Marijuana

Rhea Bouez
ID:20103443
NDU
Course: ENL 213 (H)
Instructor: Dr. Paul Gehchan

Marijuana

“How many murders, suicides, robberies, criminal assaults, holdups, burglaries and deeds of maniacal insanity it causes each year, especially among the young, can only be conjectured…No one knows, when he places a marijuana cigarette to his lips, whether he will become a joyous reveller in a musical heaven, a mad insensate, a calm philosopher, or a murderer…” -Harry J Anslinger Marijuana has been used as an agent for achieving euphoria since ancient times; it was a spiritual and religious trigger at the time. It changed to be used in India and Persia for leisure and recreational purposes. From its stronghold in India, moved westward through Persia, Assyria and Arabia by 500 A.D. With the rising power of Islam, marijuana flourished and flourished in a popular form as hashish. Humans have used marijuana, whose botanical name is cannabis, for thousands of years. Marijuana refers to the dried flowers and subtending leaves and stems of the female cannabis plant. It was classified as an illegal drug by many countries in the 20th century. It became illegal because of misuse and overuse and this was featured and high lightened by the 6os and 70s, during the hippy movement, where the use of recreational drugs widespread, and post Vietnam War. In most of the countries and cities marijuana is still considered as a “hard drug” where in some exceptional countries like the Netherlands marijuana is legal and sold through coffee shops because it is considered to be a “soft drug”. The policy for marijuana has caused a lot of frictions between several countries such as Netherlands, France and Germany during these past years around whether or not it should be legalized. Well, I think that marijuana should be taken much more seriously especially among adolescents because it can affects the brain cells and the memory, and because it could increase the risk of lung disease and finally because it could have serious psychological and social effects on adolescents, leading to addiction. The first reason for which I believe marijuana to be harmful is that it affects negatively the brain cells and chemistry. According to Australian researchers led by Murat Yucel, long-term heavy use of marijuana may cause two important brain structures to shrink, which are the hippocampus, that regulates memory and emotion, and the amygdala, which plays a critical role in fear and aggression. Based on brain scans, the study shows that the hippocampus volume was 12 per cent smaller and the amygdala volume was 7 per cent smaller in men who were heavy users compared to non-users (Dunham, 2008). Therefore, marijuana consumption affects the capacity of two major brain structures by reducing their optimal performance in a significant way. Users will experience loss of concentration, short-term memory impairments, difficulty in focusing on verbal learning tasks, like remembering a list of 15 words, and they will more likely exhibit mild signs of psychotic disorder (Dunham, 2008).
The psychoactive chemical in marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabisnol (THC) which produces that distinctive high. It binds to cannabinoid receptors, known as CB1 and CB2.“[C]hronic consumers of cannabis lose molecules called CB1 receptors in the brain’s arteries”, leading to blood flow problems which can cause attention deficits, memory loss, thus influencing concentration, perception of time and memory and coordination of movement ( U.S. DEA, 2009). THC has an effect on other functions of the central nervous system like the digestive, cardiovascular and respiratory tract. The binding of THC to the receptors was the object of a study where 30 chronic daily cannabis smokers were monitored for 4 weeks. Results showed that their receptor number decreased by 20 per cent when compared to healthy subjects. These numbers are proportionate to the number of years subjects are exposed to cannabis.THC disrupts coordination and balance by binding to receptors in the cerebellum and basal ganglia that regulates balance, posture, coordination of movement and reaction time. If those parameters are altered marijuana intoxication can cause accidents. A large Shock trauma unit conducting an ongoing study found that 17 per cent (one in six) of crash victims tested positive for THC (U.S. DEA, 2009). The decrease of the receptors combined to the shrinking of the 2 major brain structures show sufficiently how marijuana affects and changes the very physiology of the brain. The second reason for which marijuana is dangerous is its effect on the lungs and respiratory tract.“[] The British lung foundation finds that smoking 3 to 4 joints is the equivalent of 20 tobacco cigarettes” (Monitor’s Editorial Board, 2011), meaning that smoking marijuana has been associated with the same respiratory symptoms as tobacco such as coughing, chronic bronchitis, shortness of breath, more frequent chest illnesses and a heightened risk of lung infections. According to the DEA smoking marijuana may also increase the risk of respiratory exposure by infectious organisms (i.e., molds and fungi) because the plants are contaminated with a range of fungal spores (U.S. DEA, 2009). Marijuana raises the risks of tobacco since it contains more than 400 chemicals and increases the risk of serious health consequences, including lung damage. Some studies will even show that marijuana is more harmful than tobacco as its smoke contains 50 percent to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than does tobacco smokes. Furthermore, since marijuana users inhale more deeply and hold their breath longer, it is more likely for them to increase the lungs exposure to carcinogenic smoke (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2008). Puff for puff smoking marijuana may increase the risk of cancer more than tobacco does. As mentioned earlier, THC affects the nervous system not only in the respiratory tract but also in the cardiovascular system, which is at risk as well. One study has indicated that during the first hour post marijuana a person is 4 times more likely to have a heart attack partly because it raises blood pressure and heart rate and reduces the oxygen-carrying capacity of blood (National Institute on Drug Abuse, 2008). The third and most important reason for which marijuana is considered to be destructive is the