Is Marijuana Damege For People Or Not

Marie Mendez
College Writing 101
05/02/11.
Is Marijuana Really Damage for People or Not?
According to National Institute on Drug Abuse:
Cannabis (marijuana) is a greenish gray mixture of leaves, stems, seeds and dried flowers and cut the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa. Often known as “grass”, “pot” in Spanish or “weed”, “herb” in English. Most of users smoke marijuana in hand rolledcigarettes called “joints” or “cannutos” (known in English as “joints” among others names). Some users use pipes or water pipes called “bongs”. Marijuana cigarettes or “blunts” are also popular. To make “blunts”, users slice open cigars, snuff and take part of the rest mixed with marijuana. Marijuana also is used to brew tea and is sometimes mixed into foods. The reason that marijuana is well knowntoday is because it contains a very powerful drug called “THC”, which affects the mind, known as tetrahydrocannabonol, or THC. In accordance with, “All About Marijuana: A special Report for Adolescents”, the THC is the chemical in marijuana which causes most of its effects, but not alone, since it has been found over 460 different chemicals in marijuana, and scientists are still unsure as to all waysthat affects mind and body.
Cannabis is native of Central and South Asia. According to other source (Wikipedia.com) there is evidence of inhalation of smoke cannabis dating from the third millennium BCE, as indicate charred cannabis seeds found inside a ritual brazier at an ancient cemetery of modern Romania. It is also known that cannabis was used ancient Hindu and Sikh Nihang of India andNepal for thousands of years.
However, although studies claim that cannabis has a long track record in religious ritual worldwide, this drug is currently the most consumed by adolescents and adults. According to EEUU International News, Washington (AP), more teens smoke marijuana at this time, with almost one in 10 who has smoked at least 20 times or more a month, says a new survey of U.Syouth. A report of organization The Partnership at Drugfree.org, also said that the abuse of drugs may be declining among students from ninth to twelfth year, but consumption remains high. In addition, Partnership president Steve Pasierb emphasized that the mentality among parents is that “it is just a bit of grass-nothing major. Nevertheless, last month the use of marijuana grew from 19% in 2008to 27% last year. It is also alarming, says Pasierb, the percentage of teens who smoke marijuana 20 or more times per month. That rate was 5% in 2008 to 9% last year, or equivalent a 1.5 million teens flying as often.” Despite all these users, people should not smoke marijuana.
Nevertheless, in a separate report, Philip Robson, a psychiatrist at the University of Oxford, spoke about themedical benefits of the drug, which was traditionally used to treat malaria, rheumatic pains and childbirth, and subsequently recommended for insomnia, asthma and gout. In addition, the tetrahydro cannabinol (THC), the compound in marijuana that causes a state of euphoria, may relieve vomiting and nausea in cancer patients. The drug also reduces muscle pain in patients with multiple sclerosisand stimulates appetite and reduces weight loss in cancer patients.
According to research conducted at the Universities of Hamburg and Cologne, Germany, patients with schizophrenia who use cannabis have a higher density of gray matter in schizophrenics compared to nonusers of cannabis. Thirty patients with first episodes of schizophrenia and cannabis users were compared with twenty-fourschizophrenic cannabis users. Cannabis users also had less severe cognitive impairment. The researchers concluded by saying that "the results may support the hypothesis of reduced biological vulnerability at least in a subgroup of patients with schizophrenia and cannabis."
Furthermore, some of the common side effects marijuana use are, trouble remembering things, slower reaction time, difficulty...