Essay on Marijuana | Essays for Class 7 PDF Download

Marijuana is a greenish-gray mixture of the dried flowers of Cannabis sativa, also known as pot, herb, weed, grass, bud, Mary Jane, ganja, and many other slang terms. Some people smoke marijuana in hand-rolled cigarettes called joints, pipes, in blunts (marijuana rolled in cigar wraps), or water pipes (sometimes called bongs). Marijuana can also be used to brew tea. It is frequently mixed into foods (edibles) such as brownies, cookies, or candies, particularly sold or consumed for medicinal purposes.
For the consumption of marijuana, vaporizers are also increasingly used. Stronger forms of marijuana include sinsemilla (from specially tended female plants) and concentrated resins containing high doses of marijuana’s active ingredients, including honey like hash oil, waxy budder, and hard amberlike shatter. These resins are increasingly popular among those who use them both recreationally and medically.
The main psychoactive(mind-altering) chemical in marijuana, responsible for most of the intoxicating effects that people seek, is delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Chemically related THC compounds, called cannabinoids and other chemicals are found in resin produced by the leaves and buds primarily of the female cannabis plant. The plant also contains more than 500 other chemicals, including more than 100 THC compounds.

• When marijuana is smoked, THC, and other chemicals in the plant pass from the lungs into the bloodstream, which rapidly carries them throughout the body to the brain. The effects of marijuana begin almost immediately on the person. Many people usually experience a sense of relaxation and pleasant euphoria. Other common effects, which include heightened sensory perception (e.g., brighter colors), laughter, altered perception of time, and increased appetite, may experience or vary dramatically among different people. An acute psychosis, which includes hallucinations, delusions, and a loss of the sense of personal identity, maybe experience by people who have taken large doses of marijuana. Although detectable amounts of THC may remain in the body for days or even weeks after use, the noticeable effects of smoked marijuana generally last from 1 to 3 hours, and those of marijuana consumed in food or drink may last for many hours.
• In 2013, Uruguay became the first country to legalize the recreational use of cannabis. Other countries to do so are Canada, Georgia, and South Africa, along with 11 states and the District of Columbia (though the drug remains federally illegal). Medical use of cannabis, requiring the approval of a physician, has been legalized in many countries.
• Imaging studies have shown conflicting results on the impact of marijuana on brain structure in humans. Some studies suggest regular marijuana use in adolescence is associated with altered connectivity and reduced volume of specific brain regions involved in a broad range of executive functions such as memory, learning, and impulse control compared to people who do not use.
• Some studies have also linked marijuana use to declines in IQ, especially when use starts in adolescence and leads to persistent cannabis use disorder into adulthood. More research will be needed to answer definitively whether marijuana use causes long-term IQ losses.
• People with marijuana use disorders, especially adolescents, often suffer from other psychiatric disorders (comorbidity). On average, adults seeking marijuana treatment have attempted to quit more than six times and used marijuana nearly every day for more than ten years.

They may also use or be addicted to other substances, such as cocaine or alcohol. Available studies indicate that effectively treating the mental health disorder with standard treatments involving medications and behavioral therapies may help reduce marijuana use, particularly among those involved with heavy use and those with more chronic mental disorders.