Cannabis Sativa (marijuana) has been thought tobe an illegal and very harmful drug for many years.
But asyou read this report you will learn that marijuana has beenaround for many years (most years legal) and isn’t asharmful as some people may think. Marijuana has beenused for many things in the past, including medicine, hemprope, crude cloth and enjoyment. Now it is mainly used asa narcotic. Marijuana is an illegal weed that grows up toeighteen feet tall with little or no cultivation.
The plant hasmany branches that extend with large, hairy, pointed leaveswith saw tooth edges. Marijuana grows wild all over theworld and in some states and countries it’s legal. Cloth andrope are made from the stem which contains a tough fibercalled “hence. ” The mind-altering drug in marijuana is called”Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannibinol,” or THC. The mildest formof marijuana contains between zero to three percent ofTHC.
Most of the THC is contained in the resign, which issecreted around the flowers, seeds, and topmast leaves. Until recently it was thought that only the female plantcontained the drug. But it is now known that both thefemale and the male plants contain THC. THC stays in thebody for about 28 days.
Marijuana can be prepared manydifferent ways therefore it has many different ways ofentering the body. When smoked the THC goes into thelungs, directly into the bloodstream and to every cell in yourbody. The effects depend upon the level of potency andhow much is consumed. The main effects of smoking are:the heart rate may increase from 80 beats to 150 beats aminute, the bronchial tubes enlarge and become relaxedallowing extra oxygen to enter the body, giving a “High” likefeeling.
There are no immediate physiological effects. Thefeeling usually lasts from one to three hours. Marijuana canalso be ingested as a drink, cakes, brownies or many otherfoods. When consumed in foods the effects start after onehalf-hour and last from three to four hours. The potency ofMarijuana has increased at least ten times or 275% sincethe 1960’s. Marijuana can be measured by it’s “therapeuticratio,” (the difference between the size of the dose neededfor the desired effect and the! size that producespoisoning).
The therapeutic ratio in marijuana has yet to befound. The negative long term effects of heavy marijuanause are, possible lung cancer, heart attacks in juveniles,strokes in people under forty, and it depletes the brain ofserotonin and the user may lose his sense of well being ormay become depressed. The user may lose his short-termmemory, but after a week of not using it is usually regained. “High Times Magazine. ” Marijuana contains about 400chemicals that break down into 2000 or more. One jointcontains as much tar as fourteen cigarettes.
“HumanRelations Media” The traditional medications used to treatAIDS sufferers cause a wide range of side effects. Virtuallythe only medicine capable of treating the entire spectrum ofside effects without causing harm to the user is marijuana. There are now 30 diseases listed under the conditionknown as Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, AIDS. Most AIDS sufferers will contract several of these 30during the course of their illness before finally succumbingto one of them. The traditional medications used in boththeir treatment and as prophylaxis–or prevention–cause awide range of side effects, including loss of appetite,nausea, headaches, depression, pain, disorientation andfevers. Virtually the only medicine capable of treating theentire spectrum of side effects without causing harm to theuser is marijuana.
Naturally, it remains illegal. Provided bythe “High Times” website. Marijuana is one of the oldestand widely used drugs in the world. It is the second mostpopular intoxicant, next to alcohol. There are two hundredmillion users in the country, and sixty million say that theyhave tried it. Only 40% of high school students graduatedin 1995 without ever trying it.
Approximately 33% ofpeople who try it become regular users within three to fiveyears. Smugglers traveling to the U. S. A. from Columbia,Jamaica, and Mexico bring in five billion dollars worth eachyear.
Recently a large ship was spotted off of the U. S. coast unloading thirty-three tons of marijuana ontoAmerican soil. There have been over 9 million arrests formarijuana-law violations in the United States since 1965,with another arrest every 2 minutes. Over 80% of thesearrests are for possession for personal consumption,according to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports.
Many ofthe 20% that are labeled “sale/manufacturing” in the FBI’sreport actually involve cultivation for personal use orpossession of an amount large enough (usually over anounce) that the police infer possession with “intent” todistribute, even though it might actually have been forpersonal consumption. But in Singapore and Malaysia it’sanother story. There, the death penalty is handed out toanyone in possession of drugs. In twenty years twohundred and fifty people have been hung for possession. Marijuana can be used for more than just the illegal use ofgetting high.
As you have read, it helps in medicine and thestem can be used to make clothes or rope. Marijuana isone of the mildest drugs out there and the one of the onlydrugs that serves another purpose besides a “trip” or a”high”.
