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Marijuana & Other Drugs

Marijuana & Other Drugs. What is Marijuana?. Plant: Cannabis Sativa Mixture of dried leaves, stems, seeds, flowers Hash/Hashish- most potent forms Psychoactive Drug Alters the mind Active Chemical is THC delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol

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Marijuana & Other Drugs

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  1. Marijuana & Other Drugs

  2. What is Marijuana? • Plant: Cannabis Sativa • Mixture of dried leaves, stems, seeds, flowers • Hash/Hashish- most potent forms • Psychoactive Drug • Alters the mind • Active Chemical is THC • delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol • Most used illegal [illicit] substance on the globe and in the U.S.

  3. What does it do in your body? • Generally smoked • THC passes from the lungs to the bloodstream where it is pumped throughout the body by the heart • In the brain: • Connects with receptors/nerve endings • These particular receptors control: coordination, thought, memory, concentration, sensory and time perception, and pleasure • This interaction creates the ‘high’ • Absorbed in fatty tissue

  4. Short Term Effects • Difficulty in thinking and problem solving • Problems with memory and learning • Loss of coordination • Distorted perception • Impaired driving

  5. Long Term Effects • Alters the brain permanently • Areas that control stress, motivation and reward • Fertility problems • Ovulation & Sperm production • Respiratory problems • Decreased blood pressure • Body’s ability to fight off infection • Emotional problems • Schizophrenia, depression, anxiety • Amotivational Syndrome???

  6. Dangerous…? • Physical implications to your health • Impaired decision making • Career/Athletic aspirations • Drug testing • Legal repercussions • ‘Gateway’ drug

  7. U.S. Laws • 16 states = Decriminalization • Lowering penalties/jail for low-level possession or 1st time offense • 18 states = Legal medicinal marijuana • Specific state laws vary for amount/# of plants • Registered Rx card • 2 states = Legal medicinal/recreational marijuana • Colorado & Washington

  8. Lime: Legal Medical Cannabis Olive: Decriminalized [possession] Cannabis laws Forest: Legal Medically & Decriminalized Purple: Legalized Cannabis

  9. Connection to Other Drugs • 99.9% of cocaine users first abused drug was marijuana • Teenagers (12-17) that have abused marijuana are 85 times more likely to use cocaine than those that don’t

  10. Cocaine • Dangerous stimulant made from dried leaves of the coca plant • Inhaled, snorted, smoked [crack] • Effects the CNS • Intense power, energy [the high] • Extremely addictive • After one use a user can become painfully addicted • Very short effects in body [5-10 minutes] • Coke crash- leaves user wanting more

  11. Ecstasy • Synthetic ‘Club’ drug • Powder, capsules or tablets • Combination of hallucinogen & stimulant • Extreme emotions [+/-] • Dry mouth, cramps, blurred vision, chills, sweating, nausea, generally causes jaw to clench • Effects serotonin levels in the brain • Dehydration overheats the body, raised heart rate  permanent damage or death

  12. Heroin • Dried milk of opium poppy [narcotic] • Ranges from lightdark & powdertar-like substance • Depressant; ‘downer’ • Burst of a euphoric high followed by warm feeling, drowsiness, nausea, stomach cramps and drowsiness • ‘On the Nod’- alternate awake & drowsy state • Extremely addictive • Severe withdrawal • Extremely likely to OD

  13. LSD [Acid] • Man-made hallucinogen • Distorts the senses [usually within 30-90 mins.] • Hallucinations, seeing colors/objects/people that are not actually present, melting walls, loss of sense of time • A ‘trip’ can last 12 hours or more • Effects are unpredictable • Bad trips can cause frightening/scary delusions • Flashbacks up to a year later [1-time user] • NOT considered addictive

  14. Methamphetamine • Highly addictive stimulant • Crystal powder, ‘rock’ form • Initial euphoric ‘rush’ or ‘flash’, • After that user has delusions, violent/aggressive behaviors, paranoia, drowsiness, imagined insects crawling under skin • Tolerance for the drug builds quickly

  15. Addiction- Behavior or Disease? • http://content.time.com/time/interactive/0,31813,1640235,00.html

  16. So, does experimenting with drugs lead to addiction?

  17. And again, do you want to be a drug addict? • Then what do you need to do?

  18. Substance Abuse Unit • Make healthy & SMART decisions • You NEVER know exactly what you are putting into your body or how you will react • Don’t be a statistic • Think of the repercussions, think of those ‘worst-case-scenarios’, how would your loved ones react if you were gone tomorrow?

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