8.19.2009

Health Effects Of Marjiuana

Fact Attack

one problem in sorting
out fact from fiction about marijuana is that the "facts" keep changing into fictions. need some examples? in the 1930's a "fact" everyone knew (or thought they did) was that pot was the dreaded "assassin of youth," a one-way ticket to a life of crime, madness, and despair. By the '60s, that "fact" morphed into a brand-new, mirror-image "fact." Now pot was seen only as a "harmless giggle," maybe not actually good for you, but at least it didn't do any real harm -- like such legal drugs as alcohol and tobacco. In the '80s, things started changing again. Conservatism was cool again (supposedly), and a whole new set of "facts" was produced to justify a nationwide campaign against a born-again "assassin of youth."

Today The Facts About Marijuana Are Changing Again

It's not that there aren't still a lot of opinions out there, masquerading as facts. It's just that a growing body of scientific research is out there, too, and it's gradually starting to squeeze out all the fake little "facts" that have confused the issue for so long. It's a good thing, too. Because a lot of the new facts really are facts, this time around. And they're worth thinking about if you're thinking about -- or on -- pot.Whats New About Marijuana Today?

A lot. But quite a bit has stayed the same.
Because even though people have been using the marijuana (or hemp) plant, Cannabis sativa, in medicine and manufacturing for at least 5,000 years, it's better known for its recreational drug uses. Nothing new about that. Not much new in another fact, either: Pot is still the most-used illegal drug in America. More than 97.5 million Americans have tried it, according to a 2005 national survey, and some 14.6 million smoke it regularly. What they keep coming back to is a swirl of sensation and fog of intoxication that the drug sets in motion. When it's smoked or eaten, marijuana triggers a mild euphoria and increased sensitivity to bodily sensations, along with a range of other perceptual distortions that are usually experienced as pleasant -- but not always, and not by all users. Effects usually peak within an hour or two and fade altogether in 3-4 hours. After-effects can include a slight hangover and impaired concentration.

how Dose Marijuana Work In Your Body?

Good question--but it's not an easy one to answer. Because the simple fact is that pot is a complicated drug.
For one thing, marijuana isn't a single drug molecule, like alcohol or cocaine, but a mix of more than 400 different chemical components.They're so different, in fact, that 60 of them (called cannabinoids) are unique to marijuana. Since we're talking numbers, we'll point out that the main mind-altering cannabinoid is a little number called delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, for short. It's the chemical that trigger marijuana's main drug actions and effects in the body and brain. THC is like a feel-good chemical bomb that explodes on contact, then breaks up into at least 80 different byproducts (or metabolites) before it's eliminated from the body. And that can take a while. The process starts as soon as THC enters the bloodstream, and begins zeroing in on cannabinoid receptors (called anandamides) in the brain and central nervous system. Once it checks into the brain, THC takes its own sweet time in checking out. Unlike many other drugs, which are excreted from the body within hours, THC metabolites stick around -- stored in fatty tissue, mostly -- for 3-5 days, even weeks, in heavy users. What THC metabolites do, if anything, during this time is still mostly unknown. But it's this buildup of metabolites, and the duration of their hangtime in the body, that raises the most concern about possible long-term risks.

What Risk Are Related To Pot?

We'll start with the heart, because pot can get things pumping faster there than a tricked-up drum machine at a techno music festival.
In fact, rapid heartbeat -- which, for some users, can speed up by as much as 50 percent--is one of the few universal physical effects of marijuana. (Another is increased appetite -- AKA "the munchies.") Even though increased heart rate only lasts minutes and isn't a threat to most people, it could add strain for users with heart disorders or high blood pressure. A bigger threat to more users is irritation to the lungs and respiratory airways, since users tend to inhale pot deeply and hold it in the lungs for as long as possible. Even though a direct link with lung cancer is unproven, pot smoke does contain cancer-causing chemicals (known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), so it's not that farfetched, either.

How Dose Marijuana Affect The Brain?

That's the trickiest question of all -- because nobody knows all the intricacies of how the brain works in the first place. And we know even less about how it works with a bongload of marijuana inside it.
Still, we're closer to real answers than ever before. What we know for sure is that pot changes more than just the way people feel. It also triggers a number of changes in brain function and behavior.

Let's consider just a couple of the main ones:
  • Pot tilts the balance of chemicals in the brain that regulate mood, energy, appetite, and attention.
  • It affects learning and memory processes, and can cause forgetfulness and reduced concentration.
  • Pot also reduces logical thinking and calculation skills, and can impair a user's ability to perform complex tasks, including driving a car.
Uncovering the actual machinery of most of pot's effects in the brain is still probably years away. But this much is known right now: Heavy smokers in general and longtime users in particular are more likely to experience ongoing problems than occasional smokers and nonsmokers. And that's something else to think about if you're thinking about pot: Smoke enough of it and it could end up smoking you -- or, at least, part of the future you.

