Marijuana Facts

1. In 2004, 14.6 million Americans age 12 and older used marijuana at least once in the month prior to being surveyed.
2. 6,000 people per day used marijuana for the first time in 2004 (2.1 million Americans).
3. There are over 200 slang terms for marijuana.
4. All forms of marijuana are mind-altering—in other words, they change how the brain works.
5. Marijuana contains over 400 different chemicals.
6. Traces of THC can be detected by a standard urine test for several days; in chronic users, THC can be detected for weeks after they have stopped using marijuana.
7. The way marijuana effects a person depends on many factors including: user’s previous experience with marijuana; how strong the marijuana is; what the user expects to happen; where the drug is used; how it is taken; and whether the user is also taking other drugs or drinking alcohol.
8. Some users report feeling nothing after smoking marijuana; others report feeling high or relaxed; other users report feelings of paranoia and anxiety.
9.  Short-term effects of marijuana use include: problems with memory/learning; distorted perception; trouble thinking and problem-solving; loss of motor coordination and; increased heart rate.
10. Long-term effects of marijuana include increased risk of cancer, breathing/respiratory problems and problems with the immune system.
11. THC, the active chemical in marijuana, is purported to have medical value for cancer patients/AIDS patients because it helps treat the nausea and vomiting that can occur with certain cancer treatments, although further research will need to be conducted in order to determine the validity of this claim.
12. Smoking marijuana causes some changes in the brain that are like those caused by cocaine, heroin and alcohol. 
13. Long-term marijuana use can lead to addiction in some people.
14. In 2002, over 280,000 people entering drug rehab programs in the U.S. reported marijuana as their primary drug of abuse.
15. There are currently no medications for treating marijuana addiction.
16. Evidence of the smoking of cannabis can be found as far back as the Neolithic age, where charred hemp seeds were found in a brazier at a burial site in Romania.
17. Cannabis has a long history of religious use, especially in India.
18. Eleven states passed laws allowing cannabis possession and consumption for medical purposes however, the Supreme Court of the United States, ruled that the listing of cannabis as a Schedule I controlled substance was constitutional and that possession, for any reason other than approved medical research, was illegal under federal law.
19. Some states have either partially decriminalized the possession of small amounts of cannabis.
20. Advances in breeding and cultivation techniques have increased the diversity and potency of cannabis strains since 1970.
21. Cognitive effects of marijuana include: auditory or visual hallucinations at high doses and short or long-term psychosis/schizophrenic disorders that may begin in some young users.
22. Behavioral effects of marijuana include varying degrees of euphoria, laziness and feelings of well-being.
23. Physiological effects of marijuana include dilation of blood vessels, lower blood pressure while standing/higher blood pressure while sitting, increased appetite, varying degrees of dry (cotton) mouth and dilation of the air sacs in the lungs resulting in deeper respiration and increased coughing.

Source: www.nida.nih

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