Introduction to How Marijuana WorksMarijuana is the buds and leaves of the Cannabis sativa plant. This plant contains more than 400 chemicals, including delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the plant’s main psychoactive chemical. THC is known to affect our brain’s short-term memory. Additionally, marijuana affects motor coordination, increases your heart rate and raises levels of anxiety. Studies also show that marijuana contains cancer-causing chemicals typically associated with cigarettes.
Marijuana plants contain more than 400 chemicals, 60 of which fit into a category called cannabinoids. THC is just one of these cannabinoids, but it’s the chemical most often associated with the effects that marijuana has on the brain. Cannabis plants also contain choline, eugenol, guaicacol and piperidine. The concentration of THC and other cannabinoids varies depending on growing conditions, plant genetics and processing after harvest.
Marijuana in the Body
Every time a user smokes a marijuana cigarette or ingests marijuana in some other form, THC and other chemicals enter the user’s body. The chemicals make their way through the bloodstream to the brain and then to the rest of the body. The most powerful chemical in marijuana is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), which is primarily responsible for the “high” associated with the drug.
The most common way of using marijuana is smoking. Smoking is also the most expedient way to get the THC and other chemicals into the bloodstream. When the smoke from marijuana is inhaled, the THC goes directly to the lungs. Your lungs are lined with millions of alveoli, the tiny air sacs where gas exchange occurs. These alveoli have an enormous surface area — 90 times greater than that of your skin — so they make it easy for THC and other compounds to enter the body. The smoke is absorbed by the lungs just seconds after inhaling.
You can also eat marijuana. In this case, the marijuana enters the stomach and the blood absorbs it there. The blood then carries it to the liver and the rest of the body. The stomach absorbs THC more slowly than the lungs. When marijuana is eaten, the levels of THC in the body are lower, but the effects last longer
Marijuana and the Brain
THC is a very potent chemical compared to other psychoactive drugs. An intravenous (IV) dose of only 1 milligram can produce serious mental and psychological effects. Once in your bloodstream, THC typically reaches the brain within seconds after it is inhaled and begins to go to work.
Marijuana users often describe the experience of smoking marijuana as initially relaxing and mellow, creating a feeling of haziness and light-headedness. The user’s eyes may dilate, causing colors to appear more intense, and other senses may be enhanced. Later, feelings of a paranoia and panic may be felt by the user. The interaction of the THC with the brain is what causes these feelings. To understand how marijuana affects the brain, you need to know about the parts of the brain that are affected by THC. Here are the basics:
- Neurons are the cells that process information in the brain. Chemicals called neurotransmitters allow neurons to communicate with each other.
- Neurotransmitters fill the gap, or synapse, between two neurons and bind to protein receptors, which enable various functions and allow the brain and body to be turned on and off.
- Some neurons have thousands of receptors that are specific to particular neurotransmitters.
- Foreign chemicals, like THC, can mimic or block actions of neurotransmitters and interfere with normal functions.
In your brain, there are groups of cannabinoid receptors concentrated in several different places. These cannabinoid receptors have an effect on several mental and physical activities, including:
- Short-term memory
- Coordination
- Learning
- Problem solving
Cannabinoid receptors are activated by a neurotransmitter called anandamide. Anandamide belongs to a group of chemicals called cannabinoids. THC is also a cannabinoid chemical. THC mimics the actions of anandamide, meaning that THC binds with cannabinoid receptors and activates neurons, which causes adverse effects on the mind and body.
High concentrations of cannabinoid receptors exist in the hippocampus, cerebellum and basal ganglia. The hippocampus is located within the temporal lobe and is important for short-term memory. When the THC binds with the cannabinoid receptors inside the hippocampus, it interferes with the recollection of recent events. THC also affects coordination, which is controlled by the cerebellum. The basal ganglia controls unconscious muscle movements, which is another reason why motor coordination is impaired when under the influence of marijuana.
