Marijuana Addiction
What is Marijuana?
Marijuana is a common name for the hemp plant, cannabis sativa. However,
marijuana, also known as pot, grass or weed, does not contain just one
chemical. In fact, it contains 61 known relatives of the primary active
ingredient, Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and more than 400 known
chemical toxins also have been found in marijuana. When burned, even more
toxic compounds are produced.
The marijuana sold today has much higher THC chemical content than the
marijuana sold in the '60s and '70s. THC content has increased from 1
percent THC in 1975 to 6 to 14 percent THC in 1985 due to hybridization
techniques. Today's marijuana presents serious health threats and major
psychological damage. Also, it offers much greater potential for dependence.
THC is absorbed quickly into fatty tissue and is stored there for a long
time. Because of this, a single dose may take 3 to 4 weeks to get out of
the system completely. The higher THC concentration of today's marijuana
has increased the percentage of people who will become dependent on it.
How Marijuana Smoking Affects the Body
- Adversely affects normal cell formation.
- Produces feelings of isolation and depersonalization.
- Produces shakes, lack of coordination and headaches.
- Makes any mental or emotional problem worse.
- Increases the heart rate.
- Has 50 percent more tar per ounce than tobacco.
- Decreases air flow and creates loss of lung capacity in little more than a month of regular smoking.
- Produces chronic irritation of nasal and lung passages.
- Creates precancerous changes in the lungs of smokers in their 20s.
- Suppresses sex drive and sexual performance with prolonged use.
- Can lead to impotence.
- Harms the developing fetus.
- Is associated with increased still births, neonatal deaths, decreased birth weight and abnormal reactions in children born to mothers on marijuana.
- Decreases brain response, affects thinking and brain function, creates confusion and problems with short and long term memory, and distorts perception of time.
- Causes blackouts.
- Impairs driving skills. Studies show brake response time is increased, concentration is decreased and risk taking is increased.
- Distorts peripheral vision, especially in the first two hours after using.
Smoking marijuana decreases the chance for a naturally satisfying life. It is an especially harmful drug for young people. Just when teens and young adults are searching for motivation and the best way to achieve their dreams, marijuana robs them of motivation. Young people do less, learn less and become less capable when they smoke marijuana.
Smoking marijuana drains self-confidence and arrests the development of confidence in a person's own ability to get natural rewards out of life. Because marijuana introduces people to altered perceptions and feelings, and an "I don't care" attitude, the drug encourages use of other drugs and sinks its users into an ever-deepening dependence on drug lifestyles. Drawn into the illegal drug culture, users are then available to those who are pushing other drugs.
Why Marijuana is Addictive
Marijuana produces an artificial feeling of pleasant relaxation. Most addictive drugs are able to produce pleasurable effects by chemically mimicking certain normal brain messenger chemicals that produce positive feelings. This is like having counterfeit money that fits in a slot machine. When the drug comes in, it stimulates the reward center, short-circuiting the survival mechanism because the reward center can't tell the difference between the drug and the natural chemical messenger.
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