© 2006 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Chapter 15 Marijuana

© 2006 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Marijuana   Marijuana consists of the dried and crushed leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds of the Cannabis sativa plant   THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinal) is the primary mind-altering ingredient in marijuana

© 2006 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Derivatives of the Cannabis Plant  Hashish  Avg. concentration of THC is 2% to 8%  Ganja  Consists of the dried tops of female plants  Sinsemilla  Avg. concentration of THC is 7.5%  Bhang  Avg. concentration of THC is 1% to 2%

© 2006 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.  In 1926 a series of articles associating marijuana and crime appeared in a New Orleans newspaper  36 states had laws regulating the use, sale and/or possession of marijuana by 1935  Many laws were based on and developed because of popular literature linking marijuana to crime, not the effect of the drugs like most drugs  Scientific American reported in 1939 that marijuana when combined with intoxicants makes the user have a desire to fight and kill

© 2006 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.  Many newspaper reports were similarly blaming marijuana for killing and fighting  The problem was that there was no medical evidence to support the relationship between marijuana and crime  The Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 was passed without much debate. It was a tax law so it did not outlaw marijuana - just taxed it.  One medical doctor testified against the bill because he felt the state’s anti-marijuana laws were adequate and that the social-menace case against cannabis had not been proven

© 2006 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. THC  THC was isolated and synthesized in 1964 and is clearly the most pharmacologically active  THC is rapidly absorbed into the blood and distributed first to the brain  Peak psychological and cardiovascular effects occur within 5 to 10 minutes but have a half life of 19 hours

© 2006 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Physiological Effects  Central Nervous System  Cardiovascular System  Respiratory System  Sexual Performance and Reproduction

© 2006 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Behavioral Effects  Low to moderate doses produce euphoria and a pleasant state of relaxation  Common effects: dry mouth, elevated heartbeat, some loss of coordination and balance, slower reaction times, reddening of the eyes, elevated blood pressure  A typical high lasts from 2-3 hours, and user experiences alter perception of pace and time, and impaired memory

© 2006 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Behavioral Effects  An acute dose of cannabis can produce adverse reactions: mild anxiety to panic and paranoia  A few rare cases exhibit psychoses, delusional and bizarre behavior, and hallucinations  These reactions occur most frequently in individuals who are under stress, anxious, depressed or borderline schizophrenic

© 2006 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Driving Performance  The ability to perform complex tasks, such as driving, is strongly impaired while under the influence of marijuana  Studies done in a lab, with non-regular marijuana users, show there are significant impairments  Studies done on drivers involved in car accidents show there is not an over- representation of marijuana use

© 2006 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Critical Thinking Skills  Marijuana has been found to have a negative impact on critical thinking skills  Impairment can affect: attention, memory, learning  The unresolved question is whether these impairments are short-term or long-term

© 2006 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Medical Marijuana  Medical marijuana  Involves using the THC in cannabis as a drug to calm or relieve symptoms of an illness  Glaucoma  Potentially blinding eye disease causing continual and increasing intraocular pressure

© 2006 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Medical Marijuana  Marinol - indicated for treatment of nausea and vomiting in cancer patients  Anorexia in AIDS patients  Antiasthmatic drug  Muscle relaxation

© 2006 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Medical Marijuana  Antiseizure effect  Antidepressent  Analgesic  Appetite stimulant

© 2006 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.  Total tar levels, carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide and nirosamines are found in similar amounts in tobacco cigarettes and marijuana cigarettes  Benzopyrene is found in greater amounts in marijuana but few users smoke 20 marijuana cigarettes at one time Negative Effects of Marijuana

© 2006 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Negative Effects of Marijuana  Heavy marijuana smoking can decrease testosterone levels, diminished sperm counts and sperm structure can be altered  Lower birth weight and shorter length at birth are reported in mothers who smoked during pregnancy. The problem is that most women who are smoking marijuana are also drinking and smoking tobacco during the pregnancy.

© 2006 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Legal Marijuana  In 1970 National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) was establish with a grant from the Playboy Foundation  Many groups came out for the decriminalization of marijuana, not to make it legal, but to take away the jail time for having small amounts

© 2006 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved. Legal Marijuana  Many states give small amounts of marijuana a civil fine while others legalized marijuana for medical reason  The Federal government still has marijuana as a stage I drug with federal consequences  Federal law supersedes state law