The “Munchies”
One peculiar phenomenon associated with marijuana use is the increased hunger that users feel, often called the “munchies.” Research shows that marijuana increases food enjoyment and the number of times a person eats each day.
Until recently, the munchies were a relative mystery. However, a recent study by Italian scientists may explain what happens to increase appetite in marijuana users. Molecules called endocannabinoids bind with receptors in the brain and activate hunger.
This research indicates that endocannabinoids in the hypothalamus of the brain activate cannabinoid receptors that are responsible for maintaining food intake.
Other Physiological Effects of Marijuana
In addition to the brain, the side effects of marijuana reach many other parts of the body, which include:
- Problems with memory and learning
- Distorted perception
- Difficulty with thinking and problem solving
- Loss of coordination
- Increased heart rate
- Anxiety, paranoia and panic attacks
The initial effects created by the THC in marijuana wear off after an hour or two, but the chemicals stay in your body for much longer. The terminal half-life of THC is from about 20 hours to 10 days, depending on the amount and potency of the marijuana used. This means that if you take one milligram of THC that has a half-life of 20 hours, you will still have 0.031 mg of THC in your body more than four days later. The longer the half-life, the longer the THC lingers in your body.
The debate over the addictive capacity of marijuana continues. Ongoing studies now show a number of possible symptoms associated with the cessation of marijuana use. These symptoms most commonly include irritability, nervousness, depression, anxiety and even anger. Other symptoms are restlessness, severe changes in appetite, violent outbursts, interrupted sleep or insomnia. In addition to these possible physical effects, psychological dependence usually develops because a person’s mind craves the high that it gets when using the drug.
Beyond these effects that marijuana has, marijuana smokers are susceptible to the same health problems as tobacco smokers, such as bronchitis, emphysema and bronchial asthma. Other effects include dry mouth, red eyes, impaired motor skills and impaired concentration. Long-term use of the drug can increase the risk of damaging the lungs and reproductive system, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). It has also been linked to heart attacks.
Although marijuana is known to have negative effects on the human body, there is a raging debate over the use of medicinal marijuana. Some say that marijuana should be legalized for medical use because it has been known to suppress nausea, relieve eye pressure, decrease muscle spasms, stimulate appetite, stop convulsions and eliminate menstrual pain. Because of its therapeutic nature, marijuana has been used in the treatment of several conditions including: cancer and AIDS (to supress nausea and stimulate appetite), glaucoma (to alleviate eye pressure), epilepsy (to stop convulsions) and multiple sclerosis (to decrease muscle spasms).
Source: HowStuffWorks
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A message from Anonymous
Like what? share some of what I got? sure come through. Lol just messing, um this blog used to be really active on marijuana legalization but then I realized there are more important things closer to home that need to be out of the way before anyone has a fighting chance legalizing weed, like enough communal education on today’s racism and sexism and sexual phobias. With these things in the way I think it becomes harder for communities to unify for certain causes due to how many of us undergo one or all of these problems. I feel selfish and almost childish in voicing my opinion out more about legalizing weed than legalizing immediate basic human rights like those of the LGBTQ community, women of color, my fellow poc and so on. I feel like the fight to make weed legal in America, is a fight we need to pick out strategically by unifying communities as we highlight those racial, sexist and phobic/ignorant thoughts. People are more willing to listen to your problems when they see you know it’s not all about one problem.
But then there’s all the killing happening because of the fact that cannabis is illegal. The illegalization of cannabis is a part of the racial segregation, when you look at who are mostly being locked up you realize this is very much a race thing. But more importantly it’s grown so much that it serves the purpose of separating those who agree or obey with authority and those who don’t. A good way of picking out the people who are dangerous to the flawed, bought ought, voting system we use today.
With a bit of policy reform we could be saving millions of dollars a year, saving space in prison for real criminals, paving the way for a more diverse, hemp driven agriculture. A bit of policy reform could also allow more detailed and substantial experiments that help us understand the cannabis plant a lot more intimately and know what good we can do with it. It would also end the suffering of many communities here in the states and south of the border.
