math professor at the University of Maryland. His mom’s a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. His wife, Ann Wojcicki, is a biotech analyst who graduated with a B.S. in biology from Yale in 1996. She and Brin are working with leading researchers to help doctors, patients, and researchers analyze the human genome data and try to repair “bugs” as if DNA were HTML. He was inducted into the National Academy of Engineering, which is “among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer” and received the Marconi Foundation Prize, the “Highest Award in Engineering”. Like Jobs (see above), he’s among the wealthiest in the world. I can only imagine the first time he described DNA as HTML to someone, he/she must’ve been like, “are you high?” To which, he responded, “No! Why? You holdin’?”
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/LatestLF's Wacky Weed Kids are again making desperate attempts to promote irrational drug use.
#8. To: Gatlin, Excalibur, Operation 40, hondo68, Orwellian Nightmare, sneakypete, TooConservative, buckeroo (#7)
...their grim habit.
#9. To: Deckard (#8)
#13. To: TooConservative (#9)
These threads are pointless.
Replies to Comment # 13.
#16. To: Gatlin (#13)
#18. To: Gatlin (#13)
Smoking pot is pointless. It results in weakened mental faculties and sometimes claustrophobic paranoia….meaning the pothead becomes utterly terrified of wandering alone in the intellectual desert.
Steve Jobs
Carl Sagan
Stephen Jay Gould
Francis Crick
Margaret Mead
Andrew Weil
Kary Mullis
Oliver Sacks
Richard Feynman
Sergey Brin
End Trace Mode for Comment # 13.
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