Can Marijuana Cause Birth Defects?

It doesn't cause full-blown birth defects, but that doesn't mean it's okay to smoke if you're pregnant. Because the fact is that pregnancy and unnecessary drug use just don't go together at all.
Not only that, but with pot, there's some evidence that use during pregnancy could lead to unnecessary problems for a developing fetus, even raising levels of miscarriage and stillbirth. That's because THC metabolites (remember them?) freely cross the placenta, where they interact with developing body systems. Possible effects include lowered birth weight, nervous system changes, and delayed learning. And if you're pregnant (or you're planning to be), risks like those are too real to disregard -- and too important to ignore.

Final Facts

We still have a long way to go if we're ever going to round up all the facts about marijuana. For that matter, we'll probably never have every answer to every possible question about its effects on the body and brain. Still, you don't need to be a brain surgeon to know that pot poses far more serious risks for some people (particularly teens, pregnant women, and heavy users) than for others. And each is a risk that can be easily avoided. And while pot's potential for causing problems in occasional users has been exaggerated in the past, a final, indisputable fact about marijuana is simply this: The only foolproof way to safeguard yourself against possible problems is to pass on it altogether. Because of all the facts in a shifting mountain of facts (and pseudo-facts and fictions) about pot that has accumulated over the years, one that hasn't changed is that marijuana is a drug -- and a pretty complex one, at that. And like every other drug that's ever been used and abused, it can cause real problems for real people. And that's a fact that's likely to always be true.



8.11.2009

Marijuana History Timeline


6000 B.C. - Cannabis seeds used for food in China.

4000 .B.C - Texllies made from hemp have been found in China and remains are still being found of hemp fibers in Turkestan a century later.

2727 B.C. - First recorded use of marijuana as a medicine in Chinese pharmcopeia. In every part of the world humankind has used cannabis for a number of health problems.

1500 B.C. - Hemp cultivated in China for food and fiber.

1500 B.C - scythians cultivated cannabis and use it to make find hemp cloth.

1200 - 800 BCE - Bhang (dired cannabis leaves, seeds, stems) are mentioned in the Hindu sacred text Atharva veda (Science Of Charms) as "Sacred Grass", one of five sacred planets of India. It is used by medicinally and ritually as an offering to Shiva.

700 - 600 BCE - The Zoroastrian Zend-Avesta, an ancient Persian religious text of several hundred volumes, and said to have been written by Zarathustra (Zoroaster), refers to bhang as Zoroaster's "good narcotic" (Vendidad or The Law Against Demons)

700 - 300 BCE - Scythian tribes leave Cannabis seeds as offerings in royal tombs.

500 B.C. - Scythian couple die and are buried with two small tents covering censers. Attached to one tent stick was a decorated leather pouch containing wild Cannabis seeds. This closely matches the stories told by Herodotus. The gravesite, discovered in the late 1940s, was in Pazryk, northwest of the Tien Shan Mountains in modern-day Khazakstan.

500 B.C. - Hemp is introduced into Northern Europe by the Scythians. An urn containing leaves and seeds of the Cannabis plant, unearthed near Berlin, is dated to about this time.

500 B.C. - Hemp is introduced into Northern Europe by the Scythians. An urn containing leaves and seeds of the Cannabis plant, unearthed near Berlin, is dated to about this time.

500 - 100 BCE Hemp spreads throughout northern Europe.

430 B.C. - Herodotus reports on both ritual and recreation use of Cannabis by the Scythians (Herodotus The Histories 430 B.C. trans. G. Rawlinson).

100 - 0 BCE The psychotropic properties of Cannabis are mentioned in the newly compiled herbal Pen Ts'ao Ching which is attributed to an emperor c.

2700 B.C. 0 - 100 A.D. - Construction of Samartian gold and glass paste stash box for storing hashish, coriander, or salt, buried in Siberian tomb.

70 Dioscorides mentions the use of Cannabis as a Roman medicament.

170 Galen (Roman) alludes to the psychoactivity of Cannabis seed confections.

500 - 600 - The Jewish Talmud mentions the euphoriant properties of Cannabis.

(Abel 1980) 900 - 1000 - Scholars debate the pros and cons of eating hashish. Use spreads throughout Arabia.

1090 - 1256 - In Khorasan, Persia, Hasan ibn al-Sabbah, the Old Man of the Mountain, recruits followers to commit assassinations...legends develop around their supposed use of hashish. These legends are some of the earliest written tales of the discovery of the inebriating powers of Cannabis and the supposed use of Hashish.

1256 - Alamut falls Early 12th Century Hashish smoking very popular throughout the Middle East.