I understand cannabis legalization is not a priority to authority since it’ll instantly become a competitor to corporate giants with heavy investments on the unhealthy alternatives to weed and its agricultural usage. What we really don’t need is the massive black market that stems from the illegal status of cannabis and many drugs, that’s what provides an accessible, unsafe, violent, and ‘every man for themselves’ environment where many of our people are subject to.
As for its usage, it’s only bad when it’s being handled by someone with bad habit management. If you tend to get hooked on pleasures too easily too fast or too long, this may not be for you as with anything you can abuse. There are responsible smokers, and then there are irresponsible smokers. But neither give enough reasons to make cannabis illegal or deserving of the stigma its history with authority suggests.
How Will Mainstream Media Spin This Government Study?
The Rorschach Inkblot test asks people to make up stories about ambiguous pictures. Rorschach’s hope was that the tales people told about each blot would reveal something about personal predilections and an approach to the world. Well, our friends at the National Institute on Drug Abuse have just published a nice inkblot test for the media. The experiment, “Tolerance to Effects of High-Dose Oral D9-Tetrahydrocannabinol and Plasma Cannabinoid Concentrations in Male Daily Cannabis Smokers,” is about (you guessed it!) developing tolerance to THC. We’ll see how media handle the implications of the results. It’s either a reassuring result for those concerned about safety on the roads or a chance for misguided alarms about purported dependence.
The experimenters drafted 13 guys who were experienced cannabis smokers to stay in the lab for several days. Each day, they had to swallow more and more Marinol. Marinol is pure THC in a pill, but without the cannabinoids and various compounds found in whole plant cannabis that mitigate the psychotropic effects of THC and perform other beneficial health functions. Many people have reportedthat Marinol left them far more impaired than plant cannabis, undoubtedly for this very reason. In fact, one guy dropped out “for personal reasons” and another “due to psychological reactions to THC.” These guys had smoked marijuana at least 1,000 times, so I’m guessing that they would have had a handle on “psychological reactions to THC” if they’d been allowed to (heaven forbid!) use their own stash. But the dosage was nothing to sneeze at — 120 mg of THC per day — or the equivalent amount of THC as three joints of decent medical cannabis in the U.S.
If you wish to roll a doob from scratch, you must first invent the universe.
“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.” — Buddha
Bill Would Lift Medical Marijuana Evidence Ban In Federal Court
Late on Tuesday, U.S. Representative Sam Farr (D-CA) and 18 co-sponsors (15 Democrats and three Republicans) introduced HR 6134, the “Truth in Trials” Act, bipartisan legislation to allow defendants in federal criminal prosecutions the ability to use medical marijuana evidence at trial, a right not currently afforded them.
Because of a June 2005 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Gonzales v. Raich, the government has the discretion to enforce federal marijuana laws even in medical marijuana states. The Raich ruling also allows federal prosecutors to exclude all evidence of medical use or state law compliance in federal trials, virtually guaranteeing the convictions of medical marijuana patients and providers.
“The federal government has tilted the scales of justice towards conviction by denying medical marijuana defendants the right to present all of the evidence at trial,” said Congressman Farr. “My bill would restore due process rights to law abiding citizens acting within the parameters of state and local laws. Juries should hear the entire story of a patient’s medical marijuana use before choosing to convict, not the heavily edited version they currently hear.”
“It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution or proceeding under any federal law for marijuana-related activities, which the proponent must establish by a preponderance of the evidence, that those activities comply with state law regarding the medical use of marijuana,” the bill states.
Marijuana Linked To Better Brain Function In Bipolar Patients
Results from a new study show indicate that bipolar patients with a history of marijuana use have better neurocognitive function than those who have never used cannabis.
The team, from The Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks, New York, found that patients with bipolar I (BD I) disorder who used marijuana performed better on tests of attention, processing speed, and working memory than other BD 1 patients, reports Mark Cowen at News Medical.
