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Marijuana is the most frequently used illegal substance in many countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States and it seems to increase the chance of becoming psychotic, researchers report in an analysis of past research that brings up the old issue of whether pot is dangerous.

The new review suggests that even infrequent use of marijuana could raise the small but real risk of this serious mental illness by 40 percent.

Doctors have long suspected a connection and say the latest findings underline the need to highlight marijuana’s long-term risks. The research, paid for by the British Health Department, was published recently in the medical journal The Lancet. (thelancet.com)

“The available evidence now suggests that cannabis is not as harmless as many people think,” said Dr. Stanley Zammit, one of the study’s authors and a lecturer in the department of psychological medicine at Cardiff University.

Many people with ADD self-medicate (treat their underlying problems) with substances as a way to feel more focused, more together, less anxious, less depressed, less overwhelmed, and just generally better.

In studies of patients who had smoked marijuana, Dr. Daniel Amen found significant changes in brain activity, especially those who were heavy users. Decreased brain activity was found in the prefrontal cortex and temporal lobes.

The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) places all substances which were in some manner regulated under existing federal law into one of five schedules. This placement is based upon the substance’s medical use, potential for abuse, and safety or dependence liability.

Drug Placement Factors

In determining into which schedule a drug or other substance should be placed, or whether a substance should be decontrolled or rescheduled, certain factors are required to be considered. Specific findings are not required for each factor. These factors are listed in Section 201 (c), [21 U.S.C. 811 (c)] of the CSA as follows:

1- The drug’s actual or relative potential for abuse.

2- Scientific evidence of the drug’s pharmacological effects. The state of knowledge with respect to the effects of a specific drug is, of course, a major consideration. For example, it is vital to know whether or not a drug has a hallucinogenic effect if it is to be controlled due to that effect. The best available knowledge of the pharmacological properties of a drug should be considered.

OxyContin, a trade name for the narcotic oxycodone hydrochloride, is a time-release painkiller available by prescription. It is prescribed for relief of moderate to severe pain from such things as injuries, bursitis, neuralgia, arthritis, and cancer. Designed to be swallowed whole and digested over 12 hours, the pills can produce a heroin-like high if crushed and then swallowed, snorted or injected. As a street drug, it is commonly called OC, OX, Oxy, Oxycotton, Hillbilly heroin, and kicker.

Marijuana is the most frequently used illegal drug in the United States. It is a green, brown, or gray mixture of dried, shredded leaves, stems, seeds, and flowers of the hemp plant. It is called by numerous street names such as pot, herb, weed, grass, boom, Mary Jane, gangster, or chronic. There are also names for different strains or “brands” of marijuana, such as “Texas tea,” “Maui wowie,” and “Chronic.”

Most users roll loose marijuana into a cigarette (called a joint or a nail) or smoke it in a pipe. One well-known type of water pipe is the bong. Some users mix marijuana into foods or use it to brew a tea.

Another method is to slice open a cigar and replace the tobacco with marijuana, making what’s called a blunt. Some blunts include crack cocaine, a combination known by various street names, such as “primos” or “woolies.” Joints and blunts often are dipped in PCP and are called “happy sticks,” “wicky sticks,” or “love boat.” One book of American slang lists more than 200 terms for various kinds of marijuana.

Why do People use Marijuana?

Curiosity and the desire to fit into a social group are common reasons to use the drug. Certainly, youngsters who have already begun to smoke cigarettes and/or use alcohol are at high risk for marijuana use.

Research suggests that the use of alcohol and drugs by other family members plays a strong role in whether children start using drugs. Some young people who take drugs do not get along with their parents. Some have a network of friends who use drugs and urge them to do the same (peer pressure). All aspects of a child’s environment – home, school, neighborhood – help to determine whether the child will try drugs.

Young people who become more heavily involved with marijuana can become dependent, making it difficult for them to quit. Others mention psychological coping as a reason for their use – to deal with anxiety, anger, depression, boredom, and so forth. But marijuana use is not an effective method for coping with life’s problems, and staying high can be a way of simply not dealing with the problems and challenges of growing up.

