About Marijuana

Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug in the world. Marijuana looks like any dried plant material, herbs, or tea. It is brown, green, or grayish in color. It is usually sold in plastic baggies.

Marijuana is a mixture of dried, shredded flowers and leaves of the hemp plant Cannabis sativa. It contains about 400 different chemicals. The main chemical that causes mind-altering effects is called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. The level of THC in marijuana determines how it affects a user. The more THC there is in the drug, the more it affects the user.

Marijuana is usually smoked. Many people make handmade cigarettes of it. They usually call these marijuana cigarettes “joints.” Other people smoke marijuana in pipes. Some people use a water pipe called a bong. Marijuana is sometimes added to ordinary tobacco cigars. People call these cigars “blunts”. Sometimes blunts contain PCP or crack. Marijuana and other forms of cannabis can also be mixed into food or tea.

Immediate Effects of Marijuana

Marijuana users inhale the smoke deeply into the lungs. They hold the smoke in their lungs as long as possible. Holding smoke in hurts the lungs more than just breathing it quickly in and out.

Marijuana users expect to feel relaxed, worry-free, joyful, and out of control. They usually do have some of these feelings. They also have several unpleasant feelings. Sometimes the unpleasant feelings can be severe. It is common for marijuana users to have dry mouth and increased heart rate. Some users hearts beat up to two times faster than normal! That can be very upsetting – and dangerous.

Most users become uncoordinated, lose their sense of balance, and begin to react more slowly to things that happen around them. When you put those things together, a person is WAY more likely to have an accident of some kind. Many people are extremely hungry after smoking marijuana. Others feel very sleepy.