Marijuana Users What You Lose Term paper
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The topic of marijuana use is very broad and has an intricate effect on society as a whole, however, for the purpose of this paper; the literature review is based on facts covering a brief overview of the existence, use, and effect of marijuana. The history of the Cannabis plant and the outcomes associated with the use and abuse of marijuana is the major focus of this paper.
What Is Marijuana? Marijuana is a drug obtained from dried and crumpled parts of the hemp plant Cannabis. Cannabis is botanically classified as a member of the family Cannabaceae and the genus Cannabis. There are 3 known species of Cannabis: Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. (Lorimer 214) Cannabis sativa is a tall plant, generally between 8 and 12 feet. The leaves have long thin fingers and are light green. The more equatorial varieties have more yellow pigments to protect the plant from intense light. Sativa seed pods are long and thin and turn red as they mature in a warm environment. In cooler environments, the buds may be slightly purple. Sativa plants smell sweet and fruity and the smoke is generally quite mild. (Grolier Electronic Encyclopedia)
For thousands of years, the plant cannabis sativa, otherwise known as hemp or marijuana, has been harvested by people and utilized in many different ways. It has been grown to provide food for villages and towns, and used for clothes, rope, and sails on early ships. The Bible was written on hemp paper, as well as the first draft of the US Constitution. (House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology, "Ninth Report 1998") Marijuana is known by a variety of names such as kif (Morocco), dagga (South Africa), and bhang (India). Common in the United States, marijuana is called pot, grass, weed, Mary Jane, bones, etc. (Lorimer 214) The plant contains THC, which gives smokers the psychic effects they seek. The leaves of this plant are smoked but the most highly prized part of the plant is the top, smoked by rolling inside tobacco paper or placing in a pipe. (Grolier Electronic Encyclopedia) It is consumed worldwide by an estimated 200,000,000 persons for pleasure, an escape from reality, or relaxation. (Berger) The use of marijuana is widespread by all classes, races, and cultures. (Smith)
The first definite record of the marijuana plant in the New World dates from 1545 AD, when the Spaniards introduced it into Chile. It has been suggested, however, that African slaves familiar with marijuana as an intoxicant and medicine brought the seeds with them to Brazil even earlier in the sixteenth century. (Lorimer 215) There are no records that the Pilgrims brought marijuana with them to Plymouth, but the Native Americans introduced the Pilgrims to tobacco and other forms of drugs such as Marijuana. The Jamestown settlers did bring the plant to Virginia in 1611, and cultivated it for its fiber, the hemp, which was used to make rope. (Erriod's Cannabis Vault) Marijuana was introduced into New England in 1629 and from then until after the Civil War, the marijuana plant was a major crop in North America.
The Marijuana Plant played an important role in both colonial and national economic policy. In 1762, Virginia awarded bounties for hemp culture and manufacture, and imposed penalties upon those who did not produce it. George Washington was growing hemp at Mount Vernon three years later, presumably for its fiber. The fact has been argued that Washington was also concerned to increase the medicinal or intoxicating potency of his marijuana plants. The argument depends on a curious tradition, which may or may not be sound, that the quality or quantity of marijuana resin (hashish) is enhanced if the male and female plants are separated before the females are pollinated. There can be no doubt that Washington separated the males from the females. Two entries in his diary supply the evidence: May 12-13, 1765: "Sowed Hemp at Muddy hole by Swamp." (Andrews 34) August 7, 1765: `-began to separate the Male from the Female Hemp Do-rather too late." (Andrews 34) Washington's August 7 diary entry "clearly indicates that he was cultivating the plant for medicinal purposes as well for it's fiber." (Andrews 34) he might have separated the males from the females to get better fiber, but his phrase "rather too late" suggests that he wanted to complete the separation before the female plants were fertilized and this was a practice related to drug potency rather than to fiber culture. (Andrews 34)
British mercantile policy hampered American hemp culture for a time during and after the colonial period by offering heavy bounties on hemp exported from Ireland, but the American plantings continued despite this subsidized competition. At various times in the nineteenth century, large hemp plantations flourished in Mississippi, Georgia, California, South Carolina, Nebraska, and other states, as well as on Staten Island, New York. The invention of the cotton gin and of other cotton and wool machinery, and competition from cheap imported hemp, were major factors in the decline in United States hemp cultivation.
The decline in commercial production did not, however, mean that marijuana became scarce. As late as 1937, the American commercial crop was still estimated at 10,000 acres, much of it in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Kentucky. Four million pounds of marijuana seed a year were being used in bird feed. During World War II, commercial cultivation was greatly expanded, at the request of the United States Department of Agriculture, to meet the shortage of imported hemp for rope. Even decades after commercial cultivation has been discontinued, hemp can often be found growing luxuriantly as a weed in abandoned fields and along roadsides. Indeed, the plant readily spreads to additional territory. The area of Nebraska land infested with "weed" marijuana was estimated in 1969 at 156,000 acres. One acre of good land yields about one thousand pounds of marijuana, enough for almost one million marijuana cigarettes. Not until after 1920 did marijuana come into general use-and not until the 1960s did it become a popular drug. (US Dept of Health and Human Services).
"Marijuana is the second most popular drug after alcohol in the country today. So many people smoke marijuana that the numbers alone seem to legitimize and condone its presence in people's lives. Yet, even in moderation marijuana is not 'safe.' Somehow this information had not filtered down to people who think they are smoking a fairly harmless drug. Our society perpetuates the myths about pot being a fun, harmless, recreational drug. These myths feed into people's denial of marijuana's problems" (Baum). However, the abuse of marijuana is a problem. It is not only a personal problem, but also more importantly a social problem.
Marijuana is not a narcotic and is not physically addicting drug. Marijuana is a naturally occurring plant with several species. It is also otherwise consumed worldwide by an estimated 200,000,000 persons for pleasure, an escape from reality, or relaxation. Marijuana serves to diminish inhibitions and acts as a euphoriant. (New York State Journal of Medicine) Some who smoke marijuana feel no effects; others feel relaxed and sociable, tend to laugh a great deal, and have a profound loss of the sense of time. Characteristically, those under the influence of marijuana show bad coordination and impaired ability to perform skilled acts. Still others experience a wide range of emotions including feelings of perception, fear, insanity, happiness, love and anger". Although marijuana is not addicting, it may be habituating. The individual may become mentally rather than physically dependent on the drug. (Snyder 574)
Cannabis indicia and cannabis sativa are the two most common types of marijuana in the developed world. These two species can be prepared for the use of people in a number of ways. The plant may be dried and used for intoxication, or as resin can be collected from the plant by compressing the plant into a brick. Also by drying the plant and boiling it in alcohol and filtering the matter to make hash oil is a way of preparing the plant for human consumption. (Adams 366)
The potency of the marijuana substances depends on the climatic conditions, soil nutrients of the environment in which the plant is grown. These ways include inhaling the fumes by smoking the plant, or by eating the plant baked into biscuits. The levels of Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active chemical in marijuana consumed from the different methods of administering varies, and so does the effect of the administered amount. THC is lipid soluble and is stored readily in fatty tissues in the body. As a consequence, traces of THC can be detected in the urine up to 2 - 3 months after marijuana use. The reason for the extended period of time that THC stays in the body is that unlike alcohol, which is excreted through the kidneys, THC very slowly seeps out of the fat cells. Therefore, a trace of THC in the urine of a person is not necessarily an indication of recent marijuana use. (National institute on Health USA)
The recreational use of marijuana is one area where harmful physical and mental effects occur. Recreational can be divided into the two groups, experimental and habitual. According to the National Drug Strategy (1994) experimental use of...
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a