Marijuana, often called, pot, bud, ganja, or grass is the most commonly used drug in the United States. In a 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), it was reported that around 100 million Americans ages 12 and older have tried the drug at least once in their lifetime. Due to this evidence, it can be concluded that around 40% of Americans in that age group have tried the drug at least once, yet surprisingly, not many Americans know anything about marijuana other then the fact that it gets you high.
“Marijuana is a very popular drug, and a lot of people use it, but it is amazing that so many users, and informed people, no nothing about it,” said Scott Swartzwelder, Ph.D, professor of psychiatry at Duke University, and co-author of the book “Buzzed: The straight facts about the most used and abused drugs from alcohol to ecstasy”.
With the leafy green substance being trafficked through college campuses all over the country, Swartzwelder said it is important for young people to know exactly what they are doing to their body, while it is also important for them to understand what exactly the drug does to them and why.
No one wants to do something that they will later regret; therefore, they need to be informed, so here are some facts about marijuana that most people are probably unaware of.
What Marijuana does and Why it makes you “High”
The affects of marijuana are widely known. Put in simple terms, marijuana calms ones aggressive behavior, stimulates appetite, and in the words of Donald Slish, a Biology professor at Plattsburgh State University, puts the smoker in “a dream like state” for a couple hours after smoking.
Most people, however, do not know exactly why marijuana makes you high, yet the answer to this question is very simple. Marijuana produces these effects by triggering cannaboid receptors throughout the body. These receptors are most commonly found in the brain, and also in the spinal cord, Slish said.
Furthermore, marijuana contains psychoactive chemicals, most notably Tetrahydrocannabino (THC), which is responsible for activating the cannboid receptors throughout the body.
Once marijuana is smoked, the blood supply within the lungs soaks up the THC that is inhaled. After this, the THC is moved to the user’s heart, and next to the user’s brain, causing the effects of marijuana to occur in a matter of minutes.
According to Slish, the “high” state that someone experiences after smoking weed also is caused by the effects the drug has on the cerebral cortex of the brain. This part of the brain is responsible for an individual’s sensory perception. Thus, when receptors in this section of the brain are affected, it distorts a person’s sense of time, sound, color and taste. It also distorts the smokers sense of reality, and puts them into a state of “higher thinking”, Slish said.
Put in simple terms, marijuana makes you high simply because it alters the physical and chemical balance of the it alters the physical and chemical balance of the brain.
Why do you become paranoid after smoking marijuana?
Basically everyone is aware of the fact that smoking marijuana has the ability to make one scared and paranoid. There’s even a Greenday song, entitled “Paranoid”, which revolves around the paranoia that can come with smoking marijuana. What most people don’t know, however, is why this drug has the ability to make one so skittish and scared.
According to Swartzwelder, the inhalation of marijuana, and its main chemical, THC, has the effect of “mellowing” someone out. At the same time, though, it increases both the blood pressure, and the heart rate of the smoker. The increase of these two things is what causes one to become paranoid when smoking weed.
“It (smoking weed) increases heart rate and blood pressure, and this causes your body to go into a state of arousal,” Swartzwelder said. “ Increases in blood pressure and heart rate are associated with being threatened, and that is what makes you become paranoid.”
In essence, it is the same effect as if someone came up on the street and tried to fight you, Swartzwelder said.
While increases in blood pressure and heart rate are the scientific reasons for why one becomes paranoid, there is also one very simply factor that comes into play when smoking marijuana that could make a user nervous- its illegal.
“It’s illegal so there is a realistic base to feel a little nervous or jittering when your smoking weed,” Swartzwelder said.
It is important to note that the potency of the marijuana, and the amount of marijuana smoked affect the side effect of paranoia. Furthermore, according to Swartzwelder, long-time users are less susceptible to this side effect then a new user.
What’s more dangerous- cigarettes or marijuana smoke?
In reality, marijuana smoke and tobacco smoke are very similar. Both contain a mass amount of chemicals and carcinogens, and both have the ability to cause chronic lung damage to long time smokers. In fact, comparable levels of the toxins cyanide, carbon monoxide, and tar are found in both types of smoke. One carcinogen, benzopyrene, even has a higher concentration in marijuana smoke then in tobacco smoke. Despite these statements, marijuana smokers and tobacco smokers are two different breeds, due to the fact that cigarette smokers inhale in much more smoke then marijuana smokers do over the course of a day. Due to this, Swartzwelder believes marijuana smokers run a far less risk then tobacco smokers when it comes to getting lung cancer.
“Pot smokers take a lot less smoke into their lungs over time then cigarette smokers do, so unless the pot smoker also smoke tobacco I’d say that the chances of getting lung cancer is far less of a risk for marijuana smokers when compared to cigarette smokers,” Swartzwelder said.
Donald Slish, the biology teacher at Plattsburgh State University, agrees with the idea that there is a difference between a cigarette smoker and a pot smoker. At the same time, however, Slish points out the fact that two unhealthy habits do not produce a healthy one.
“Whenever you burn something it produces carcinogens, so smoking anything is going to be unhealthy,” Slish said. “ At the same time, though, when people smoke cigarettes they do so on a regular basis as opposed to smoking weed a few times for recreation.”
With that being said, one inhales two-thirds more marijuana smoke per puff than one does on a typical drag of a cigarette. Furthermore, marijuana smoke is typically inhaled farther into the lungs, while it is also held in the lungs longer so users can get “more high” when they use the drug. Regardless of these facts, however, Swartzwelder believes that cigarette smokers are taking more of a risk.
“Most marijuana smokers don’t smoke every day. Let’s say an average pot smoker smokes once or twice a week; therefore, even if you’re holding in the smoke four times as long as a drag out of cigarette, there is still far less exposure of carcinogens to the lungs,” Swartzwelder said.
