DEPARTMENTS > COMMUNITY ALLIANCE > DRUG FACTS

Marijuana

What is marijuana?

Marijuana is a green or gray mixture of dried, shredded flowers and leaves of the hemp plant (Cannabis sativa). It is the most often used illegal drug in this country. All forms of cannabis are mind-altering (psychoactive) drugs that contain THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the main active chemical in marijuana. There are about 400 chemicals in a cannabis plant, but THC is the one that affects the brain the most.

How is Marijuana used?

Most users roll loose marijuana into a cigarette (called a "joint"). The drug can also be smoked in a water pipe, called a "bong." Some users mix marijuana into foods or use it to brew a tea. Marijuana cigarettes or blunts often include crack cocaine, a combination known by various street names such as "primos" or "woolies." Joints and blunts often are dipped in PCP and are called "happy sticks," "wicky sticks," "love boat," or "tical." Hash users either smoke the drug in a pipe or mix it with tobacco and smoke it as a cigarette. Lately, young people have a new method for smoking marijuana: they slice open cigars and replace the tobacco with marijuana, making what's called a "blunt." When the blunt is smoked with a 40 oz. bottle of malt liquor, it is called a "B-40."

What are the symptoms of marijuana use?

The symptoms of marijuana use includes but is not limited to:

  • Seem dizzy and have trouble walking
  • Seem silly and giggly for no reason
  • Have very red, bloodshot eyes
  • Have a hard time remembering things that just happened
  • Signs of drugs and drug paraphernalia, including pipes and rolling papers
  • Odor on clothes and in the bedroom
  • Use of incense and other deodorizers
  • Use of eye drops
  • Clothing, posters, jewelry, etc., promoting drug use
What is marijuana addiction?

Marijuana addiction is a phenomenon experienced by more than 150,000 individuals each year who enter treatment for their proclaimed addiction to marijuana. Marijuana addiction is characterized as compulsive, often uncontrollable marijuana craving, seeking, and use, even when the individual knows that marijuana use is not in his best interest. Marijuana addiction could be defined as chronically making the firm decision not to use marijuana followed shortly by a relapse due to experiencing overwhelming compulsive urges to use marijuana despite the firm decision not to. This contradiction is characteristic of an addiction problem.

The symptoms of marijuana addiction include but are not limited to:

  • Marijuana tolerance: Either need for markedly increased amounts of marijuana to achieve intoxication, or markedly diminished effect with continued use of the same amount of marijuana.
  • Greater use of marijuana than intended: Marijuana taken in larger amounts or over a longer period than was intended
  • Unsuccessful efforts to cut down or control marijuana use
  • A great deal of time spent in using marijuana
  • Marijuana use causing a reduction in social, occupational or recreational activities.
  • Continued marijuana use despite knowing it will cause significant problems.
What is marijuana withdrawal?

Marijuana withdrawal occurs after you discontinue using the drug. Symptoms of marijuana withdrawal first appear in chronic users within 24 hours. They are most pronounced for the first 10 days and can last up to 28 days. Marijuana addiction withdrawal symptoms include but are not limited to:

  • Irritability
  • Anxiety
  • Physical tension
  • Decreases in appetite and mood
What are the short-term effects of marijuana?

Marijuana affects many skills required for safe driving: alertness, the ability to concentrate, coordination, and reaction time. These effects can last up to 24 hours after smoking marijuana. Marijuana use can make it difficult to judge distances and react to signals and sounds on the road.

  • Sleepiness
  • Difficulty keeping track of time, impaired or reduced short-term memory
  • Reduced ability to perform tasks requiring concentration and coordination, such as driving a car
  • Increased heart rate
  • Potential cardiac dangers for those with pre-existing heart disease
  • Bloodshot eyes
  • Dry mouth and throat
  • Decreased social inhibitions
  • Paranoia, hallucinations
  • Impaired or reduced short-term memory
  • Impaired or reduced comprehension
  • Altered motivation and cognition, making the acquisition of new information difficult
  • Psychological dependence
  • Impairments in learning and memory, perception, and judgment
  • Difficulty speaking, listening effectively, thinking, retaining knowledge, problem solving, and forming concepts
  • Intense anxiety or panic attacks
What are the long-term effects of marijuana?

Researchers have found that THC changes the way in which sensory information gets into and is acted on by the hippocampus. This is a component of the brain's limbic system that is crucial for learning, memory, and the integration of sensory experiences with emotions and motivations. Investigations have shown that THC suppresses neurons in the information processing system of the hippocampus and the activity of the nerve fibers. In addition, researchers have discovered that learned behaviors, which depend on the hippocampus, also deteriorate. Recent research findings also indicate that long-term use of marijuana produces changes in the brain similar to those seen after long-term use of other major drugs of abuse.

  • Enhanced cancer risk
  • Decrease in testosterone levels and lower sperm counts for men
  • Increase in testosterone levels for women and increased risk of infertility
  • Diminished or extinguished sexual pleasure
  • Psychological dependence requiring more of the drug to get the same effect