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Marijuana and Your Health
All across the United States kids and adults alike are getting high on marijuana. Most of us
know that marijuana is bad for you, but some people think otherwise. Some Hollywood
movies and television shows often make marijuana look good or even safe. But there are
many studies that show that marijuana is dangerous. Smoking marijuana can have
detrimental effects on a persons overall health and fitness.
There are many people who think marijuana is bad just because they have been told over
the years not to smoke. But what is marijuana exactly, what’s in it that makes you high,
and what do you feel when you’re high? Marijuana, also known as cannabis, weed, or pot,
is a plant grown from the Earth that people smoke in order to feel what they like to call
high. The primary psychoactive chemical in marijuana is tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC
(Hall and Degenhardt). THC affects two types of cannabinoid receptors in the brain, CB1
and CB2. The CB1 receptor is distributed in brain regions that involve cognition, memory,
pain perception, and motor coordination (Hall and Degenhardt). THC also increases the
activity in the “frontal and Para limbic regions" and in the “cerebellum of the human
brain"(Hall and Degenhardt). Today’s marijuana contains “about 8 percent THC compared
with 2 to 3 percent" in the 80’s (Fanning). The cannabis of today is much stronger than
what it was in the past, and is continuing to grow stronger year after year. Marijuana is
usually smoked through a water pipe or joint some users may smoke up to three to five
joints per day of a strong strain of marijuana. Because it is inhaled more deeply than
tobacco, one joint can expose you to the same amount of chemicals and carbon monoxide
found in “four or five cigarettes"(Fanning). When a user smokes marijuana they will
experience “mild euphoria, relaxation, and perceptual alterations" and usually last about an
hour. While smoking may make users feel great for a short amount of time, all that smoke
going into their lungs is doing some damage to their bodies.
If you ever see someone smoking a cigarette and coughing violently, chances are they have
been smoking for a long period of time and have damaged their lungs, increasing the risk
of respiratory diseases and cancer. Although some marijuana users may not believe it, the
same thing is happening to them whether they know it or not. When you smoke marijuana
