Research paper about Marijuana Essay

Marijuana cannabis or marihuana, medicine obtained from the cr featureing tops, stems, and leaves of the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa (see hemp) or C. indica the latter species can withstand colder climates. It is unmatched(a) of the virtually commonly practice session drugs in the world, following only caffeine, nicotine, and pelter beverages in popularity. In the coupled States, where it is usually smoked, it also has been called weed, grass, pot, or reefer.The seed downC. sativa grows as a common weed in many erupt of the world, and drug preparations diverge widely in potency according to climate, cultivation, and system of preparation. Mexico, Paraguay, and the United States are the top cannabis-producing rural areas worldwide. C. indica is a shorter, hardier variety with rounded blue-green leaves, grown in Afghanistan for hashish. Most hemps grown in the United States since the advanced 1980s are hybrids of the two and yield a much more potent product than t he marijuana of the past. The resin constitute on flower clusters and top leaves of the female plant is the most potent drug start and is use to prepare hashish, the highest grade of cannabis. The bud of the female plant, called sinsemilla, is the part most often smoked as marijuana.The medicineThe set up of marijuana vary with its strength and dosage and with the state of mind of the user. Typically, small doses result in a feeling of well-being. The intoxication lasts two to three hours, but incidental effects on motor control last much wanter. lofty doses can cause tachycardia, paranoia, and delusions. Although it produces nearly of the same effects as hallucinogens ilk LSD and mescaline (heightened sensitivity to colors, shapes, music, and other stimuli and distortion of the sense of time), marijuana differs chemically and pharmacologically.The primary active component of marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (tetrahydrocannabinol), although other cannabinol derivat ives are also thought to beintoxicating. In 1988 scientists discovered receptors that bind THC on the membranes of nerve cells. They reasoned that the body must make its own THC-like substance. The substance, named anandamide, was isolated from pig brains in 1992 by an American pharmacologist, William A. Devane.Marijuana lowers testosterone levels and sperm counts in men and raises testosterone levels in women. In pregnant women it affects the fetus and results in developmental difficulties in the child. There is evidence that marijuana affects normal increment of preadolescent and adolescent users and that it affects short-term memory and comprehension. Heavy smokers often live on lung damage from the smoke and contaminants. Regular use can result in dependence.The Legalization QuestionWith the increase in the number of middle-class users in the 1960s and 1970s, there came a somewhat greater acceptance of the ingest that marijuana should not be considered in the same class as n arcotics and that U.S. marijuana laws should be relaxed. The dose Abuse Prevention Act of 1970 move federal official penalties somewhat, and 11 states decriminalized self-control. However, in the late 1980s many states rewrote their drug laws and imposed stricter penalties. Beginning in 1996, however, a series of states began enacting medical exam exam marijuana laws (two fifths of the states now have one), and in 2012 voters in the states of Colorado and Washington authorize the legalization of marijuana. Opponents of easing marijuana laws have asserted that it is an intoxicant slight controllable than alcohol, that our drug-using society does not need another widely used intoxicant, and that the United States should not act to weaken UN policies, which are opposed to the use of marijuana for other than possible medical purposes. In 2013, Uruguay became the initiative nation to legalize the growing, selling, and use of marijuana, a move it undertook in part in an attempt to undermine drug cartels. Uruguays legalization, which was a cum of animosity in the country, also was critized by international authorities for contravening treaties to which Uruguay was a party. aesculapian UsesControversy surrounds the medical use of marijuana, with proponents expressing it is useful for treating pain and the unwellness and vomiting that are side effects of cancer chemotherapy and for restoring the appetite in people with AIDS. Its active ingredient, THC, was synthesized in 1966 and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 1985 synthetic THC is available by prescription medicine drug in pill form as dronabinol (Marinol) and nabilone (Cesamet). Proponents of medical marijuana say it is not as effective as the herb and is more expensive. In addition to THC, another cannibis derivative (or cannabinoid), cannabidiol (CDB), is an anti-inflammatory and antioxidant and also moderates THCs psychoactive effects.A 1999 U.S.-government-sponsored study by the Institute of Medicine found that marijuana appeared beneficial for certain medical conditions, such as nausea caused by chemotherapy and wasting caused by AIDS. Because of the toxicity of marijuana smoke, however, it was hoped that further research might forget to development of new delivery systems, such as bronchial inhalers. A number of studies since 1999 have shown that smoked marijuana has pain-reducing effects when compared with marijuana stripped of its cannabinoids.The Office of National Drug Control indemnity has opposed legalization of the medical use of marijuana, citing law enforcement issues and the possibility that some would use it as a pretext to sell marijuana for nonmedical use, and the FDA utter in 2006 that, despite the 1999 report, that marijuana has no accepted or prove use in the United States. Proponents, disregarding the law, have set up networks for the distribution of the drug to people who they judge will be fostered by it and continue to lobby for its legalization for medical use. In 1996 California enacted the first state law permitting the use of marijuana for medical reasons, and about one third of the states now have some sort of medical marijuana legislation. As a result of a Supreme Court sentiment in 2005, however, these laws do not protect medical users with a prescription from federal prose sliceion. In 2009 Attorney General Eric Holder ordered that federal prosecutors not focus on persons whoclearly comply with state medical marijuana laws, but federal law enforcement officials have moved to unaired many so-called marijuana dispensaries despite compliance, arguing in part that many prescriptions for marijuana are not justified medically. Another, lower accost ruling permits doctors to discuss medical use of marijuana with their patients but forbids them to help patients obtain the drug. A number of countries, including Canada, permit the medicinal use of the drug. archives of Marijuana UseMarijuana has been used as an agent for achieving euphoria since ancient times it was described in a Chinese medical compendium traditionally considered to date from 2737 BC It also has a long history of use as a medicinal herb. Its use pervade from China to India and then to N Africa and reached Europe at least as early as AD 500. A major crop in colonial North America, marijuana (hemp) was grown as a source of fiber. It was extensively cultivated during World War II, when Asian sources of hemp were cut off.Marijuana was listed in the United States Pharmacopeia from 1850 until 1942 and was prescribed for various conditions including wear out pains, nausea, and rheumatism. Its use as an intoxicant was also commonplace from the 1850s to the 1930s. A excite conducted in the 1930s by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Narcotics (now the Bureau of Narcotics and solemn Drugs) sought to portray marijuana as a powerful, addicting substance that would lead users into narcotics addiction. It is still considered a gat eway drug by some authorities. In the 1950s it was an accessory of the beat generation in the 1960s it was used by college students and hippies and became a symbol of rebellion against authority.The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 separate marijuana along with heroin and LSD as a catalogue I drug, i.e., having the relatively highest abuse potential and no accepted medical use. Most marijuana at that time came from Mexico, but in 1975 the Mexican government agreed to eradicate the crop by spraying it with the herbicide paraquat, raising fears of toxic side effects. Colombia then became the main supplier. The zero borderclimate of the Reagan and Bush administrations (198193) resulted in passage of strict laws and mandatory sentences for possession of marijuana and in heightened vigilance against smuggling at the southern borders. The struggle on drugs thus brought with it a shift from reliance on merchandise supplies to domestic cultivation (particularly in Hawaii and Californ ia). Beginning in 1982 the Drug Enforcement Administration turned increased attention to marijuana farms in the United States, and there was a shift to the indoor growing of plants specially genuine for small size and high yield. After over a ex of decreasing use, marijuana smoking began an upward trend once more in the early 1990s, especially among teenagers, but by the end of the ten-spot this upswing had leveled off well below former peaks of use.