Marijuana the Alcohol Alternative

     Smoking weed is... 
    

     Smoking weed is a task that is frowned upon by our society.  It is illegal.  Unfortunately, lots of people still partake of the greenery. 
 

     Weed, or marijuana, is derived from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa.  Out of all of the drugs utilized in America, Weed is the most frequently used.

 

     4% of American adults smoke pot, marijuana, at least once a year. "1% of adults abuse pot, and one in 300 have a pot addiction".

 

     People smoke the plant's dried leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds. Marijuana also can be mixed into food or brewed as a tea. Marijuana goes by many street names, including pot, weed, and herb. Hash, a concentrated form of the drug, is short for hashish.The rates of marijuana smoking in adults have remained stable since the 1990s. However, the rates of addiction to pot have risen significantly over that same period. According to recent government stuudies, as many as 30% of today's teenagers are smoking marijuana.  Occasional marijuana use is rarely seriously harmful, but smoking pot has important medical effects.

Physiological Effects of Marijuana

    
     The active ingredient in marijuana is THC. That means delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol.THC is rapidly absorbed after smoking pot. Within minutes, THC and the other substances in marijuana smoke cause short-term medical effects. 

Signs of using marijuana include:

Rapid heart rate
Increased blood pressure
Increased rate of breathing
Red eyes
Dry mouth
Increased appetite, or "the munchies"
Slowed reaction time

 

THC molecule

     These effects are reduced after three or four hours. However, marijuana hangs around in your system for as long as a month after smoking. The lingering effects mean you're impaired for several days to weeks after the high wears off.

 

Psychological Effects of Marijuana
 

     According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the main effects of marijuana on mood vary and may include euphoria, calmness, anxiety, or paranoia. Getting high or "stoned" is the reason most pot smokers use marijuana.


Other short-term psychological effects of pot include:

Distorted sense of time
Paranoia
Magical or "random" thinking
Short-term memory loss
Anxiety and depression

 

     These psychological signs of using pot also generally ease after a few hours. Residual effects can last for days.

 

Risks of Marijuana Use:
 

     The risks of smoking marijuana increase with heavy use. The link has never been proven, many experts believe heavy pot smokers are at increased risk for lung cancer.

Risks of Marijuana Use

Heavy marijuana use lowers men's testosterone levels, sperm count and quality. Pot could decrease libido and fertility in some heavy-smoking men.

 

    Contrary to what many pot smokers may tell you, marijuana is addictive, at least psychologically. Even among occasional users, 1 in 12 can feel withdrawal symptoms if they can't get high when they want to. Among heavy pot smokers, the rates of dependence are higher.Many experts also believe that marijuana is physically addictive.

 

Symptoms of withdrawal from pot might include:

Aggression
Anxiety
Depressed mood
Decreased appetite

 

     Pot is a "gateway" drug? In other words, does smoking marijuana make someone more likely to try cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, and other "hard" drugs? The jury is still out on this one. It's true that pot smokers are more likely to use other drugs after trying marijuana. What's not clear is whether smoking pot causes further drug use or if people who start smoking pot are just more likely to try drugs in general.If you're wondering how long marijuana stays in your system after smoking, it depends on how often you smoke.

 

     Light users -- those who smoke pot once in a while -- will have a negative drug screen after a marijuana-free week.

 

     Heavy users -- sometimes called "stoners" -- may continue testing positive for a month after last smoking pot(http://www.m.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/marijuana-use-and-its-effects)."

 

Effects on Life
 

     Research clearly demonstrates that marijuana has the potential to cause problems in daily life or make a person's existing problems worse. In fact, heavy marijuana users generally report lower life satisfaction, poorer mental and physical health, relationship problems, and less academic and career success compared to their peers who came from similar backgrounds.
    

     For example, marijuana use is associated with a higher likelihood of dropping out from school. Several studies also associate workers' marijuana smoking with increased absences, tardiness, accidents, workers' compensation claims, and job turnover(http://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana)."

Weed is legal, and it's being compared to alcohol.  Alcohol is our old legal option to sobriety.  Well, how does alcohol compare to weed?

 

Alcohol
 

     Drinking too much – on a single occasion or over time – can take a serious toll on your health. 

 

Here’s how alcohol can affect your body:

Brain:

Alcohol interferes with the brain’s communication pathways, and can affect the way the brain looks and works. These disruptions can change mood and behavior, and make it harder to think clearly and move with coordination.

  

Heart

Drinking a lot over a long time or too much on a single occasion can damage the heart, causing problems including:
Cardiomyopathy – Stretching and drooping of heart muscle

Arrhythmias – Irregular heart beat

Stroke

High blood pressure.

Research also shows that drinking moderate amounts of alcohol may protect healthy adults from developing coronary heart disease.

Liver: 
Heavy drinking takes a toll on the liver, and can lead to a variety of problems and liver inflammations including:

Steatosis, or fatty liver
Alcoholic hepatitis
Fibrosis
Cirrhosis
Pancreas:
Alcohol causes the pancreas to produce toxic substances that can eventually lead to pancreatitis, a dangerous inflammation and swelling of the blood vessels in the pancreas that prevents proper digestion.

 

Cancer:  Drinking too much alcohol can increase your risk of developing certain cancers, including cancers of the:
Mouth
Esophagus
Throat
Liver
Breast

Immune System:
     Drinking too much can weaken your immune system, making your body a much easier target for disease.  Chronic drinkers are more liable to contract diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis than people who do not drink too much.  Drinking a lot on a single occasion slows your body’s ability to ward off infections – even up to 24 hours after getting drunk.(http://niaaa.nih.gov/alcohol-health/alcohols-effects-body)

     Smoking weed is a task that is frowned upon by our society. Ask somebody, that you don't know that well, to smoke a joint with you.  You don't want to hear all of the answers. It is illegal.  Unfortunately, lots of people still partake of the greenery.  Make your choice.

     How far are we away from being able to buy "pre-rolled" Swisher Sweet Blunts from the corner store?