“This data could be interpreted to suggest that cannabis use may have a beneficial effect on cognitive functioning in patients with severe psychiatric disorders,” said lead researcher Raphael Braga.
Team Vendetta Takes Down Drug Task Force Site
Hacktivist Collective Responds To Drug Raid In Which 75-Year-Old Forced To Lie On Floor At Gunpoint As Her Dog Was Executed
Earlier this month, when police held a 75-year-old woman at gunpoint and killed her dog, lots of us in the marijuana community were horrified, appalled and outraged. The disgusting, terroristic tactics of would-be Rambos on over-funded, over-armed, over-enthusiastic redneck local drug task forces is enough to make anybody want to throw up.
Some, however, have more means at their disposal to express their disapproval of such jack-booted thug tactics.
Members of the online activist collective Team Vendetta on Monday afternoon took down he website of the Wayne County Narcotics Enforcement Team, “doxing” the entire task force team (gleaning their personal information from the site) and posting online the information of the top three men in charge of the team.
The widespread disgust was due to a botched drug raid during which Wayne County Sheriff’s deputies, along with Macedon Police officers, broke into 75-year-old Phyllis Loquasto’s home in Walworth, New York, forced her at gunpoint to lie on her bathroom floor, screamed at her to close her eyes and stay down, then executed her dog, “Duke,” by shooting him.
As she was lying on her bathroom floor, Loquasto could hear the cops talking in loud voices, reports Information Liberation. “The dog hadn’t even barked, yet I heard one of them say, ‘He’s aggressive, shoot him!’ I’ll never forget the sound of that gunshot and the blood flying everywhere,” Loquasto said.
“They did all this while forcing me to lay on the bathroom floor, screaming at me to stay down, and holding me at gunpoint,” she said. “I’m 75 years old, had three strokes and knee replacement, and can hardly walk. There was nothing I could do to help my pet.”
Obama’s Embarrassing Silence on Marijuana
One thing you can bet we won’t hear anyone talking about at the Democratic National Convention is marijuana. Nobody will be discussing how bad it is, how good it is or even acknowledging that it exists. Then, at the end of the day, a not-insignificant number of attendees will be getting high at every hotel in Charlotte and bitching about what a buzzkill Mitt Romney is.
It sounds silly to even suggest that marijuana would get a mention at our nation’s biggest political showcase. Of course it won’t, and I actually agree, in theory, that it shouldn’t. But somehow our policymakers have managed to turn this mostly-helpful plant into a massive international fiasco that’s becoming increasingly difficult to deal with from one day to the next. I’ve heard many democrats address Obama’s handling of the marijuana issue by asking, “what do you expect?” and I’m happy to answer them. I expect change. Absent that, I expect an explanation. An explanation is something you ought to have when you’re arresting millions of people to protect them from a piece of plant material they put in their own pocket. The billions we spend trying to stop people from relaxing in this particular fashion should be subject to the same scrutiny as any other enormous amount of money our government spends, if not far more.
So, in June, I went through the appropriate channels to try to get that explanation. At an event in Washington, D.C., I asked Obama’s drug czar whether marijuana users should be arrested and forced into drug treatment. His answer wasn’t very helpful. From Reason:
The other good question came from Scott Morgan, of StopTheDrugWar.org, who asked if Kerlikowske supported compulsory treatment of casual drug users, and if arresting marijuana users and forcing them into treatment was an effective policy. This time, Kerlikowske played dumb.
“Again, that’s a bit of a myth. If someone’s arrested for a small amount of marijuana, and the determination is made they have to go into treatment, treatment beds and space are a valuable commodity. I think professionals can clearly assess when someone is in need of treatment. Compulsory treatment is not something I’m as familiar with in great detail at the local level.”
