MARIJUANA

So much nonsense is being circulated about marijuana by even responsible agencies of the government., that we would like to publish the following information as a public service:

Q: What is marijuana?
A: Marijuana is a drug found in the flowering tops and leaves of the Indian hemp plant, cannabis sativa. The leaves and flowers are dried and crushed into small pieces and smoked in pipes or short cigarettes. Marijuana is known as pot, tea, grass, weed, Mary Jane. Marijuana cigarettes are known as reefers, joints and sticks. Known to man for nearly 5,000 years, it is one of the least understood of all natural drugs.

Q: Where do Marijuana comes from?
A: The plant grows in mild climate all over the world.

Q: Who uses it?
A: Primarily young people.

Q: Why it is being used so much?
A: Pressures of friends; an act of defiance; curiosity; belief that medicines are magic problem solvers for many youths who have lost faith in one social system; tendency of people with psychological problems to seek easy solutions; quick access to drugs; affluence to afford them; influence of those who preach 'goodness' of drugs.

Q: How it works?
A: It enters the bloodstream and acts on the brain and nervous system. It affects mood and thinking; causes rapid heart beat, lowering of body temperature and sometimes reddening of the eyes, changes blood sugar levels; stimulates appetite and dehydrates body. Users may get talkative, loud, unsteady or drowsy and find it hard to coordinate their movements.

Q: How it affects judgment?
A: It has been shown that a user finds it harder to make decision which require clear thinking; becomes more easily open to other people's suggestions; and that doing any task needing good reflexes and thinking (for instance, driving a car) is affected.

Q: How it affects addiction?
A: Marijuana does not lead to physical dependence. Therefore it cannot be considered addicting. Chronic users become psychologically dependent upon the effects of marijuana. It is therefore classified as habituating. The fact that a drug is not addicting has little relationship to its potential for harm, since dependence whether psychological or physical is a serious matter.