MARIJUANA

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MARIJUANA
Lauren Dubois

• The Effects Marijuana has on the body and brain.

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Contents

• Actions/Effects
• What marijuana does once you inhale
• Lungs
• Immune System
• Growth and sexual development
• Brain
• Recent studies on anandamide
• Medical marijuana
• Physical and Neuropsychiatric adverse effects of
  marijuana
• Treatments to help users
• Summary
• Citation slide

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Actions/Effects

• The main active ingredient in marijuana is a
  chemical called delta-9 tetrahydrocanabinol
  (THC).
• THC interacts with receptors in the brain called
  anandamides, which trigger the drugs effects.
• Subjective effects include mild sensory
  distortions, feelings of euphoria, and increased
  appetite also known as the munchies.
• Objective effects include reddening of the eyes
  and increased heart rate.
• The subjective and objective effects last from
  1-4 hours, although subtle effects such as the
  impairment of short term memory or decreased
  motivation, may linger for several more hours.

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As you inhale

• A blast of tar and other gases rush into lungs,
  after irritating the tissues of your mouth, nose,
  and throat. You might cough because your lungs
  will try to expel the irritant.
• Gradually though your lungs learn to put up with
  it and the smoke stays down. Thats when THC and
  the other contents of marijuana smoke filter
  across the bronchial tubes to the capillaries,
  where they are absorbed into the bloodstream.
• Once in the blood, the chemicals rush to your
  heart, where they trigger an increase in heart
  rate, sometimes as much as 50 above your normal
  resting rate.
• From the heart, cannabinoids are pumped to all
  parts of your body, where they trigger a range of
  other effects, from decreased pressure inside
  your eye to muscle relaxation and sedation.
• Since THC is fat-soluble, its drawn to regions
  with high fat content, such as the sex glands and
  brain.
• Once THC hits your brain, the subjective feeling
  of being high kicks in, a result of THCs action
  on receptors there, and your thoughts and mood
  begin to change.
• At this point, your liver and kidneys swing into
  action. They begin to break the cannabinoids down
  into less-complicated, more easily-eliminated
  chemicals.
• About half these breakdown products (or
  metabolites) pass out of your body within 24
  hours, while the rest stay behind as biochemical
  leftovers.
• Those leftover cannabinoids can hang around for
  days or weeks. (Their effects they produce while
  hanging around are still unknown.)

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LUNGS

• Marijuana contains the same cancer-causing
  chemicals found in tobacco smoke, since smokers
  hold marijuana smoke in the lungs longer.One or
  two joints a day may do more damage than many
  more cigarettes.
• Frequent marijuana smokers experience
  respiratory symptoms from smoking , including
  chronic cough, chronic phlegm, and wheezing.
  However, clinical studies show no increased risk
  of crippling pulmonary disease (chronic
  bronchitis and emphysema).

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Immune System

• Studies involving laboratory animals have shown
  immune impairment following administration of
  THC, but only with the use of extremely high
  doses.
• There have been no clinical or epidemiological
  studies showing an increase in bacterial, viral,
  or parasitic infection among human marijuana
  users.
• In three large field studies conducted in the
  1970s, in Jamaica, Costa Rica and Greece,
  researchers found no differences in disease
  susceptibility between marijuana users and
  matched controls.
• Marijuana use does not increase the risk of HIV
  infection, nor does it increase the onset or
  intensity of symptoms among AIDS patients.
• Today, thousands of people with AIDS are smoking
  marijuana daily to combat nausea and increase
  appetite.
• The recent discovery of a peripheral cannabinoid
  receptor associated with lymphatic tissue should
  encourage aggressive exploration of THCs
  potential use as an immune system stimulant.

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Growth Sexual Development

• In boys and men , it causes a drop on blood
  levels of testosterone, the main male sex
  hormone.
• In women and girls, body levels of two key
  hormones drop following marijuana use.
• Yet studies show the effects only lasting for up
  to 9 weeks.
• Jamaican and Costa Rican field studies show no
  differences in hormone levels between marijuana
  users and non-users.
• Severe consequences have been produced in male
  and female laboratory animals, although only with
  extremely high daily THC doses.

