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Marijuana
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Marijuana comes from the extremely rapid growing plant, known as Cannabis Sativa, which can grow under practically any conditions that will support life. Its dense, sticky flowers (from the female plant only) produce a psychoactive THC (Erowid). Marijuana has had medical, recreational, spiritual, and industrial uses for centuries, and it is one of the most widely used illegal psychoactive drugs in the United States.
"The cannabis plant contains more than 400 chemical substances. About 60 of them are unique and are not found in any other plant. These substances are called cannabinoids. The substance that is most responsible for the physical and psychic effects of cannabis is THC, the abbreviation for delta-9-hydrocannabinol. Nowdays it is also possible to make this substance in a laboratory. The concentration of THC in different cannabis products can vary a lot. Marijuana (weed) contains the least concentration of THC. Hashish contains higher concentrations of THC, but it depends on the composition. THC reaches the brain fastest when smoked." (web4health.info)
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[edit] A Brief History
Marijuana has a history that goes back further than 7,000 B.C. The marijuana, or hemp, plant has had numerous uses through the ages, from woven fabric, paper, cloth and rope. The first law involving marijuana in the United States was enacted in Jamestown Colony, Virginia in 1619. "It was a law 'ordering' all farmers to grow Indian hempseed. There were several other 'must grow' laws over the next 200 years (you could be jailed for not growing hemp during times of shortage in Virginia between 1763 and 1767), and during most of that time, hemp was legal tender (you could even pay your taxes with hemp). Hemp was such a critical crop for a number of purposes (including essential war requirements - rope, etc.) that the government went out of its way to encourage growth." (More info at Hempology.org)
It wasn't until the early 1900's that marijuana started towards illegality. (Drugwarrant.com)
[edit] Illegality
It was in the early 1900's that tension began building in the western states because of the influx of Mexican immigrants. With the depression, came increased tensions, since many Mexicans were willing to work for less pay than the average American laborer. It was during this time period that people started bringing up the fact that many Mexicans smoked marijuana and that they had brought the plant with them.
"However, the first state law outlawing marijuana did so not because of Mexicans using the drug. Oddly enough, it was because of Mormons using it. Mormons who traveled to Mexico in 1910 came back to Salt Lake City with marijuana. The church was not pleased and ruled against use of the drug. Since the state of Utah automatically enshrined church doctrine into law, the first state marijuana prohibition was established in 1915." (Drugwarrant.com)
Other western states quickly followed in Utah's footstep, though they were specifically targeting the Mexican-American population.
The issue of marijuana came to the eastern states in a different manner. Marijuana use was attributed to not only the Latin Americans, but to black jazz musicians. Racism played a major role in demonising the drug and those using it, as seen in a 1934 editorial which states, "Marihuana influences Negroes to look at white people in the eye, step on white men's shadows and look at a white woman twice." (Drugwarrant.com)
In 1930, the Treasury Department established a new division, called the Federal Bureau of Narcotics. Director of this new department was Harry J. Anslinger. Anslinger decided to fight against opiates, cocaine, and marijuana. "He drew upon the themes of racism and violence to draw national attention" to marijuana. (Drugwarrant.com)
Anslinger found his greatest ally in William Randolf Hearst, the owner of a huge chain of newspapers. Hearst was heavily invested in the timber industry, so the development of hemp paper was a huge competition. Not only that, but tales of a drug that causes violence, especially when it came to ethnic minorities, sold lots of papers. An example of an editorial in Hearst's paper is as follows:
"By the tons it is coming into this country -- the deadly, dreadful poison that racks and tears not only the body, but the very heart and soul of every human being who once becomes a slave to it in any of its cruel and devastating forms.... Marihuana is a short cut to the insane asylum. Smoke marihuana cigarettes for a month and what was once your brain will be nothing but a storehouse of horrid specters. Hasheesh makes a murderer who kills for the love of killing out of the mildest mannered man who ever laughed at the idea that any habit could ever get him...."
It was the passing of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937, proposed by Anslinger, that made marijuana illegal on the federal level. The bill was supposed to curb the traffic of marijuana by taxing transactions.
[edit] Effects
[edit] Physical Effects
- Increased heartbeat. Generally, it slows down in about 20 minutes.
- Drop of the pressure in your eyeball.
- Change of blood pressure.
- Sense of cold or hot hands and feet.
- Discoloration of the white of the eye to somewhat pink because of dilation of the vessels in the conjunctiva of the eye.
- Relaxation of the muscles.
- A dry mouth.
These effects are temporary and mostly disappear after a couple of hours.
[edit] Effect on Mood
"Despite the big individual differences there are also psychological effects that are typical for the use of cannabis. After using it, you get high or stoned. An euphoric feeling comes up and slowly changes into a satisfying feeling of calmness and relaxation. You get dopey and the feeling of time slows down so that it seems like minutes last for hours. Colors, shapes and smells become more intense and are seen differently. Other typical reactions are the desire to eat, especially sweet things (food kick) and an uncontrollable fit of laughter (laugh kick). Real hallucinations, i.e. seeing and hearing things that don't exist, never or hardly ever occur after using cannabis. There can also be negative effects. The changing perception can cause feelings of anxiety, panic and confusion, and people who don't feel well before they use can experience a deterioration and worsening of the negative mood." (web4health.info)
[edit] Cannabis in the Body
"To release THC from cannabis it should be heated, often by smoking it. The body absorbs 10-25% of the THC when it is inhaled and only 6% when it is eaten. The dose of THC someone needs to feel high is about 10 milligrams, a quantity of which only a small part eventually reaches the brain. A week after smoking cannabis only 60-70% of the THC has left the body because it is stored in the body fat. It takes about 4-6 weeks before THC is undetectable in the blood. On the other hand, the psychoactive effects are gone after a couple of hours. THC or decomposition products can be detected in urine for a couple of days after the last use. In the urine of chronic users it can even be detected for a couple of weeks after the last use.
In the hair, THC can be detected for as long as the longest hair has been growing. Plus a few days more." (web4health.info)
[edit] Effects on the Brain
When someone smokes marijuana, THC passes through the lungs and into the bloodstream, which carries the chemical to organs throughout the body, including the brain.
Once in the brain, "THC connects to specific sites called cannabinoid receptors on nerve cells and influences the activity of those cells. Some brain areas have many cannabinoid receptors; others have few or none. Many cannabinoid receptors are found in the parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thought, concentration, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement." (NIDA.gov)
[edit] Addiction
Marijuana is not physically addicting, though can be emotionally and mentally addicting. It will not cause painful withdrawal symptoms to occur, but when someone abuses the drug it is possible to become mentally addicted to it, and feel as though the user needs it, even though their body is not actually craving it.
[edit] Slang Terms
- Weed
- Dope
- Pot
- Grass
- Ganja
- Mary Jane
- Reefer
- Bud
[edit] Related Topics
- Pete's Couch
- Harry J. Anslinger
- John P. Walters
- Hashish
- Marijuana Tax Act of 1937
- Medical marijuana
- In Pot We Trust
- NORML
- Cannabis Action Network