What Is Marijuana?
Marijuana is the most widely used illegal drug in the United States.
It is a dry, shredded green/brown mix of flowers, stems, and leaves of
the plant Cannabis sativa. A stronger form of marijuana called hashish
(hash) looks like brown or black cakes or balls. The many street names
for marijuana include pot, herb, weed, grass, Jane, reefer, dope, and
ganja.
Marijuana is typically smoked in cigarettes (joints or spliffs),
hollowed-out cigars (blunts), pipes (bowls), or water pipes (bongs).
Some people mix it into food or brew it as a tea.
Short-Term Effects
The main active chemical in marijuana is THC
(delta9tetrahydrocannabinol). When smoked, THC passes from the lungs
into the bloodstream, which transports it to the brain and other organs.
When it reaches the brain, THC connects with a certain type of receptor
on nerve cells in areas that affect coordination, thought, memory,
concentration, sensory and time perception, and pleasure. This causes
the marijuana "high."
Marijuana users can experience these short-term effects:
- difficulty in thinking and problem solving
- problems with memory and learning
- loss of coordination
- distorted perception
These effects can make activities like driving dangerous while under the influence of the drug.
Long-Term Effects
Research has found that side effects from using marijuana frequently over a long period of time include:
- Changes in the brain. Marijuana can affect the areas of the brain that play a part in response to stress, motivation, and reward.
- Fertility implications. Animal studies suggest that
heavy users may experience disruptions in ovulation or produce less
sperm. So it’s possible people who use a lot of marijuana might have
difficulty having children as they get older. Studies also show that
babies born to women who use marijuana when they are pregnant may be
more likely to have developmental and behavioral problems.
- Respiratory problems. People who smoke marijuana
have more respiratory problems — such as having more mucus, a chronic
cough, and bronchitis (irritated breathing passages).
- Changes in blood pressure. Over time, continued use
of marijuana can lead to decreased blood pressure, which may cause
dizziness. It also seems to impair the body's ability to fight off
infections and some other diseases.
- Emotional problems. Heavy users are more likely to
report symptoms of depression than nonusers. They can also feel more
anxiety, have more personality disturbances, and are at an increased
risk of developing schizophrenia, a severe form of mental illness.
Other Possible Problems
In addition to the long-term and short-term side effects, you may
have heard that using marijuana may lead to other drug use. Although it
is not certain that marijuana is the direct cause, people who have used
marijuana are eight times more likely to have used cocaine, 15 times
more likely to have used heroin, and five times more likely to need
treatment for substance abuse.
There are also legal aspects to marijuana use: Every state has laws
against growing, possessing, and selling marijuana. Penalties vary from
state to state, but they usually involve fines and/or jail time for
those caught using or distributing marijuana. People who use marijuana
may end up with criminal records that can hurt plans for college or
finding a job.
Speaking of jobs, more and more places test for drug use as part of
the hiring process. It can take several weeks for marijuana to leave
someone's body. So people who use marijuana may find they don't get a
job they want — or, if their place of work does ongoing drug tests, they
may lose their jobs.