12th Century Cannabis is introduced in Egypt during the reign of the Ayyubid dynasty on the occasion of the flooding of Egypt by mystic devotees coming from Syria. (M.K. Hussein 1957 - Soueif 1972).

1155 - 1221 - Persian legend of the Sufi master Sheik Haidar's of Khorasan's personal discovery of Cannabis and it's subsequent spread to Iraq, Bahrain, Egypt and Syria. Another of the ealiest written narratives of the use of Cannabis as an inebriant.
13th Century - The oldest monograph on hashish, Zahr al-'arish fi tahrim al-hashish, was written. It has since been lost.

13th Century - Ibn al-Baytar of Spain provides a description of psychaoctive Cannabis.

13th Century - Arab traders bring Cannabis to the Mozambique coast of Africa.

1231 - Hashish introduced to Iraq in the reign of Caliph Mustansir (Rosenthal 1971).

1271 - 1295 - Journeys of Marco Polo in which he gives second-hand reports of the story of Hasan ibn al-Sabbah and his "assassins" using hashish. First time reports of Cannabis have been brought to the attention of Europe.

1378 - Ottoman Emir Soudoun Scheikhouni issues one of the first edicts against the eating of hashish.

1526 - Babur Nama, first emperor and founder of Mughal Empire learned of hashish in Afghanistan.

1549 - Angolan slaves brought cannabis with them to the sugar plantations of northeastern Brazil. They were permitted to plant their cannabis between rows of cane, and to smoke it between harvests. 3 mid 16th Century The epic poem, Benk u Bode, by the poet Mohammed Ebn Soleiman Foruli of Baghdad, deals allegorically with a dialectical battle between wine and hashish.

17th Century - Use of hashish, alcohol, and opium spreads among the population of occupied Constantinople

1606-1632 - French and British cultivate Cannabis for hemp at their colonies in Port Royal (1606), Virginia (1611), and Plymouth (1632). 3 Late 17th Century Hashish becomes a major trade item between Central Asia and South Asia.

1798 - Napoleon discovers that much of the Egyptian lower class habitually uses hashish (Kimmens 1977). He declares a total prohibition. Soldiers returning to France bring the tradition with them.

19th Century - Hashish production expands from Russian Turkestan into Yarkand in Chinese Turkestan.

1809 - Antoine Sylvestre de Sacy, a leading Arabist, reveals the etymology of the words "assassin" and "hashishin"

1840 - In America, medicinal preparations with a Cannabis base are available. Hashish available in Persian pharmacies.

1840s - Heydey of the Club des Hachichins in Paris. 3 1843 Le Club des Hachichins, or Hashish Eater's Club, established in Paris.

after 1850 - Hashish appears in Greece.

1856 - British tax ganja and charas trade in India.

1870 - 1880 - First reports of hashish smoking on Greek mainland c.

1875 - Cultivation for hashish introduced to Greece 1877 Kerr reports on Indian ganja and charas trade.

1890 - Greek Department of Interior prohibits importance, cultivation and use of hashish. 1890 Hashish made illegal in Turkey.

1893 - 1894 - The India Hemp Drugs Commission Report is issued.

1893 - 1894 - 70,000 to 80,000 kg of hashish legally imported into India from Central Asia each year.

1906 - Pure Food and Drug Act is passed, regulating the labelling of products containing Alcohol, Opiates, Cocaine, and Cannabis, among others. The law went into effect Jan 1, 1907 4.

Early 20th Century - Hashish smoking very popular throughout the Middle East.

1915 - 1927 - Cannabis begins to be prohibited for nonmedical use in the U.S., especially in SW states...California (1915), Texas (1919), Louisiana (1924), and New York (1927).

1920 - Metaxus dictators in Greece crack down on hashish smoking.

1920s - Hashish smuggled into Egypt from Greece, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, and Central Asia.

1926 - Lebanese hashish production peaks after World War I until prohibited in 1926.

1928 - Recrational use of Cannabis is banned in Britain.

1920s - 1930s - High-quality hashish produced in Turkey near Greek border.

1930 - Yarkand region of Chinese Turkestan exports 91,471 kg of hashish legally into the Northwest Frontier and Punjab regions of India.

1930s - Legal taxed imports of hashish continue into India from Central Asia.

1934 - 1935 - Chinese government moves to end all Cannabis cultivation in Yarkand and charas traffic from Yarkand. Both licit and illicit hashish production become illegal in Chinese Turkestan.


1936 - Propaganda film "Reefer Madness" made to scare American youth away from using Cannabis.

1937 - Cannabis made federally illegal in the U.S. with the passage of the Marihuana Tax Act.

1938 - Supply of hashish from chinese Turkestan nearly ceases.

1940s - Greek hashish smoking tradition fades.