psychological and social effects it has on a person. More specifically it could damage for good young vulnerable adolescents. At first I would like to point out that the marijuana that is consumed nowadays is much more powerful than the marijuana of the 1970’s. Meaning that the potency of cannabis is twice the national average; ranging from 15 per cent to as high as 25 per cent THC content, knowing that during the 1970’s the national average was 1 to 3 per cent (U.S. DEA, 2009). The amount of THC determines the potency, therefore, the effects of marijuana. During this past few years, the amount of THC in marijuana rose dramatically making it more and more dangerous and toxic. According to the U.S. DEA, adolescents are at highest risk for marijuana addiction, as they are “three times more likely than adults to develop dependency” (2009). Between 1993 and 2003 the treatment admission rates for adolescents using marijuana increased from 32 to 65 per cent and more young people aged between 12 and 17 entered treatment for marijuana dependency than for alcohol (U.S. DEA, 2009). The only thing we can say is that marijuana is doing great harm to children and society and many behavioral problems are resulting from it such as the use of other illicit drugs and school dropouts. In 2003, 3.1 million Americans aged 12 or older used marijuana daily or almost daily. Of those daily users, more than half (53.3 per cent) were also dependent on other drugs or abused alcohol (U.S. DEA, 2009). Moreover, students who smoke marijuana get lower grades and are less likely to graduate from high school, compared with their nonsmoking peers. On another hand, Yale scientists conducted a study, published in 2004, and found that THC “transiently induced a range of schizophrenia-like effects in healthy people” (U.S. DEA, 2009). Based on several studies published since 1998, there are strong indications that marijuana use causes, serious psychological problems, including depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and other psychoses (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2008). A depressed teen is much more likely to use marijuana. Some teens use it to relieve the symptoms of depression (“self medicate”) believing it may ease these depressed feelings. In surveys teens often claim that they often use marijuana to “feel good”, or “feel better” (Office of National Drug Control Policy, 2011), but research shows that teens who smoke marijuana are more likely to have suicidal thoughts than non users. According to a study conducted by the Physician William F. Costain, “Cannabis is known to exacerbate positive symptoms, compound the effects of negative symptoms, and ultimately lead to relapse” (Costain, 2008). This relapse is commonly known as the “down”. But more importantly cannabis can trigger schizophrenia in predisposed adolescents, according to research presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (Heavy Marijuana Use Creates Brain Disorder, 2005). During the study conducted by W.F.Costain, clarity of ‘voices’ was evoked and it includes a statement made by Jim Moyle, a 30-year-old man with 12-year history of schizophrenia and cannabis.
He said: …[T]he marijuana just keeps chipping away at the wall until a hole in the wall gets there, and eventually you are in touch with the other side. This is a spiritual drug …Marijuana brings you right back to reality. See because it clarifies your thinking for a while…If you don’t know how to handle it, if you don’t know how to handle the spirit world, well then the marijuana’s going to make you sick (2008).
Clarity of ‘voices’ obviously refers to clarity of thoughts, in the case of Jim he was referring to voices from the dead, or from “the other side”. This was a great example of how marijuana enhances hallucinations.
However some believe that marijuana can ease symptoms for certain AIDS or cancer patients, especially that medical marijuana is used mostly in all hospitals. Also supporters claim that no one has died of a pot overdose and that it cannot directly kill its user in the way alcohol and heroin can. It is true; but if pot is relatively harmless why are we seeing more than 100,000 hospitalizations a year for marijuana use?
Why legalize a third substance that produces ill effects, when the government has such a poor record in dealing with the two big “licits”; alcohol and tobacco? I would like to conclude by saying that emergency room admissions where marijuana is the primary substance involved increased by 164 percent over the last years; faster than for other drugs, according to the Drug Abuse Warning Network (Monitor’s Editorial Board, 2011). Let’s not forget that marijuana distorts perception, reduces motor skills and affects alertness by affecting directly some major brain receptors, by damaging the lungs and finally by jiggling with our mind and emotions. Although pot is one of the more ‘gentle’ mind altering substances, it is still mind altering. And anytime you are not in full control of yourself, you are not in the best shape to deal with things that come you way.
“The far greater and lasting attraction is in a life rooted in moral and spiritual values; not in a haze, a daze, or a munchie-craze”( Monitor’s Editorial Board, 2011).

References

Costain,W.F. (2008). The Effects of Cannabis Abuse on The Symptoms of Schizophrenia: Patient Perspectives. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 17, 227-235
“Daddy, Daddy.” Heavy Marijuana Use Creates Brain Disorder. Juvenile Justice Digest; Dec 31, 2005; 33, 24; ProQuest Central pg.4
Dunham,W. (2008). Heavy marijuana use shrinks brain parts. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/243764468?accountid=28281
Monitor’s Editorial Board. (2011). Legalize Marijuana? Not So Fast. The Christian Science Monitor, May 22, 2009. Reproduced by permission from The Christian Science Monitor.
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NAICS). (2011). Pakistan: Chronic marijuana Smoking affects brain chemistry. Right Vision News, pp. n/a. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/895017754?accountid=28281
Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). (2008). Teen drug Abuse. Teen Marijuana Use Worsens Depression: An Analysis of Recent Data Shows “Self-Medicating” Could Actually Make Things Worse.
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). (2009). The DEA Position on Marijuana