About Marijuana & Hashish

Grass, pot, herb, weed, dope, ganja, Mary Jane, sinsemilla, Aunt Mary, skunk, boom, kif, gangster

marijuana cigarettes are called joints or reefers

Hashish is commonly referred to as hash

Facts for the Parents:
The average age teens first use marijuana is 14.

What is Marijuana & Hashish

Marijuana is typically sold in the form of cut, dried leaves, stems and flowers of this plant. It is generally smoked like a cigarette or cigar, or in pipes. Sometimes its eaten.

Hashish is the dried, caked resin from the hemp plant flower and is generally smoked in pipes. Hashish oil is extracted from the hemp resin; a drop or two of the oil on a tobacco cigarette produces roughly the same effect as a marijuana cigarette.

The Problem:
Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the country. There are an estimated 5.1 million regular marijuana users nationwide, including some 500,00 or more in New York. After declining steadily through the 1980s, marijuana use has increased among the teenagers. Although advocates for legalizing marijuana argue that it is moderately harmless drug, its negative effects on school performance, the known health risks for younger people, the driving hazards associated with it, and the harmful effects to pregnant women and others who become regular users present a convincing argument against its use, regardless of legality.

The Effects:
Blood shot eyes, dry mouth and throat, impaired or reduced comprehension, altered sense of time, reduced ability to perform tasks requiring concentration and coordination (such as driving a car), paranoia, intense anxiety or panic attacks, impairment in learning, memory, perception, and judgment- difficulty speaking, listening, effectively, thinking, retaining knowledge, problem solving and forming concepts.

The effect sought in cannabis use is euphoria, a feeling of well-being and elation. This is usually accompanied by a state of altered perception, particularly of distance and time. The euphoric feeling usually peaks within ten to thirty minutes of smoking marijuana, but residual effects may last from two to three hours.

The Dangers:
Marijuana & Hashish products contain cancer-causing elements (carcinogens), just like cigarettes. Although marijuana is seldom smoked with the same frequency as tobacco, it can lead to upper respiratory problems such as those caused by cigarette smoking.

Chronic, heavy users of Marijuana often show memory and concentration impairments. However, these effects generally disappear several weeks after use stops. Some people can become tolerant to the effects of Marijuana with long term heavy use, needing larger doses to achieve the same effect. Psychological dependence is also possible, particularly for young people.

Experimentation with Marijuana generally starts during teen years. Marijuana & Hashish use interfere with a young persons physical, mental and social development. A growing street fad involves the use of blunts, cigars that are rolled with Marijuana. When combined with alcohol, this use pattern can result in even more serious problems.

The major active ingredient in marijuana and hashish is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). The exact nature of this action is not entirely understood, although it is believed to change to a psychoactive compound in the liver. The higher the THC content, the stronger the effects are. The average potency of marijuana in this country has increased since the 1970s. Marijuana & Hashish are sometimes spiked with other substances such as PCP and crack, making their effects unpredictable and more dangerous.