Recent studies, however, have shown that measures of carbon monoxide in the blood are five times higher after one smokes a marijuana cigarette than after smoking a tobacco cigarette of the same size. It has also been discovered that marijuana smoke contains three times the amount of tar as cigarette smoke.
Nonetheless, as of today, there has been no scientific research that links marijuana smoke to lung cancer, but such a link will most likely occur at some point, said Swartzwelder.
Bottom line: Both of these substances contain deadly chemicals, and the use of these substances causes substantial health risks. Regardless if one is worse than the other, both marijuana smoke and tobacco smoke have the ability to kill you.
What’s worse: Marijuana or Alcohol?
This question is much easier to answer then whether or not marijuana smoke is more toxic then tobacco smoke.
Put simply, alcohol is far more dangerous than marijuana.
“It is clearly obvious that alcohol is much worse than marijuana, without a doubt,” said Slisher. “The only danger of marijuana is doing something stupid while you’re stoned, but with alcohol, if you drink too much it could kill you.”
As stated earlier, one might feel anxious or scared after smoking marijuana, yet a lethal overdose on the drug is pretty much impossible, Swartzwelder said. Alcohol, on the other hand is another story.
While the chances of overdosing on alcohol are still very low, it is entirely possible for someone to die from drinking too much. This occurs most often when someone drinks too much alcohol at too fast a pace-whether it is by playing drinking games or taking shots.
According to an article, entitled, “The toxicity of recreational drugs”, written by Robert S Gable, the toxicity of alcohol is “far greater” than most other recreational drugs. According to Gable, if alcohol was created today, “its high toxicity and addiction potential would surely prevent it from being marketed as a food or drug.”
In addition, Gables report states that one can overdose on alcohol by simply consuming ten times the recommended amount. In the same study, Gable concluded that someone would have to consume 1,000 times the recommended amount of marijuana in order to overdose.
Furthermore, according to Swartzwelder, there is no substantial evidence that smoking marijuana kills brain cells. This statement does not apply to alcohol.
After long term use of alcohol, researchers have discovered that shrinkage of brain tissue occurs, while chronic drinking also has the ability to damage the frontal lobes of the brain, which are known as the “executive directors” of the brain since they control many of its functions. Yes, it is true that marijuana does effect the brain in numerous ways (these effects will be explained later), but the effects from alcohol are more significant, while an overdose on alcohol is entirely possible.
It is also true that people who are drunk are more susceptible to doing dangerous things, Slish said.
In other words, people who are drunk are aggressive, and people who are high are relaxed. Therefore, there is much greater chance of someone doing something that they will regret when they are drunk, as opposed to being high, Slish said.
How long does THC stay in the body, and how long does it have effects on the body?
When THC enters the body, significant concentrations of the drug accumulate in organs such as the kidneys, liver, spleen and testes. Furthermore, depending on the smoker, THC can remain in the blood for up to 20 hours after inhalation. It also can stay absorbed in fatty deposits within the body for a much longer time period since the drug is very lipid-soluble.
While it is impossible to determine exactly how long marijuana stays in your system, it has been concluded that 30 per cent of ingested THC has the ability to remain in the body for a full week after smoking. At the same time, however, a single large dose of marijuana has been detected up to three weeks after inhalation; therefore, it is safe to say that marijuana stays in the body for a significant amount of time, due to its ability to accumulate in different organs within the body. According to Swartzwelder, it is estimated that traces of marijuana can be found in the body anywhere from two-four weeks after inhalation.
“THC metabolites stay in the body for a long time no matter how long you have been smoking,” Swartzwelder said.
Nevertheless, it takes marijuana a longer time to leave the body in chronic smokers when compared to recreational users. This is due to the fact that accumulating levels of THC will add up in the body everyday marijuana is smoked, Swartzwelder said.
“If you already have levels of THC in your body and you add more too it, it’s kind of like restarting the clock on getting the substance out of your body,” Swartzwelder said. “It comes to a point where traces of marijuana are just always there if you’re smoking regularly.”
How does marijuana affect the brain?
As stated before, there is no scientific research that says marijuana kills brain cells, but this does not mean that the drug does not affect the brain. According to Swartzwelder, smoking marijuana drastically affects ones cognitive functions, and it also has been proven to harm the brains hippocampus, which is responsible for forming new memories.
The brains hippocampus is affected by marijuana, for this section of the brain contains a high concentration of cannabinoid receptors, which are the receptors that are responsive to THC. Furthermore, this section of the brain controls ones memory, which is why a person’s short term memory is impaired when someone smokes marijuana. Due to damaging this section of the brain, smoking marijuana can also lead to learning disabilities, since ones inability to make or maintain certain memories is impaired.
“THC has a very powerful effect on learning abilities and memory,” Swartzwelder said. “When people say let’s go get stupid, they mean it.”
Ones learning ability is further impaired due to the fact that marijuana greatly affects the cognitive functions in the brain, which controls the brains ability to process information correctly and efficiently, Swartzwelder said.
Obviously, these functions are greatly impaired when one is under the influence of the drug, but the affects do not end once the high does. Instead, ones cognitive functions are impaired for up to 48 hours after smoking marijuana, Swartzenwelder said.
“This is an important fact, because if someone smokes weed three times a week then there is absolutely no time throughout the week that they are not cognitively impaired,” Swartzenwelder said. “ It doesn’t mean that no one should ever smoke pot, but it shows that it’s important for people to know what’s going on because there are hidden affects that no one really knows about.”
So while marijuana smoke may not kill brain cells directly, it is obvious that the drug does have some effect on the brain.
“Right now there is no compelling evidence that says recreational smoking kills any brain cells, but with that said, pot does have some serious affects on the brain, and on someone’s learning abilities and memory,” Swartzenwelder said.
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