1941 - Indian government considers cultivation in Kashmir to fill void of hashish from Chinese Turkestan.

1941 - 1942 - Hand-rubbed charas from Nepal is choicest hashish in India during World War II.

1945 - Legal hashish consumption continues in India.

1945 - 1955 - Hashish use in Greece flourishes again.

1950s - Hashish still smuggled into India from Chinese Central Asia 1950s Moroccan government tacitly allows kif cultivation in Rif Mountains.

1962 - First hashish made in Morocco.

1963 - Turkish police seize 2.5 tons of hashish.

1965 - First reports of C. afghanica use for hashish production in northern Afghanistan 1965 Mustafa comes to Ketama in Morocco to make hashish from local kif.

1966 - The Moroccan government attempts to purge kif growers from Rif Mountains.

1967 - "Smash", the first hashish oil appears. Red Lebanese reaches California.

Late 1960s - Early 1970s - The Brotherhood popularizes Afghani hashish.

1970 - 1973 - Huge fields of Cannabis cultivated for hashish production in Afghanistan. Last years that truly great afghani hashish is available.

1972 - The Nixon-appointed Shafer Commission urged use of cannabis be re-legalized, but their recommendation was ignored. Medical research continues.
Early 1970s - Lebanese red and blonde hashish of very high-quality exported. The highest quality Turkish hashish from Gaziantep near Syria appears in western Europe.

Early 1970s - Afghani hashish varieties introduced to North America for sinsemilla production. Westerners bring metal sieve cloths to Afghanistan. Law enforcement efforts against hashish begin in Afghanistan.

1973 - Nepal bans the Cannabis shops and charas (hand-rolled hash) export.

1973 - Afghan government makes hashish production and sales illegal. Afghani harvest is pitifully small.

1975 - FDA establishes Compassionate Use program for medical marijuana.

1976 - 1977 - Quality of Lebanese hashish reaches zenith.

1978 - Westerners make sieved hashish in Nepal from wild Cannabis.

Late 1970s - Increasing manufacture of "modern" Afghani hashish. Cannabis varieties from Afghanistan imported into Kashmir for sieved hashish production.

1980s - Morocco becomes one of, if not the largest, hashish producing and exporting nations.

1980s - "Border" hashish produced in northwestern Pakistan along the Afghan border to avoid Soviet-Afghan war.

Early 1980s - Quality of Lebanese hashish declines.

1983 - 1984 - Small amounts of the last high-quality Turkish hashish appear.

1985 - Hashish still produced by Muslims of Kashgar and Yarkland (NW China).

1986 - Most private stashes of pre-war Afghani hashish in Amsterdam, Goa, and America are nearly finished. May 13, 1986 Dronabinol is placed into Schedule II by the DEA. 5 1987 Moroccan government cracks down upon Cannabis cultivation in lower eleations of Rif Mountains.

1988 - DEA administrative law Judge Francis Young finds after thorough hearings that marijuana has clearly established medical use and should be reclassified as a prescriptive drug. His recommendation is ignored.

1993 - Cannabis eradication efforts resume in Morocco.

1994 - Heavy fighting between rival Muslim clans continues to upset hashish trade in Afghanistan.

1994 - Border hashish still produced in Pakistan.

1995 - Introduction of hashish-making equipment and appearance of locally produced hashish in Amsterdam coffee shops.

Oct 23, 2001 - Britain's Home Secretary, David Blunkett, proposes relaxing the classification of cannabis from a class B to class C. As of June 10, 2002, this has not taken effect.

June 2003 - Canada is first country in the world to offer medical marijuana to its patients.

8.08.2009

Medical Marijuana

Marijuana is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known. Unlike other medicines that are meant to help you, No one has ever died from a marijuana overdose.

Marijuana has a wide variety of therapeutic applications, including:

Relief from nausea and increase of appetite. Reduction of interlobular, Within the eye pressure. Reduction of muscle spasms. Relief from chronic pain.

Marijuana is frequently beneficial in the treatment of the following conditions:

  • AIDS. Marijuana can reduce the nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite caused by the ailment itself and by various AIDS medications.
  • Glaucoma. Marijuana can reduce interlobular pressure, thereby alleviating the pain and slowing -- and sometimes stopping -- the progress of the condition. It damages vision by increasing eye pressure over time.
  • Cancer. Marijuana can stimulate the appetite and alleviate nausea and vomiting, which are common side effects of chemotherapy treatment.
  • Multiple Sclerosis. Marijuana can limit the muscle pain and spasticity caused by the disease, as well as relieving tremor and unsteadiness of gait.
  • Epilepsy. Marijuana can prevent epileptic seizures in some patients.
  • Chronic Pain. Marijuana can alleviate the chronic, often debilitating pain caused by myriad disorders and injuries.

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