Health Effects of The Drug

All forms of marijuana are mind-altering and it changes how the brain works. It contains THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), the main active chemical in marijuana. It also contains more than 400 other chemicals. Marijuana’s effects on the user depend on it’s strength or potency, which is related to the amount of THC it contains. The THC content has been increasing since the 1970s.

Pure cocaine was first used in the 1880s in eye, nose, and throat surgeries as an anesthetic and for its ability to constrict blood vessels and limit bleeding. However, many of its therapeutic applications are now obsolete because of the development of safer drugs.

Cocaine is extracted from the leaves of the coca plant, which is indigenous to the Andean highlands of South America. Much of the cocaine available in the United States is transported from South American nations, particularly Colombia, through the Mexico-Central America Corridor.

Cocaine was first Federally-regulated in December 1914 with the passage of the Harrison Act. This Act banned non-medical use of cocaine; prohibited its importation; imposed the same criminal penalties for cocaine users as for opium, morphine, and heroin users; and required a strict accounting of medical prescriptions for it. As a result of the Harrison Act and the emergence of cheaper, legal substances such as amphetamines, cocaine became less used in the U.S. However, use began to rise again in the 1960s, prompting Congress to classify it as a Schedule II substance in 1970.

Schedule II substances have a high potential for abuse, a currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States with severe restrictions, and may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence. Cocaine can currently be administered by a doctor for legitimate medical uses, such as a local anesthetic for some eye, ear, and throat surgeries.

There are basically two chemical forms of cocaine: the hydrochloride salt and the freebase. The hydrochloride salt, or powdered form of cocaine, dissolves in water and, when abused, can be taken intravenously (by vein) or intranasally (in the nose). Freebase refers to a compound that has not been neutralized by an acid to make the hydrochloride salt. The freebase form of cocaine is smokable.

Cocaine is generally sold on the street as a fine, white, crystalline powder, known as coke, C, snow, flake, or blow. It has been reported that it is common for dealers to dilute the powder with chalk, laundry detergent, baby powder and rat poison! Can you imagine anyone trying street drugs with this possibility?

Crack

Crack is the street name given to a freebase form of cocaine that has been processed from the powdered cocaine hydrochloride form to a smokable substance. The term “crack” comes from the crackling sound made when it is heated.

Narcotic drugs (also called opioids) are derivatives of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) or chemically similar synthetics. The poppy was grown in the Mediterranean region as early as 3000 B.C., and has since been cultivated in a number of countries throughout the world.

Narcotics are used therapeutically to treat pain, suppress cough, alleviate diarrhea, and induce anesthesia. Narcotics are administered in a variety of ways. Some are taken orally, transdermally (skin patches), or injected. They are also available in suppositories. As drugs of abuse, they are often smoked, sniffed, or injected.

Natural Opiates are Morphine, Codiene and Thebaine.

Semi-synthetic opiates (or opioids) include Heroin and Oxycodone (among others).

Common Synthetic Opioids include Methadone, and Pethidine (Demerol).

Heroin

Heroin (a morphine derivative) is the most commonly abused narcotic.
(Some of the street names include: smack, horse, H, junk, dope or scag)

Inhalants are volatile substances found in many household products, such as oven cleaners, gasoline, spray paints, and other aerosols. Some people inhale the vapors from these products on purpose.

Why would anyone do this? Because the chemicals in these vapors can change the way the brain works, and those changes can make people feel very happy for a short time.

But inhalants are extremely toxic and can do a great deal of harm.
 

Chemicals Don’t Go Away When You Exhale

Inhalant vapors often contain more than one chemical. Some leave the body quickly, but others are absorbed by fatty tissues in the brain and nervous system and can stay there for a long time.

Speed, meth, chalk, crystal, ice, glass. These are all names for the drug methamphetamine. It comes in many different forms and is snorted, swallowed, injected, or smoked. The smokable form is known as “ice” or “crystal,” due to its appearance.

Meth is a powerful street drug. It acts by changing how the brain works. It also speeds up many functions in the body. It has a chemical structure that is similar to another drug called amphetamine. Methamphetamine can cause lots of harmful things, including inability to sleep, paranoia, aggressiveness, and hallucinations.

How Does Methamphetamine Cause its Effects?