Maiya Dean-Tuggle Essays (941 words) - Entheogens, Euphoriants

Maiya Dean-Tuggle Professor. Supinksi Informative Essay 1, April 2018 MARJUIANA What do you know about Marijuana? If you don't know too much my essay should cover what it is, Marijuana is a substance made fromthe dried, shredded leaves, flowers, and other parts of a plant in the genus Cannabis. The term cannabis generally refers to marijuana and other drugs made from the same plant, including marijuana, hashish, and hash oil . The main active ingredient in cannabis is THC (Delta-9 tetra hydro-cannabinol) this what gives the "high " Cannabis is usually smoked in hand-rolled cigarettes known as joints or bongs and many more things that can be edible. Also t here is so many names/ slang words for marijuana, examples are pot, weed, bud, skunk, Mary Jane etc. This essay generally seeks to give information about marijuana . Cannabisis amixtureof theCannabisplantwhich is used as apsychoactive drugand asmedicine. Pharmacologically, the mostpsych oactive constituentof cannabis istetrahydrocannabinol(THC); it is one of 483 known compounds in the plant, including at le ast 84 othercannabinoids, such as cannabidiol(CBD),cannabinol(CBN),tetrahydrocannabivarin(THCV) andcannabigerol(CBG) (Benson 40). Cannabis is often consumed for itspsychoactiveandphysiologicaleffects which can include increased mood or euphoria, relaxation, and increase in appetite. Negative side-effects can sometimes include loss of short-term memory, dry mouth, impaired motor skills, reddening of the eyes, and paranoia or anxiousness ( Iverson 194). The common uses of cannabis are as arecreationalormedicinaldrug, and as part ofreligious or spiritual rites; the earliest recorded uses date from the3rd millennium BC. Since the early 20th century cannabis has always hadlegal restrictionswith thepossession, use, and sale of cannabis preparations containing psychoactive cannabinoids considered a criminal offence in most countries of the world; theUnited Nationssurvey classifies cannabis as the most used drug worldwide. In 2004, the United Nations estimated that globally approximately 4% of theadult world population(162million people) use cannabis annually, and that approximately 0.6% (22.5million) of people use cannabis daily (Barceloux 23). Cannabis used medically has several well-sighted beneficial effects. Among these are: the amelioration of nausea and vomiting, stimulation of hunger in chemotherapy and AIDS patients, lowered intraocular eye pressure, as well as general (pain reliever). Less confirmed individual studies also have been conducted indicating cannabis to be beneficial to a gamut of conditions running from multiple sclerosis to depression. Other Synthesized cannabinoids are also given as prescription drugs, including Marinol (dronabinol in the United States and Germany) and Cesamet (nabilone in Canada, Mexico, the United States and the United Kingdom) ( Leonard 8). Currently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have not approved smoking cannabis as a cure to any disease or as medication; because the FDA claims that there is no scientific evidence. Others, for example American Society of Addiction Medicine, say that "Medical marijuana" is a fallacy because the plant parts in question does not meet the standard requirements so as to be approved as medication. Eighteen states and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis for medical use in state laws. The United States Supreme Court has ruled inUnited States v. Oakland Cannabis Buyers' CoopandGonzales v. Raichthat only the federal government that can regulate and criminalize cannabis, even for medical purposes and even if the state legalize it (procon.org 1). Canada, Spain, The Netherlands, France, Italy, Czech Republic and Austria have legalized some form of cannabis or extract containing a low dose of THC for medicinal use. Recently, Uruguay has also taken decided lega lise and regulate the production and sale of the drug (procon.org 1). THC and THC-COOH, can be measured in blood stream, urine, hair, oral fluid or sweat usingchromatographicmethod, this method is used by the government and other organisations to test for drugs. The amount in concentrations found from such tests can often be helpful in separating the active use from passive exposure, elapsed time since use, and extent or duration of use. These tests cannot, however, distinguish between authorized cannabis smokers for medical purposes from unauthorized recreational smoking. Commercial cannabinoids immunoassays, often employed as the initial screening method when testing physiological specimens for marijuana presence, have different degrees of cross-reactivity with THC and its metabolites. Urine contains predominantly THC-COOH, while hair, oral fluid and sweat contain primarily THC ( Leonard 27). Blood may contain both substances, with the relative amounts dependent