Marijuana
What is Marijuana?
Marijuana is a mixture of the dried and shredded leaves, stems, seeds, and flowers of the cannabis sativa plant.
Common Names:
The most common method of smoking marijuana il rolling it into a cigarette, commonly called a "joint". It can also be smoked through a pipe or a water pipe called a "bong". It can also be smoked in a "blunt" which is a hallowed out cigar filled with marijuana. Others brew it into tea or bake it into food, mainly brownies or cookies.
Facts and Statistics:
According to National Institue on Drug Abuse's 2012 Monitoring the Future study, about 6.5% of 8th graders, 17% of 10th graders, and 22.9% of 12th graders had used marijuana in the month before the survey. In 2007, 5.1% of 12th graders used marijuana daily, unlike in 2012, 6.5% of 12th graders use marijuana daily.
Effects on the brain:
Marijuana activates neurons because their chemical structure mimics a natural neurotransmitter. This drug can "fool" receptors, can lock onto them, can activate the nerve cells. They don't work the same way as a natural neurotransmitter, so the neurons wind up sending abnormal messages through the brain.
Signs of use:
Short-term effects:
Treatments?
Althose there is no medication that has shown to help with marijuana-use disorders, researchers have shown that antidepressants like prozac could help them manage the withdrawal and avoid relapse. Other treatments are behavioral treatments, like motivational enhancement therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and contingency management. Others go through kinds of therapy, like multidimensional therapy, multi-systemic therapy, family support netwrok intervention, and brief strategic family therapy.
Resources:
MedlinePlus. (n.d). Marijuana. Retrieved from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/marijuana.html
NIDA. (n.d). Facts on Drugs: Marijuana. Retrieved from:
http://teens.drugabuse.gov/drug-facts/marijuana
Scholastic. (n.d). Heads Up Real News: About Drugs and Your Body. Retrieved from: headsup.scholastic.com
Marijuana is a mixture of the dried and shredded leaves, stems, seeds, and flowers of the cannabis sativa plant.
Common Names:
- pot
- grass
- herb
- weed
- mary jane
- reefer
- skunk
- boom
- gangster
- kif
- chronic
- ganja
The most common method of smoking marijuana il rolling it into a cigarette, commonly called a "joint". It can also be smoked through a pipe or a water pipe called a "bong". It can also be smoked in a "blunt" which is a hallowed out cigar filled with marijuana. Others brew it into tea or bake it into food, mainly brownies or cookies.
Facts and Statistics:
According to National Institue on Drug Abuse's 2012 Monitoring the Future study, about 6.5% of 8th graders, 17% of 10th graders, and 22.9% of 12th graders had used marijuana in the month before the survey. In 2007, 5.1% of 12th graders used marijuana daily, unlike in 2012, 6.5% of 12th graders use marijuana daily.
Effects on the brain:
Marijuana activates neurons because their chemical structure mimics a natural neurotransmitter. This drug can "fool" receptors, can lock onto them, can activate the nerve cells. They don't work the same way as a natural neurotransmitter, so the neurons wind up sending abnormal messages through the brain.
Signs of use:
- Rapid Heart Rate
- Increased blood pressure
- increased rate of breathing
- red eyes
- dry mouth
- increased appetite, or "the munchies"
- slowed reaction time
Short-term effects:
- Distorted sense of time
- paranoia
- magical or "random" thinking
- short-term memory loss
- anxiety and depression
Treatments?
Althose there is no medication that has shown to help with marijuana-use disorders, researchers have shown that antidepressants like prozac could help them manage the withdrawal and avoid relapse. Other treatments are behavioral treatments, like motivational enhancement therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and contingency management. Others go through kinds of therapy, like multidimensional therapy, multi-systemic therapy, family support netwrok intervention, and brief strategic family therapy.
Resources:
MedlinePlus. (n.d). Marijuana. Retrieved from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/marijuana.html
NIDA. (n.d). Facts on Drugs: Marijuana. Retrieved from:
http://teens.drugabuse.gov/drug-facts/marijuana
Scholastic. (n.d). Heads Up Real News: About Drugs and Your Body. Retrieved from: headsup.scholastic.com