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Signs of marijuana
abuse:
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- Rapid, loud talking and bursts
of laughter in early stages of intoxication.
- Sleepy or stuporous in the later
stages.
- Lack of concentration and
coordination.
- Forgetfulness in conversation.
- Inflammation in whites of
eyes.
- Odor similar to burnt rope on
clothing or breath.
- Distorted sense of time passage
- tendency to overestimate time intervals.
- Craving for sweets.
- Increased appetite.
- Use or possession of
paraphernalia including roach clip, packs of rolling
papers, pipes or bongs.
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How does marijuana affect the
body?
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- Some immediate physical effects
of marijuana include:
- a faster heartbeat and pulse
rate
- bloodshot eyes
- dry mouth and throat
- No scientific evidence
indicates that marijuana improves hearing, eyesight,
and skin sensitivity
|
- Marijuana use increases the
heart rate as much as 50 percent, depending on the
amount of THC.
- It can cause chest pain in
people who have a poor blood supply to the heart - and
it produces these effects more rapidly than tobacco
smoke does.
- Scientists believe that
marijuana can be especially harmful to the lungs
because users often inhale the unfiltered smoke deeply
and hold it in their lungs as long as possible.
Therefore, the smoke is in contact with lung tissues
for long periods of time, which irritates the lungs
and damages the way they work.
- Marijuana smoke contains some of
the same ingredients in tobacco smoke that can cause
emphysema and cancer. In addition, many marijuana
users also smoke cigarettes; the combined effects of
smoking these two substances creates an increased
health risk.
- "Burnout" is a term first used
by marijuana smokers themselves to describe the effect
of prolonged use. Young people who smoke marijuana
heavily over long periods of time can become dull,
slow moving, and inattentive. These "burned-out" users
are sometimes so unaware of their surroundings that
they do not respond when friends speak to them, and
they do not realize they have a problem.
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How does marijuana affect your
mind?
|
Laboratory studies have shown that
animals exhibit symptoms of drug withdrawal after
cessation of prolonged marijuana administration. Some
human studies have also demonstrated withdrawal symptoms
such as irritability, stomach pain, aggression, and
anxiety after cessation of oral administration of
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), marijuana's principal
psychoactive component. Now, NIDA-supported researchers
at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts, and
Columbia University in New York City have shown that
individuals who regularly smoke marijuana experience
withdrawal symptoms after they stop smoking the
drug.
Studies at Columbia University in
New York City have demonstrated that, in addition to
aggression, marijuana smokers experience other
withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, stomach pain, and
increased irritability during abstinence from the drug.
"These results suggest that dependence may be an
important consequence of repeated daily exposure to
marijuana," says NIDA.
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