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Types of Drugs
Marijuana
Some truths and lies about marijuana Truths:
And lies:
Commonly smoked as a cigarette that contains 4 to 40 milligrams of THC, marijuana produces chemical and psychological effects that are peculiar to it. Different people are subject to heckling, and the drug may be mildly hallucinogenic, relaxing, calming, stimulating appetite or intoxicating. The effects vary in proportion to the amount smoked, the potency of marijuana and the personality characteristics of the User. The herb has very little in common with LSD and the psychedelic true, but is closely related to alcohol and other sedatives, and even some similarity to amphetamines and other stimulants. In the opinion of many scientists, marijuana is decidedly not a narcotic - the dr. Frederick Meyers classifies as a sedative, stimulant, as Dr. Leo Hollister to fall as a sedative hypnotic psychedelic active. A joint, also known as the marijuana cigarette in the jargon of users, shall take effect beginning a few minutes after the consumption of drugs, and last for a period ranging from 1 to 2 hours. The only physical changes caused by marijuana are temporary acceleration of the heartbeat, resulting in higher blood pressure, a slight reduction in temperature, redness of the eyes and dry mouth and airway. The psychological effects can be quiet and introspective euphoria or increase the sociability of the User, who in some cases engage in endless discussions about trivial matters. Marijuana generally intensifies the focus on details or in certain activities, although it can also cause dispersion. The perception of self and the outside world is increased and at the same time, distorted. Deep thoughts spring to mind and User has the impression of having made important philosophical discoveries, which generally show irrelevant dissipated after the effects of the drug. Thoughts occur at several levels simultaneously, which often leads to the conclusion and the inability to coordinate the ideas. Everything seems no laughing matter, which often turn into crises endless laughter. Talks between drugged with marijuana usually reach a point where everyone forgets the subject discussed. Forgetfulness are common, as well as a relaxation of the notion of time and space. Sometimes the User of the drug may experience peculiar obsessions that come to a compulsive behavior. Many feel an obsession with food, especially sweets and fruit, although any food becomes palatable. The sense of hearing is established, which means that music would become another obsession of drug users. For some, marijuana also produces relaxation and disinhibition that lead to unprotected sex, despite the drug not be considered an aphrodisiac. Others, however, experience adverse effects such as increased anxiety, depression and paranoia, which can progress to psychotic reactions and panic. Whatever the effects, however, they disappear within the first three hours after consumption of marijuana, whose physiological and psychological consequences are considered minor in comparison with other psychoactive drugs. The marijuana has undoubtedly altered perception and reflexes, making its use contraindicated for people in activities that require close attention, like driving cars, for example. There are no proven cases of death due to marijuana intoxication, or definitive proof that it causes brain damage, sterility, impotence or insanity. From the standpoint of drug, aspirin is seen as a substance capable of causing more problems than marijuana. Under the medical and social, alcohol and tobacco are considered more dangerous. Nevertheless, some authors substantiate the argument that marijuana should remain banned on the grounds that its use represents the first step for the consumption of more harmful drugs. Critics cite studies of the herb made in the Near East with hashish smokers to prove that marijuana use is associated with psychosis. Another research done with monkeys suggest that the use of marijuana can result in a reduction of 40 to 50% of births of healthy children, these results extrapolated by opponents of the drug to humans. Also in the area of reproduction states that the use of drugs can lead to a reduction of hormones, especially the sperm. It is further alleged that marijuana causes permanent brain damage, premature aging of the brain and a kind of mental lethargy classified as a syndrome of lack of motivation. Detractors of the drug to ensure that marijuana reduces the body's resistance to infectious diseases and cancer, and cause reactions in pre-cancerous lung cells. Of all these accusations, the only really proven is that marijuana smoke can cause problems with smoking, since it contains high content of carbon monoxide and tar, comparable to the cheapest cigarettes without filter. Users suffering from bronchitis or respiratory problems are subject to a worsening of their disease, due to inhalation of marijuana smoke. Advocates of marijuana, in turn, challenge the other grounds, seeking to show that most of them the result of misinterpretation of data obtained from experiments that have little to do with reality. The argument that smoking marijuana leads to use of more dangerous drugs, U.S. statistics show that, in fact, the number of marijuana users has been decreasing in recent years, although several states have decriminalized the drug. This same period, has dramatically increased the amount of cocaine addicts, which seemed to consume marijuana. With respect to studies of smoking hashish in the Near East, it is argued that this power has prepared eight times higher than that of marijuana, although both are derived from the Cannabis sativa. Thus, conclusions regarding the use of cannabis could not be applied to cases of marijuana users. What about the experiments with monkeys, it is known that the animals were fed daily with pure synthetic THC, a powerful substance that is only used in research laboratories and are, therefore, the scope of the Common User. The amount of marijuana applied to monkeys was equivalent to ninety cigarettes daily, used continuously for six months. In other tests, the pure THC was inget directly into the stomach of mice, a form of drug without any parallel with the common use of marijuana. The studies that led to the conclusion that the frequent use of marijuana increases the likelihood of genetic problems and birth defects have been made with people who used not only marijuana, but also other drugs, which undermines the credibility of the research. And five other studies on this same issue not obtain any information to corroborate with that accusation. Still related to the sexual area, also states that marijuana can lead to infertility or impotence in men. A survey by the National Institute of Mental Health United States in 1972, aimed at a group of Jamaicans who had smoked an average of seven cigarettes a day for more than seventeen years, showed that after two weeks of abstinence from drugs, hormone levels of these people were in the upper limit of normal range. When users back to