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BRAIN

• THC causes change in the hippocampus, a cortical
  brain region known to play an important role in
  learning and memory, this finding suggested
  possible negative consequences for human
  marijuana users.
• However, studies to prove its damages within the
  brain have failed. To achieve these results of
  damage, massive doses of THC up to 200 times
  the psychoactive dose in humans - had to be
  given.
• Though there are short term effects that occur in
  the brain such as your calculation skills,
  reading comprehension, and speech and arithmetic
  skills can be dulled.
• The effects can last hours after the high.
• Therefore, the more you smoke the longer they
  last.

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Recent Studies on Anandamide

• Anandamide is derived from arachidonic acid, a
  20-carbon carboxylic acid that is the starting
  point for a flow of complex biochemical
  reactions.
• One branch of that flow leads to the production
  of the leukotrienes, key substances in the
  inflammation process.
• Another branch leads to substances known as
  prostaglandin's, which play a role in mediating
  pain.
• Their finding indicates that anandamide behaves
  like THC.
• In the smaller doses that occur naturally in the
  body, anandamide may be involved in the
  regulation of mood, memory, pain, movement and
  other activities.
• The brains reaction to marijuana may help explain
  the role of anandamide.
• A defect in anandamide or its receptor may cause
  diseases characterized by loss of motor control.
  Such as Huntington's chorea, a progressive
  hereditary disease that interferes with muscular
  control.

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Medical Marijuana

• The medical value of marijuana has become
  increasingly clear to many physicians and
  patients.
• There are many reasons for this
• it is remarkably non-toxic.
• It has never caused an overdose death.
• Its short term and long term side effects are
  minimal compared to medicines for which it will
  be substituted.
• It will be much less expensive than the medicines
  it replaces.
• It is remarkably versatile. Case histories and
  clinical experience suggest that it is useful in
  the treatment of more than two dozen symptoms and
  syndromes, and others will undoubtedly be
  discovered in the future.
• As clinical evidence of marijuana's medical
  efficiency and safety accumulates the first-hand
  experience of its value becomes more common, the
  discussion will turn to how it should be made
  available.

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Physical and Neuropsychiatric adverse effects of
marijuana

• PHYSICAL
• Dry mouth
• Nausea
• Headache
• Decreased coordination
• Increased heart rate
• Altered body temperature
• Reduced muscle strength
• Tremor
• Altered pulmonary status
• Decreased cerebral blood

• NEUROPSYCHIATRIC
• Anxiety and panic
• Paranoia
• Confusion
• Aggressiveness
• Hallucinations
• Sedation
• Altered libido
• De-personalization
• Poor sense of time
• Worsened short-term memory

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Treatments

• Treatments for marijuana include detoxification,
  behavioral therapies, and regular attendance at
  meetings of support groups, such as narcotics
  anonymous.
• There are currently no medications for treating
  marijuana dependence.

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SUMMARY on the Effects Marijuana has on the Body
and Brain...

• When Marijuana enters the body as tiny particles
  in smoke, mixing with oxygen in the lungs, the
  capillaries pull it into the bloodstream. Where
  THC then is shuttled to more places, moving to
  every part of the body causing physical effects
  such as dry mouth, headache, altered body
  temperature, etc.
• In the brain, THC hooks up with some of the
  electrochemical circuits that direct the way we
  think and feel, causing certain senses to be
  distorted, such as time perception and memory.
• However, unless using extremely high daily doses
  of marijuana, the side effects are only
  temporary, I feel that in the case of medical
  marijuana it should be legalized. After all the
  research I have done I feel it is more helpful
  then harmful.

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CITATION SLIDE

• James, Jennifer
  www.aafp.org
• All about Marijuana
  
• www.doitnow.org
• 
  www.marijuana.com/
  myths.php3
• Fackelmann, Kathy
• Marijuana and the Brain
• Do It Now Foundation
• Gettman, John
• Dopamine and the Dependence Liability of
  Marijuana
• www.biochemist.org/news/page.htm
• www.drugabuse.gov
• www.newscientist.com