Health

A description of marijuana, ways it is used, and negative effects can be found on the Partnership for a Drug Free America’s site.

Professor Billy Martin, Ph.D., Medical College of Virginia, has done research on the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), for over 25 years. In his address at the National Marijuana Conference, Professor Martin describes what marijuana is, the intoxicating effects, the unpleasant pyschological reactions, and the identification of marijuana brain receptors, which help identify how marijuana alters brain function. Dr. Martin also discusses the 1994 discovery by a French drug company of a specific antagonist that precipitates withdrawal from THC. This antagoniist allows researchers to observe withdrawal symptoms and to learn more about marijuana dependence.

Though there are a number of studies that address marijuana’s impacts on various health issues, we have chosen three specific health concerns that, without question, have documented proof of serious health effects caused by marijuana. They are: affects on the respiratory system, impacts on the immune system, and affects on the endocrine system.

Though we hear two common refrains from the legalizers: "no one dies from marijuana" and administrative law judge Francis L. Young’s comment, that marijuana has been shown to be, "one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man," a quick review of current research shows a different story.

Source Document:

Marijuana: What it is and What it Does - by Professor Billy R. Martin

The WHO Report

"'Because marijuana users often inhale the unfiltered smoke deeply and then hold it in their lungs as long as possible, chronic marijuana use may play a role in the development of chronic respiratory problems,' says Wadler (Dr. Gary Wadler, a New York University School of Medicine professor). Animal studies have suggested that THC may adversely affect the immune system. Additionally, long-term use has been associated with motivational problems including apathy, impaired judgment, loss of ambition and an inability to carry out long-term plans". (Drugs and Sports, Marijuana, ESPN, September 6, 2001)

"Marijuana effects on short-term memory result from the drug's effects on the hippocampus. (same area of brain affected with Alzheimer's disease) When damaged, this area may render patients literally incapable of remembering new information for more than a few minutes." (The prevalence of cannabis is rising among adolescents, Stephen Bogan, Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse (DASA), Youth Treatment Lead, 2001)

"The risk of a heart attack jumps nearly five-fold during the first hour after smoking marijuana, posing a particular threat to middle-aged users of the drug, according to a study released on Monday." (Marijuana may hike heart attack risk, MSNBC, June 11, 2001)