Posted on 06/24/2002 9:48:59 AM PDT by WindMinstrel
Marijuana is made of the crumbled leaves, stems, seeds and flowering tops of the hemp plant, according to the American Council for Drug Education.
It contains more than 400 chemicals and when smoked produces more than 2,000 chemicals, all of them harmful, according to the ACDE.
The chemical that results in the “high” is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol or THC.
According to the ACDE, smoking one joint “can leave traces in the body for three or four weeks. A habitual user is never free of the chemicals and actually builds them up with continued use.”
Local health leaders say marijuana isn’t as innocent as some people think.
Fond du Lac County Public Health Nurse Darlene Hanke and psychotherapist/drug counselor Mary Arndt of St. Agnes Hospital Behavioral Outpatient Services say people who care about their health should think twice before smoking pot.
Here’s what they have to say about how marijuana can affect a person’s body and life:
Lungs: Marijuana smoke contains more tar, carbon monoxide and known cancer-causing agents than tobacco, according to the American Council for Drug Education.
Brain: “It will affect the brain chemistry; it interferes with learning and intellectual performance; it impairs thinking, reading comprehension, verbal and arithmetic problem-solving and can result in short-term memory loss with chronic use. It’s associated with distortion of reality, perception, thinking, mental confusion, lack of concentration, decreased attention span and difficulty forming ideas and completing thoughts. It adversely affects the ability to judge the passage of time, and interferes with depth perception,” said Arndt. “Those who use it heavily over long periods of time have difficulty distinguishing between abstract and concrete thinking.”
Liver: THC collects in the liver and other fatty organs.
Heart: It can dramatically increase the heartbeat and affect the blood pressure, even lowering it to unhealthy levels, Arndt said.
Social: Some negative aspects of long-term use include antisocial behavior, hostility, suspiciousness, impaired family relationships, and it can lead to a loss of inhibition, poor work adjustment, Arndt said.
“Amotivational syndrome”: “It’s very, very typical to long-term users and is characterized by apathy and severe lack of motivation, being unconcerned about the future, unable or unwilling to make long-term plans or tasks, introverted and isolated and unrealistic in their thinking,” Arndt said.
Hormones: “It can lower testosterone in males; there are some men who develop breasts as a result. In women, it may cause abnormalities in menstrual cycles,” Arndt said.
Driving performance: “People have told me they don’t believe it is as dangerous as alcohol. However it does affect a person’s driving abilities,” Arndt said. “The eyes of a marijuana user are slower to recover from oncoming headlight glare than someone who is not under the influence. The ability to follow a moving object with the eyes is diminished for up to eight hours beyond the feeling of intoxication. And it will also delay a driver’s response to sights and sounds. Consequently, a driver under the influence of marijuana is slower to react to a dangerous situation,” she said.
Arndt said she’s had clients tell her they drive better after smoking pot.
“They may think they are driving more carefully but they are not, so they are incorrectly perceiving the situation,” Arndt said. “But someone with altered perception probably would make that judgment.”
Well theres their problem. They forgot to take out the seeds and stems.
My thoughts exactly. This piece would be hysterical if it were not for the fact that there will be people here that will take it seriously.
According to the ACDE, smoking one joint "can leave traces in the body for three or four weeks. A habitual user is never free of the chemicals and actually builds them up with continued use."
...is just silly. Even habitual long-term users will eventually test negative for the presence of marijuana and its metabolites after cessation for an appropriate length of time. To say that they will "never" be free of the chemicals is fanciful exaggeration.
I think the PGA needs to start testing Phil Mickelson for pot.
Could explain his 'man boobs'.
Myth: Marijuana can cause cancer, bronchitis, and emphysema.
FACTS: "Moderate smoking of marijuana appears to pose minimal danger to the lungs. Like tobacco smoke, marijuana smoke contains a number of irritants and carcinogens. But marijuana users typically smoke much less often than tobacco smokers and, over time, inhale much less smoke."
"There have been no reports of lung cancer related solely to marijuana...Unlike heavy tobacco smokers, heavy marijauna smokers exhibit no obstructionm of the lung's small airways. This indicates that people will not develop emphysema from smoking marijuana."
"After years of study, researchers at UCLA report that 'marijuana smokers probably will not develop emphysema'".
Myth: Marijuana can affect sex hormones and delay puberty in young men.
FACTS: "...most studies of humans have found that marijuana has no impact on sex hormones. In those studies showing an impact, it is modest, temporary, and of no apparent consequence for reproduction. There is no scientific evidence that marijuana delays adolescent sexual development, has a feminizing effect on males, or a masculinizing effect on females."
Myth: The marijuana being used now is much more potent than the marijuana available in the 70's.
FACTS: "When today's youth use marijauna, they are using the same drug used by youth in the 60s and 70s. A small number of low-THC samples seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration in the early 1970s are used to calculate a dramatic increase in potency. However, these samples were not representative of the marijauna generally available to users during this era. Potency data from the early 1980s to the present are more reliable, and they show no increase in the average THC content of marijuana. Even if marijuana potency were to increase, it would not necessarily make the drug more dangerous. Marijuana that varies quite substantially in potency produces similar psychoactive effects."
Myth: "Marijuana use impairs the immune system."
FACTS: "There is no evidence that marijuana users are more susceptible to infections than nonusers. Early studies which showed decreased immune function in cells taken from marijuana users have since been disproved.Animals given extremely large doses of THC and exposed to a virus have higher rates of infection. Such studies have little relevance to humans.Even among people with exisitng immune disorders, such as AIDS, marijuana use appears to be relatively safe."
I think maybe that this is a type of personality, which is attracted to marijuana use, rather than a symptom of marijuana use.
The article also states earlier that it can lead to a loss of inhibition, yet now states it can make one introverted and isolated. These seem to contradict each other.
We do have to consider the source. The American Council for Drug Education has made false claims about other drugs before.
The toke's on me....let freedom ring!
However, this is almost entirely bs:
“It will affect the brain chemistry; it interferes with learning and intellectual performance; it impairs thinking, reading comprehension, verbal and arithmetic problem-solving and can result in short-term memory loss with chronic use. It’s associated with distortion of reality, perception, thinking, mental confusion, lack of concentration, decreased attention span and difficulty forming ideas and completing thoughts. It adversely affects the ability to judge the passage of time, and interferes with depth perception,” said Arndt. “Those who use it heavily over long periods of time have difficulty distinguishing between abstract and concrete thinking.”
And these people were not infrequent smokers with limited experience and exposure to pot. These people were chimneys.
I will have to say that I think it is true that todays pot is stronger than it was 30 years ago.
If, say, a 100 pound bail of it fell on your head from a high altitude, you could very well die. Or if you had a big baggy of it and you fell in, you could suffocate. Or if you had a really big bong and it spilled you could drown.
Caffeine can be harmful to the body.
Dihydrogen Monoxide (naturally occurring substance) can be harmful to the body.
Living 80 years can be harmful to the body.
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