If the drug czar isn’t “familiar with” the punishments for marijuana possession and can’t defend them, who can? His answer got worse from there, if you can believe it, and it’s exactly this kind of convoluted incoherent crap that defines our drug policy and paralyzes efforts to fix anything about it. One minute they’re saying we don’t arrest people and force them to into treatment, then they’re saying we have to do something aggressive to send the right message, and then they close by insisting that the system is working fine, whatever the heck it is.
(NORML) The oral administration of the non-psychotropic cannabis plant constituent cannabidiol (CBD) is safe and well tolerated in humans, according to clinical trial data published online by the journal Current Pharmaceutical Design.
Investigators at Kings College in London assessed the physiological and behavioral effects of CBD and THC versus placebo in 16 healthy volunteers in a randomized, double-blind, crossover trial.
Investigators reported that the oral administration of 10 mg of THC was associated with various physiological and behavioral effects – such as increased heart rate and sedation – whereas the oral administration of 600 mg of CBD was not.
They concluded, “There were no differences between CBD and placebo on any symptomatic, physiological variable. … In healthy volunteers, THC has marked acute behavioral and physiological effects, whereas CBD has proven to be safe and well tolerated.”
Researchers at The Zucker Hillside Hospital in Long Island, NY, in collaboration with a team at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, examined the difference in cognitive performance among 50 individuals with bipolar disorder who had a history of cannabis use, with 150 bipolar patients who had no history of cannabis use.
The team discovered that patients who used cannabis showed superior neurocognitive performance than those who did not. However, patients who used cannabis did not differ considerably on estimates of premorbid IQ.
The researchers explained:“Results from our analysis suggest that subjects with bipolar disorder and history of (cannabis use) demonstrate significantly better neurocognitive performance, particularly on measures of attention, processing speed, and working memory.
These findings are consistent with a previous study that demonstrated that bipolar subjects with history of cannabis use had superior verbal fluency performance as compared to bipolar patients without a history of cannabis use. Similar results have also been found in schizophrenia in several studies.”
German Study: Cannabis-Based Medications Relieve Pain
Cannabis-based medications have been demonstrated to relieve pain, and can be useful for patients whose symptoms aren’t adequately alleviated by conventional treatment, according to a paper in a peer-reviewed German medical journal.
The symptoms shown to have been alleviated by marijuana-based medicines include muscle spasms, nausea and vomiting resulting from chemotherapy, loss of appetite in HIV/AIDS patients, and neuropathic pain, according to the paper, published in Issue 29-30 of Deutsches Arzteblatt International, the German Medical Association’s official international peer-reviewed science journal, reports Science Daily.
“Medications based on cannabis have been used for therapeutic purposes in many cultures for centuries,” the paper notes. “In Europe, they were used at the end of the 19th century to treat pain, spasms, asthma, sleep disorders, depression, and loss of appetite.”
Cannabinoids, like those found in marijuana, occur naturally in human breast milk
Woven into the fabric of the human body is an intricate system of proteins known as cannabinoid receptors that are specifically designed to process cannabinoids such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), one of the primary active components of marijuana. And it turns out, based on the findings of several major scientific studies, that human breast milk naturally contains many of the same cannabinoids found in marijuana, which are actually extremely vital for proper human development.
Cell membranes in the body are naturally equipped with these cannabinoid receptors which, when activated by cannabinoids and various other nutritive substances, protect cells against viruses, harmful bacteria, cancer, and other malignancies. And human breast milk is an abundant source of endocannabinoids, a specific type of neuromodulatory lipid that basically teaches a newborn child how to eat by stimulating the suckling process.
If it were not for these cannabinoids in breast milk, newborn children would not know how to eat, nor would they necessarily have the desire to eat, which could result in severe malnourishment and even death. Believe it or not, the process is similar to how adult individuals who smoke pot get the “munchies,” as newborn children who are breastfed naturally receive doses of cannabinoids that trigger hunger and promote growth and development.
“The medical implications of these novel developments are far reaching and suggest a promising future for cannabinoids in pediatric medicine for conditions including ‘non-organic failure-to-thrive’ and cystic fibrosis.”
