The History of Marijuana and Its Effects

The History of Marijuana and its Effects

What is marijuana? Marijuana is one of the most commonly used psychedelic drugs in the world. It is the common name for the cannabis plant. It has also been called weed, grass, pot, bud, dope, hydro, or reefer. According to streetdrugs.org this plant is grown in many different regions and can be cultivated indoors, as well as out. Although cannabis is the most common species, there are others as well. These include indica, sometimes called "Indian Hemp", which can withstand colder climates, and ruderalis, which is grown in Siberia and West Asia.

The drug is obtained from the flowering tops, stems, and the leaves of the Cannabis sativa or the indica. The resin found on flower clusters and top leaves of the female plant is the most potent drug source and is used to prepare hashish, which is the highest grade of cannabis. The bud of the female plant is called sinsemilla, which means without seeds in Spanish, produces more psychoactive resin than male plants and is the part most often smoked as marijuana (factmonster.com). Dried marijuana buds, leaves, and flower can be crushed and rolled into joints. They can also be smoked in pipes.

There have been five uses for Marijuana which include; hempen fibers, oil from the seeds, the seeds for food, a medicine, and of course its narcotic properties. It is safe to say that no one knows exactly how long the use of the cannabis plant has existed, but marijuanatoday.com states that it was cultivated in China as early as 4000BC. Marijuana was considered to be a gift, or treasure, from the Divine Spirit, to be use during ceremonies, at which time it was either burned as incense, ingested for deep meditative and heighten awareness, smoked for pleasure, or worn for clothing during these ceremonies. The belief that Marijuana was one of the most important crops to the common wealth, continued throughout the 19th century, being cultivated by many different countries, states, and leaders. In the 20th century the cannabis plant was so widely cultivated that it's industrialization, lead to the inventions of machines that could do the work of many. This was due to the abolition of slavery. There was even a Tax Act imposed on the sale of marijuana.

Marijuana is the most used illicit drug in America. Of nearly 20 million current illicit drug users, 14.6 million are using marijuana. These stats were taken from "What Americans Need to Know about Marijuana"; it also states that of the 7.1 million Americans suffering from illegal drug dependence or abuse, 60 percent abuse or is dependent on marijuana. In 2000, of all youth ages 12 to 17 in drug treatment, nearly 62 percent had primary marijuana diagnosis.

There are more than 420 chemicals in a single cannabis plant. The most potent psychoactive chemical in marijuana is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). It mimics the natural neurotransmitter anandamide. Cannabinol and cannabidiol are two other prominent cannabinoids, but they are not thought to have psychoactive properties. When smoked or ingested, these potent psychoactive chemicals are converted by the liver into more than 60 other metabolites, some of which are psychoactive. Although when smoked only about 20% of the THC in the joint is absorbed; however, the longer a lungful of smoke is held, the greater the amount of THC absorbed and the stronger the high (Uppers, Downers, All Arounders). There are also two major receptors, cannaboids which are CB 1, and CB 2. The CB-1 receptors are found mostly in the brain. These receptors are responsible for the integration of sensory experiences with emotion, memory, a sense of novelty, motor coordination, and some automatic bodily functions.

There are many physical effects involved with the use of marijuana, short and long term. Some of the short term effects include physical relaxation or sedation, some pain control, bloodshot eyes, giddiness, heightened sense of novelty, and lung irritation which causes coughing, increased appetite, and moderate loss of muscular coordination. It also impairs the