When walking in my neighborhood or various parts of East New York, Brooklyn, a certain aroma overtakes me. I wish I could say it was the mouth-watering aroma of Dunkin Donuts or KFC, but no: it’s the stench of marijuana.
Marijuana is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the U.S. The main active chemical in marijuana is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC for short. Marijuana can be smoked as a cigarette (joint), a pipe or in blunts. This mode of delivery combines marijuana's active ingredients with nicotine and other harmful chemicals.
When smoked, the THC in marijuana rapidly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream, which carries the chemical to the brain and other organs throughout the body. THC affects specific parts of the brain causing the high that creates the experience. Marijuana intoxication can cause distorted perceptions: impaired coordination, difficulty with thinking and problem solving, and problems with learning and memory.
Long-term marijuana abuse can lead to drug-seeking addiction, which often leads to one’s inability to function in the context of family, school, work, and recreational activities, as well as withdrawal symptoms, including irritability, sleeplessness, decreased appetite, anxiety, and drug craving, all of which can make it difficult to remain abstinent.
An association between chronic marijuana use and increased rates of anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia has been shown. Use, especially in a very young person, may also be a marker of risk for mental illnesses.
Marijuana also affects other parts of the body: it can increase heart rate to 20-100 times which can cause heart attack, Lung - increased risk of lung cancer because of harmful chemicals.
Heavy marijuana abusers reported that the drug impaired several important measures of life achievement, including physical and mental health, cognitive abilities, social life, and career status. Increased absences, tardiness, accidents, workers' compensation claims, and job turnover are a few of the grave externalities that come of smoking or placing yourself in that sort of environment.
Known, but probably not well accepted, is that marijuana is a gateway drug. This means that it's also used by some people on ecstasy, crack, cocaine and heroin abuse as one of their first drugs.
Finally, in an attempt for you to understand the dangers of smoking marijuana I will tell you the story of Lisa (not her real name). Lisa smoked marijuana one evening in her friend’s room. While she smoked Lisa suddenly felt trapped. She felt she couldn't breathe and had to take what she saw as her only exit, a 2nd floor window. Thus, she jumped, breaking a part of her spine and both her legs. Marijuana had amplified her claustrophobia, so instead of looking for a door her only solution was the window.
Be smart. Think Smart. Don't smoke marijuana.
Charise Mohammad is a RPA-C. Physician Assistant at Elmhurst Hospital, Queens, NY. Received training from Weill Cornell Medical School Physician Assistant Program
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