WHAT IS MARIJUANA?
Marijuana, otherwise known as cannabis, weed, pot, grass, reefer, Mary Jane comes from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. It can be consumed in two forms. As a mix of dried leaves, flowers, stems and seeds(small bags of brownish-green leaves that look like herbs), which can be smoked ( in a joint a pipe or a blunt, a bong, a cigar emptied of tobacco and filled with marijuana) or brewed as a tea, or as marijuana oil and resin (hash or hashish, an amber or brown liquid, or small powdery brown chunks), which can be inhaled through a vaporiser or mixed into food, such as cookies, brownies, drinks, candy bars, lollipops, cakes etc. Marijuana smoke has a pungent and distinctive, usually sweet-and-sour odor.
WHY IT MAKES PEOPLE HIGH?
It makes people high because it has an active ingredient called THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). The amount of THC in marijuana has gone up in recent years. Most leaves used to contain between 1% and 4% THC. Now most have closer to 7%. Experts worry this might make it easier to become dependent on or addicted to marijuana -- and it also strengthens many of the drug’s mind-altering effects.Even if you buy from a legal, state-regulated dispensary, it can be hard to know exactly how much THC or other compounds found in marijuana you’re ingesting, so the effects can be unpredictable.
It can be absorbed by your body instantly, if you smoke it, or in a slower rate, if you consume it. Once it's absorbed, it flows in your bloodsteam, which carries the chemical in your brain. THC acts on specific places in the brain, called cannabinoid receptors, producing a series of cellular reactions that ultimately lead to the high that users seek. Some brain areas have many cannabinoid receptors; others have few or none. The highest density of cannabinoid receptors are found in parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thoughts, concentration, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement. It then affects almost every organ in your body, as well as your nervous system and immune system. The effects usually stop after 3 or 4 hours, but can reach six hours.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I GET HIGH ON MARIJUANA?
Smoking pot can increase your heart rate by as much as two times for up to 3 hours (tachycardia) . That’s why some people get hypertension (high blood pressure) and have a heart attack right after they use marijuana. It lowers your immune system, so you mayy get increased respiratory infection.Your eyes get red and dilated pupils, because the blood vessels in your eyes expand. Other physical effects of marijuana include: Slowed speech, dizziness, shallow breathing, dry mouth, increased appetite, slowed reaction time and impaired coordination (this makes it difficult to drive or do sports), difficulty paying attention or solving problems , giggles, laughter, mucus-filled cough, bronchitis, impaired judgement, impaired ability to sleep.Marijuana can also cause more health problems if you have a condition like liver disease, heart problems, low blood pressure, or diabetes.
Marijuana doesn't affect everyone the same way. It depends on how often someone uses it, how he feels before he gets high, where he is when he consums it, if the weed is very potent and how much a user consumes.The high, as long as it lasts, can make a user feel happy, relaxed, or detached from reality, a feeling called euphoria, as well as heightened sensory perception. It can also have less-pleasant effects like: fear, panic, a distorted sense of time, random thinking, paranoia, anxiety, depression, short-term forgetfulness, hallucinations, delusions, lessened cognitive ability, psychosis, distrust, schizophrenia-like symptoms, loss of sense of personal identity and altered perception of time. It tends to worsen any mental problems you might have.
IS MARIJUANA ADDICTIVE?
Marijuana is addictive. There are many factors that contribute on a person getting addicted to it. It's more possible to develop an addiction if your parents are addicted to drugs or other substances, if you lack in the brain's network of cannabinoid receptors (CBRS), how much THC the pot you use contains and how emotionally dependent you become on it to help you cope with undiagnosed or untreated mental illnesses, such as depression, insomnia and anxiety (even though marijuana actually exacerbates them).
Marijuana abuse and addiction are medical conditions that require treatment by chemical dependency specialists. An addicted person will exhibit compulsive drug seeking and use despite the obvious harmful effects upon social functioning in the context of family, school, work, and recreational activities. The dreams and hopes associated with a life before marijuana may fall by the wayside as an addict becomes convinced that he or she cannot function without pot. The lives of those who are addicted to marijuana revolve around the drug – obtaining it, dealing it, and maintaining the high.
Most addicts are unable to see that they have a problem, which is of special concern for those addicted to marijuana. Many people who are addicted to marijuana rationalize and deny their addiction believing that they are not addicted, that there are far worse drugs available. The bottom line is that addiction is addiction, hallmarked by obsession and compulsive usage of a drug no matter the consequences and most require outside help to beat it.
If you’re a long-time user, you can have physical withdrawal symptoms when you decide to stop taking marijuana, like drug cravings, irritability, sleeplessness, anxiety and less appetite.
Using it, brings people in contact with other users and drug dealers, so it becomes more possible to start taking harder drugs.
WHAT HAPPENS IF I USE MARIJUANA REGULARLY?
You'll find it difficult to learn new things and to remember things. Marijuana’s impact on learning and memory can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off. As a result, a person who smokes marijuana every day may be functioning at a reduced intellectual level all of the time.
Cancer of the lungs is also linked to marijuana use because unfiltered marijuana smoke has more carcinogens than cigarettes.
If you’re a man, heavy use could lower your testosterone levels, and your sperm count and quality. That, in turn, can zap your libido and fertility.
Research shows a link between marijuana use and mental health problems like depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, post-traumatic stress disorder, impulse control disorder, short-term psychosis, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. While it’s not clear if marijuana causes these conditions, it can make them worse.
Sources:
Melinda Ratini (2014). How Does Marijuana Affect You? WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/marijuana-use-and-its-effects?page=27 (retrieved 10-25-2015)
Narconon. Signs and Symptoms of Marijuana Use. https://www.narconon.org/drug-abuse/signs-symptoms-marijuana-use.html (retrieved 10-25-2015)
Timberline Knolls, residential treatment center. Marijuana Addiction Symptoms and Effects.
https://www.timberlineknolls.com/drug-addiction/marijuana/signs-effects/(retrieved 10-25-2015)
Blue Ridge Mountain Recovery Center. Marijuana Abuse & Addiction Symptoms, Signs, Causes & Effects. https://www.blueridgemountainrecovery.com/addiction/marijuana/signs-symptoms-effects (retrieved 10-25-2015)
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