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Marijuana Facts
Overdose and other negative effects…It is vitually impossible to overdose but marijuana:
Impairs judgement and complex coordination needed to drive a car…..automobile accidents and stupid mistakes are the largest risks of marijuana intoxication. Smokers show same lack of coordination on drunk drivers.
Decreases attention and concentration
Changes perception and sense of time (changes can last up to 24 hours)
Increases involvement in auto accidents by 100%
Disrupts receptors in cerebellum and basal ganglia regions affecting coordination
Causes chronic bronchitis in some smokers if 3-4 joint smoked per day (same effect as people smoking 1 or more pack of cigarettes per day)
Increase risk of lung cancer and earlier onset than those who only smoke tobacco.
Increases feelings of anxiousness or fearfulness (sinsemilla can contain up to 11% THC and produce a sudden, powerful high)
Endanger unintended user--small kids unknowingly eating large amount of cannabis in cookies can go into a coma.
Increases the heart rate & workload on the heart
Produces hundreds of chemical compounds besides THC that act on various organs & systems in the body
Dangerous Combos with Other Drugs
Increases effects on the heart when combined with cocaine
Interacts with heart or blood pressure medications or with drugs that suppress the function of the immune system
Legal Problems
Classified as a Schedule I Narcotic
Possessing larger amounts can be considered "intent to distribute" and result in much stiffer penalties than for simple "possession"
Money may not have to change hands for distribution to take place from a legal perspective-simply handing a package of a drug form one person to another can be considered distribution
Conspiracy laws are broad and powerful…Anyone hanging around individuals involved in drug possession and distribution risk being charged with conspiracy for seemingly innocent acts, such as lending a boyfriend a car, cashing a check, or allowing a friend who is a dealer to use a telephone.
Forfeiture laws allow property used in drug dealing to be taken and sold by the government. Even more or less innocent individuals are at risk here. A student distributing a drug from his father's home or car puts those possessions at risk for seizure if the prosecutor can prove that the dad knew something and allowed it to continue-even if the dad told the kid to stop!
Drug arrest can come from random events…In Virginia, an officer stopped a car for a minor mechanical problems. He became suspicious, legally searched the car, and found major quantities of cocaine. Marijuana is legally classified in the same category as coke.
General Info
The amount of tar inhaled is higher and more of it stays in the respiratory system longer than that from tobacco
Five times more carbon monoxide gets into the blood than from tobacco
THC remains in the body a long time -1/2 of the THC remains in the blood 20 hours after smoking
The liver breaks THC into other psychoactive compounds that stay in the body for several days--effecting mental and physical function
THC is held in the body's fatty deposits and is released slowly form these tissues…30% may remain in body a full week after smoking
Moves from the blood supply in the lungs to the heart and brain affecting heart rate and blood vessels within minutes
Remnants from a single large dose of THC are detectable up to 3 weeks later
Crosses form placenta to developing fetus
Hippocampus cells are affected by THC-they don't activate in normal ways, hindering acquisition of new memory
Once THC is eliminated from the body, memory and hippocampal functions return to normal
Residual effects on cognitive function (including memory) lasts up to 48 hours after smoking
Working short-term memory is required to learn and perform tasks of 2 or more steps
Heavy users show less flexibility in problem solving and have a hard time generating new strategies
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