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Basic Facts about Marijuana and its effects on the
mind and human body
Marijuana is a green, brown, or gray mixture of dried, shredded leaves,
stems, seeds, and flowers of the hemp plant.
You may hear marijuana called by street names such as pot, herb, weed,
grass, boom, Mary Jane, gangster, or chronic. There are more than 200
slang terms for marijuana. Sinsemilla (sin-seh-me-yah; it's a Spanish
word), hashish ("hash" for short), and hash oil are stronger forms of
marijuana.
All forms of marijuana are mind-altering. In other words, they change
how the brain works. They all contain THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol),
the main active chemical in marijuana. They also contain more than 400
other chemicals.
Marijuana's effects on the user depend on the strength or potency of
the THC it contains. THC potency of marijuana has increased since the
1970s but has been about the same since the mid-1980s.
Marijuana is usually smoked as a cigarette (called a joint or a nail)
or in a pipe or a bong. Recently, it has appeared in cigars called blunts.
THC in marijuana is strongly absorbed by fatty tissues in various organs.
Generally, traces (metabolites) of THC can be detected by standard urine
testing methods several days after a smoking session. However, in heavy
chronic users, traces can sometimes be detected for weeks after they have
stopped using marijuana.
Findings so far show that regular use of marijuana or THC may play a
role in some kinds of cancer and in problems with the respiratory, and
immune systems.
It's hard to know for sure whether regular marijuana use causes cancer.
But it is known that marijuana contains some of the same, and sometimes
even more, of the cancer-causing chemicals found in tobacco smoke. Studies
show that someone who smokes five joints per day may be taking in as many
cancer-causing chemicals as someone who smokes a full pack of cigarettes
every day.
People who smoke marijuana often develop the same kinds of breathing
problems that cigarette smokers have: coughing and wheezing. They tend
to have more chest colds than nonusers. They are also at greater risk
of getting lung infections like pneumonia.
Animal studies have found that THC can damage the cells and tissues in
the body that help protect people from disease. When the immune cells
are weakened, you are more likely to get sick.
On the other side, it is now recognised as being a useful drug for reducing
the effects of many conditions and hass been show not to be chemically
addictive.
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