heavy consumption of marijuana, these levels have not diminished. This suggests that employment-intensive drug can actually change the body's hormone levels, although these changes are temporary and reversible. The claim that the drug causes brain damage came after a study of only ten individuals, all of whom were users of other drugs and some had evidence of brain damage before undergoing the experience. The study of the Jamaican also served to contradict the claim that marijuana reduces the body's resistance to cancer and infections, demonstrating that the incidence of disease and death rate of users was not different from that of non-users of marijuana. The controversy about the evils of marijuana has not yet reached definitive conclusions, although the drug is known and used for millennia. Records made in China in 2737 BC, say that cannabis sativa was employed at the time of medicinal preparations. The plan is referred to in the Old Testament, where Solomon sings and praises the properties of the herb, which he called Kalam. Documents left by Marco Polo reveal that marijuana was being grown in Asia and the Middle East not only because of its fiber, used in the manufacture of ropes and fabrics, but also for its psychoactive properties. It was the Spanish conquistadors who brought Cannabis Sativa for the Americas, planting it in Chile in the late 16th century, although other sources to ensure that the plant had already spread throughout the American continent long before the discovery of the New World. The British colonists who settled in North America received stimuli of King James I to grow grass as a way to get raw material for production of ropes and sails for ships of the Royal Navy. Even in the United States Department of Agriculture encouraged the planting of marijuana during the Second World War also in order to produce fibers for the textile industry. European writers and intellectuals of the 19th century were the first to spread in the West the recreational use of Cannabis sativa. In the '20s, during Prohibition, some American cities have seen a short burst of marijuana due to a lack of alcohol. In New York, by that time, there were up more than five hundred "houses of hashish, which functioned like real bars, where instead of alcohol goers consumed the herb. Ten years later, the drug was banned by U.S. law, while the alcohol they would be legalized. The '60s saw a new and much larger outbreak in the consumption of marijuana, which became one of lifestyle drugs, primarily in the United States and Europe, then the rest of the world. In the next decade, marijuana had lost its characteristic of drug hippies to be commonly used by students, professionals and many other segments of society. Today, some statistics indicate that consumption may be decreasing, while another substance is necessary as the drug of fashion: cocaine. But Cannabis sativa can not be seen solely as a recreational drug. She also has been used for medical purposes long ago in China, it was used as an anesthetic for almost four thousand years, and there is evidence that the ancient Egyptians recommended as a remedy for the eyes. The use of marijuana is also a tradition among African and Asian peoples, who recommended to relieve coughs, headaches and menstrual cramps. The story notes that private physician to Queen Victoria of England concluded in the 19th century, the marijuana, which he studied for thirty years, had applications in the treatment of migraine, senile insomnia, depression, epileptic states, cramps, and asthma attacks. This same century, the medicine recommended drugs for ailments ranging from gout to insanity or impotence. In 1860, the Medical Society of Ohio, United States of America, released research indicating that marijuana was appropriate for the treatment of tetanus, rheumatism, asthma, postpartum psychoses, convulsions, gonorrhea, and chronic bronchitis. The same document stated that the drug produces a more natural sleep, without interfering with the action of the internal organs and is thus preferable to opiate compounds then used to obtain the same effects. Between 1839 and 1900, hundreds of academic articles have been published about the possible medical uses of cannabis sativa, which was the main ingredient of various medicines produced by laboratories as Parke-Davies, Squibb, and Lilly, sold in the United States without restriction . The application of marijuana began to wane in the early decades of the 20th century, when the discovery of morphine and barbiturates resulted in the emergence of new drugs and more powerful. Cannabis Sativa has been banned in pharmacology from 1942. Today, some researchers have confirmed that cannabis may have potential use in cases of loss of appetite, anorexia nervosa, heart attack, migraine, hypertension, seizures and liver insomnia. For some doctors, the drug appears to be relatively safe, with potential toxicity and addiction than that of aspirin. Marijuana does not cause tolerance in the body and no withdrawal symptoms when use is discontinued. It also appears that marijuana works as an anti-emetic, controlling nausea and vomiting resulting from cancer treatment. In the late 70's, American scientists established that the drug can significantly reduce intraocular pressure associated with the onset of glaucoma. Before all of that information about marijuana, some authors claim that the persecution of drug users can be considered a kind of scapegoat syndrome, "a phenomenon described by anthropologists as the selection of a particular society, a minority group to be punished for the faults of an entire population, whose fault is thus cut off by the sacrifice of victims symbolic. However, the prohibition of marijuana is not a widespread practice. In some Islamic countries, for example, the herb has allowed its use, since the Koran does not prohibit it, unlike alcohol, considered outside the law. Some U.S. states, including Oregon, Maine, New York, Mississippi, Colorado and California, have laws in one way or another, and to decriminalize marijuana use, freeing the User of a possible arrest. The campaign for the total decriminalization of cannabis in the United States continues, with the support of organizations such as the unsuspecting American Bar Association, the American Association of Public Health, the National Council of Churches, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Education Association , among others. A Common User usually consumes an average of five marijuana cigarettes a day. |
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Marijuana is one of several possible preparations of the female plant Cannabis Sativa, weed native to Asia, which are extracted from other drugs such as hashish, bhang, kif, etc.. The plant grows wild throughout the world and, according to the place, is known by a different name. Jamaicans call it "ganja", while the Americans and Mexicans to know as "marijuana." Active ingredient in concentrated resin from the leaves and flowers above, the delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, known simply as THC.