Oh and just in case you are going to try and tell me abot how weed is good for you and should be legalized and all that s**t i'll post up some facts complete with sources so you can't argue. hehe i wonder if you weed can get you to concentrate enough toeven get through this.
heart attack risk more than quadruples in the first hour after using marijuana.
-Mittleman MA, Lewis RA, Maclure M, et al. Triggering myocardial infarction by marijuana. Circulation 103(23):2805–2809, 2001.
people who smoke marijuana frequently, but do not smoke tobacco have more health problems and miss more days of work than nonsmokers, many of the extra sick days in that study were for respiratory illnesses.
-Polen MR, Sidney S, Tekawa IS, et al. Health care use by frequent marijuana smokers who do not smoke tobacco. West J Med 158(6):596–601, 1993.
infrequent use can cause burning and stinging of the mouth and throat, often with a heavy cough. someone who smokes marijuana regularly may have many of the same respiratory problems that tobacco smokers do, such as daily cough and phlegm production, more frequent acute chest illnesses, heightened risk of lung infections, and a greater tendency to obstructed airways.
-Tashkin DP. Pulmonary complications of smoked substance abuse. West J Med 152(5):525–530, 1990.
smoking marijuana also doubles or even triples the likelihood of developing cancer of the head or neck.
-Zhang ZF, Morgenstern H, Spitz MR, et al. Marijuana use and increased risk of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention 8(12):1071–1078, 1999.
it also has the potential to promote cancer of the lungs and other parts of the respiratory tract because it contains irritants and carcinogens.
-Sridhar KS, Raub WA, Weatherby, NL Jr., et al. Possible role of marijuana smoking as a carcinogen in the development of lung cancer at a young age. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs 26(3):285–288, 1994.
marijuana smoke contains 50 to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke.
-Hoffman D, Brunnemann KD, Gori GB, et al. On the carcinogenicity of marijuana smoke. In: VC Runeckles, ed, Recent Advances in Phytochemistry. New York. Plenum, 1975.
it also induces high levels of an enzyme that converts certain hydrocarbons into their carcinogenic form—levels that may accelerate the changes that ultimately produce malignant cells.
-Cohen S. Adverse effects of marijuana: Selected issues. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 362:119–124, 1981.
research by NIDA has shown that marijuana can cause problens with concentration and thinking, a study funded by them found that college students that use marijuana regularly have had imparied skills related to attention, memory, and learning AT LEAST 24 hours after they last used it.
-Pope, HG and Yurelun-Todd, D. The residual cognitive effects of heavy marijuana use in college students. Journal of the American Medical Association. 275(7):521-527, 1996.
the university of iowa college of medicine found that people who use marijuana frequently showed deficits in mathematical skills and verbal expression, as well as selective impairments in memory-retrieval processes.
-Block, RI and Ghoneim, MM. Effects of chronic marijuana use on human cognition. Psychopharmacology. 110(12):219-228, 1993.
the short-term effects of marijuana can include problems with memory and learning; distorted perception; difficulty in thinking and problem solving; loss of coordination; and increased heart rate. research findings for long-term marijuana abuse indicate some changes in the brain similar to those seen after long-term abuse of other major drugs. cannabinoid (thc or synthetic forms of thc) withdrawal in chronically exposed animals leads to an increase in the activation of the stress-response system and changes in the activity of nerve cells containing dopamine. dopamine neurons regulate motivation and reward and is directly or indirectly affected by all drugs of abuse.
-Rodriguez de Fonseca F, et al. Activation of cortocotropin-releasing factor in the limbic system during cannabinoid withdrawal. Science 276(5321):2050–2054, 1997.
Diana M, Melis M, Muntoni AL, et al. Mesolimbic dopaminergic decline after cannabinoid withdrawal. Proc Natl Acad Sci 95(17):10269–10273, 1998.
depression, anxiety, and personality disturbances have been associated with chronic marijuana use.
-Brook JS, Rosen Z, Brook DW. The effect of early marijuana use on later anxiety and depressive symptoms. NYS Psychologist 35–39, January 2001.
Brook JS, Cohen P, Brook DW. Longitudinal study of co-occurring psychiatric disorders and substance use. J Acad Child and Adolescent Psych 37(3):322–330, 1998.
