Transcript Cannabis - Randolph College

( Mar y & Johnny )( hocus )( Cr ipple )(
f ir ewood )( giggle smoke )( magic dr agon
)( pot )( bubble gum )( r ight eous bush )(
Jolly gr een )( cannabis )( skunkweed )(
blonde )( Color ado cockt ail )( f r uit y j uice
)( widow )( bad seed )( doobie )( weed )(
Aunt Mar y )( nor t hern light s )( gr ass )(
Dew )( Juan Valdez )( hash )( bamba )(
Chr ist mas t r ee )( Af ghani #1 )( Kent ucky
blue )( her b )( Canadian black )( ganga )(
Mar y J )( bhang )( sugar weed )( Puf f )
Cannabis Sativa
Leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds are
smoked, combined with food, or
brewed as tea
Marijuana – dried leaves and flowers
Hashish – concentrated, resinous
substance from the top of the female
cannabis plant
Hash oil – sticky black liquid
Delta-9-Tetrahydro-Cannabinol
Abbreviated THC; the active
chemical in marijuana
The High
Pervasive sense of well-being and
happiness
A series of cellular reaction is
kicked off by membranes of certain
nerve cells in the brain binding to
the THC
THC connects to cannaboid
receptors
The receptors in parts of the
brain that influence pleasure,
memory, thought, concentration,
sensory and time perception, and
coordinated movement
Marijuana Abuse
The most commonly used illicit
drug in the United States
The marijuana available today is 5
times more potent than what was
available in the 1970s
Marijuana abusers accounted for
15% of admissions to drug
treatment facilities in the United
States in 2002
75% male
55% white
40% were ages 15 -- 19
56% abused the drug by age 14
92% abused the drug by age 18
Short-Term Effects
•Mood
Many feel happy
Some feel anxious and paranoid
Mood may be easily influenced
by others’ behavior
•Temporal Disintegration
Trouble retaining and organizing
information
Problems with learning, problem
solving, and memory
Disjointed speech and lapses in
attention and concentration
•Distorted Perception
•Loss of Coordination
•Increased Heart Rate
Long-Term Effects
•Brain
Increase in activation of the
stress-response system
Changes in activity of nerve cells
containing dopamine
•Heart
Risk of heart attack quadruples in
the 1st hour after smoking marijuana
•Lungs
Daily cough, phlegm, acute chest
illness, heightened risk of lung
infection
Increased risk of cancer–
marijuana contains 50—70% more
carcinogenic hydrocarbons than
tobacco smoke
•Impaired Immune System
Long-Term Effects
•Learning and Social Behavior
Depression, anxiety, personality
disturbances
Impaired memory, attention, and
learning up to 4 weeks after use
•Addiction
Most evidence suggests that
people do not develop a tolerance to
THC
Reverse tolerance – becoming
more sensitive to the effects of
marijuana with repeated use (not
laboratory tested)
With long-term use, smoking
marijuana may become a compulsive
behavior
Medicinal Marijuana
•Early studies found that marijuana
relieves nausea and vomiting
accompanying cancer chemotherapy
•FDA approved synthetic form of
oral THC which is now used to treat
nausea and vomiting in
chemotherapy patients and AIDS
wasting
•Use inhalers with purified active
ingredients of marijuana rather than
smoking
•Current studies looking at using
marijuana to treat tremors in
multiple sclerosis, sleep disorders,
CD4 immunity in AIDS, and
neuropathic pain
Medicinal Marijuana
•No current accepted medical use
in the United States
•Too few scientific studies
conducted to determine therapeutic
utility of marijuana
•Negatively affects almost every
organ, the central nervous system,
the endocrine system, the
respiratory/pulmonary system, and
the immune systems
•In order for the drug to be
approved for medicinal use, the
benefits must outweigh the risks
Sarah Kreiger
Psyc 213
Substance abuse disorders