Marijuana Term paper

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Hello my name is Chenoa Gipp, an I’m going to tell you about the drug commonly known as Marijuana. The scientific name being “Cannabis Sativa.” Cannabis is the short name for the hemp plant. It is thought to have originated in Asia an then reached Europe more than a thousand years ago. It now thrives in most any climate. Spreading like milkweed or thistle, crowding out neighboring grasses an reaching heights of 3 to 20 feet at maturity. Marijuana has been cultivated for the last 5,000 years; it is one of the most oldest agricultural commodities not grown for food. The stalks of the plant contain fibers that have been woven millennia to make rope, canvas, an paper. Cannabis is dioecious, spawning male an female plants in equal proportion. The flowering buds of the female secrete a sticky yellow resin rich with cannabinoids, the more than 60 compounds in marijuana. Marijuana, hashish and hashish oil come from this plant.

Marijuana is the Mexican colloquial name for the plant known to botanists as Cannabis Sativa. In various forms it has long been familiar through out the world: In Africa it is known as “dagga,” in China it is known as “ma,” an in Northern Europe it is known as “hemp.” It also has various nicknames in the U.S. such as “weed, pot, reefer, grass, dope, ganja, Mary Jane, sinsemilla, hash, herb, Aunt Mary, skunk, boom, kif, gangster, chronic, mull, leaf, green, and bud.”

You may ask yourself asking the question, “What is Marijuana?” The answer to that would be Marijuana is made from dried leaves and flowers of the plant and is the most widely used form of drug. Its color ranges from grayish-green to greenish-brown. The texture of the marijuana can be fine, with the appearance of dried herbs or dried parsley, or course, like tea. It is usually smoked in handrolled cigarettes called ‘joints’ or water pipes called ‘bongs’. Another way of using the drug is eating it. (Note: eating the leaves or herbs of the marijuana plant can not have an effect on you if it is not baked in some sort of way.)

Many people wonder, “ What is the drug in cannabis?” The cannabis plant contains a chemical called THC ( delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol) which affects many of the bodies functions. The amount of THC varies in different parts of the plant. For example, the flowers of the female plant have more THC than the stems or leaves. Smoking cannabis is the most common method of use. When it is smoked, THC is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream through the walls of the lungs. The “high” effect of the drug is felt when the THC reaches the brain. The time varies on how long this can last, depending on how much is smoked (or eaten), an also what kind of marijuana it is, there are many different types of marijuana some stronger than others. When cannabis is eaten, the absorption of the THC is much slower, taking 1 to 3 hours for THC to reach the bloodstream, delaying the onset of the effects. The amount of food in the stomach an other characteristics of the user will also determine how quickly the user feels the effects. After smoking marijuana, an occasional user can fail a urine test 3 days after smoking a single joint, and a heavy user may test positive after abstaining from marijuana for more than a month.

Cannabis is difficult to classify pharmacologically since its effects vary. It is primarily a depressant; however, it can have hallucinogenic properties. Several of the chemicals in marijuana are psychoactive, most prominently THC. According to the Council of Alcohol an Drug Abuse Association; marijuana contains over 400 toxins an cancer-causing chemicals( although marijuana is often used to prevent cancer) including THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, which are stored in the fat cells for as long as 14 to 30 days. Marijuana can also cause the user to develop tolerance, increasing the need for more and more in order to experience the expected high. Some of the effects of marijuana use include increased heart rate, dryness of mouth(commonly known as “cotton mouth”) , bloodshot or reddening of eyes, impaired or reduced short term memory, impaired or reduced comprehension, tendency to talk or laugh more than usual, increased appetite ( the “munchies” ), tunnel awareness( where the person focuses their awareness on one thing an ignores all others),altered sense of time, restlessness, detachment from reality, reduced ability to perform tasks requiring concentration an coordination, such as driving a car. Also altered motivation an cognition, making the acquisition of new information difficult, paranoia, psychological dependence, impairments in learning and in memory perception, judgement- difficulty speaking, thinking, retaining knowledge, problem solving an forming concepts, and intense anxiety or panic attacks, .hallucinations, and fantasies. These symptoms usually disappear when the effects of the cannabis wears off. The effects of cannabis will vary from person to person depending on the characteristics of the:

Individual (user) – for example: Mood, psychical size, weight, health, gender, previous experience with cannabis , expectations of the drug and personality;

Drug – for example: The amount used, the content of THC an whether the drug is smoked or eaten;

Setting (environment) – Whether the person is using with friends, or on his/her own, in a social setting or at home.

Illicit drug use has shown a steady increase during the 1990’s, particularly for marijuana.

Among 8th graders, annual prevalence tripled from...

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