Pope HG, Yurgelun-Todd D. The residual cognitive effects of heavy marijuana use in college students. JAMA 275(7):521–527, 1996.
because marijuana compromises the ability to learn and remember information, the more a person uses marijuana the more he or she is likely to fall behind in accumulating intellectual, job, or social skills. research has shown that marijuana’s adverse impact on memory and learning can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off.
-Pope HG, Yurgelun-Todd D. The residual cognitive effects of heavy marijuana use in college students. JAMA 275(7):521–527, 1996.
Block RI, Ghoneim MM. Effects of chronic marijuana use on human cognition. Psychopharmacology 100(1–2):219–228, 1993
Pope HG, Gruber AJ, Hudson JI, et al. Neuropsychological performance in long-term cannabis users. Arch Gen Psychiatry 58(10):909–915, 2001.
students who smoke marijuana get lower grades and are less likely to graduate from high school, when compared with their nonsmoking peers
-Lynskey M, Hall W. The effects of adolescent cannabis use on educational attainment: A review. Addiction 95(11):1621–1630, 2000.
Kandel DB, Davies M. High school students who use crack and other drugs. Arch Gen Psychiatry 53(1):71–80, 1996.
Rob M, Reynolds I, Finlayson PF. Adolescent marijuana use: Risk factors and implications. Aust NZ J Psychiatry 24(1):45–56, 1990.
Brook JS, Balka EB, Whiteman M. The risks for late adolescence of early adolescent marijuana use. Am J Public Health 89(10):1549–1554, 1999.
smoking marijuana leads to changes in the brain similar to those caused by cocaine, heroin, and alcohol. all of these drugs disrupt the flow of chemical neurotransmitters, and all have specific receptor sites in the brain that have been linked to feelings of pleasure and, over time, addiction.
-Rodriguez de Fonseca, F et al. Activation of corticotrophin-releasing factor in the limbic system during cannabinoid withdrawal. Science. 276(5321):2050-2064, 1997.
cannabinoid receptors are affected by thc, and many of these sites are found in the parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thought, concentration, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement.
-Herkenham, M et al. Cannabinoid receptor localization in the brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 87:1932-1936, 1990.
particularly for young people, marijuana use can lead to increased anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and other mental health problems. one study linked social withdrawal, anxiety, depression, attention problems, and thoughts of suicide in adolescents with past-year marijuana use.
-Brook, JS et al. The effect of early marijuana use on later anxiety and depressive symptoms. NYS Psychologist. 35-39, 2001.
Green, BE and Ritter, C. Marijuana use and depression. Journal of Health and Social Behavior. 41(1):40-49, 2000.
other research shows that kids age 12 to 17 who smoke marijuana weekly are three times more likely than non-users to have thoughts about committing suicide.
-Greenblatt, J. Adolescent self-reported behaviors and their association with marijuana use. Based on data from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, 1994-1996 SAMHSA, 1998.
a recently published longitudinal study showed that use of cannabis increased the risk of major depression fourfold, and researchers in Sweden found a link between marijuana use and an increased risk of developing schizophrenia.
-
Bovasso, GB. Cannabis abuse as a risk factor for depressive symptoms. American Journal of Psychiatry. 158:2033-2037, 2001.
Rey, J and Tennant, C. Cannabis and Mental Health (letter). British Medical Journal 325:1183-1184; 1212-1213, 2002.
Zammit, S et al. Self reported cannabis use as a risk factor for schizophrenia in Swedish conscripts of 1969: historical cohort study. British Medical Journal 325:1199-1201, 2002.
according to the american society of addiction medicine, addiction and psychiatric disorders often occur together. The latest National Survey on drug use and health reported that adults who use illicit drugs were more than twice as likely to have serious mental illness as adults who did not use an illicit drug.
-National Survey on Drug Use and Health 2002. SAMHSA, 2003.
researchers conducting a longitudinal study of psychiatric disorders and substance use (including alcohol, marijuana, and other illicit drugs) have suggested several possible links between the two: 1) people may use drugs to feel better and alleviate symptoms of a mental disorder; 2) the use of the drug and the disorder share certain biological, social, or other risk factors; or 3) use of the drug can lead to anxiety, depression, or other disorders.
-Brook, JS et al. Logitudinal study of co-occurring psychiatric disorders and substance use. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 37:322-330, 1998.