Cannabis, marijuana, weed, ganja, skunk, herb, mary jane, puff, smoke, kush, Igbo, level - you’ve probably heard it called by many names, but how much do you actually know about this controversial plant?
Cannabis
Common hemp
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Cannabaceae
Genus: Cannabis L.
It has three species
Cannabis sativa L.
Cannabis indica Lam.
Cannabis ruderalis Janisch
The first ever transaction online was for cannabis. The UK as a nation, they love to spend their hard earned cash online. From clothes to food, zombie survival kits and even a UFO detector, the possibilities for consumerism online are seemingly endless. In the UK alone, it has been predicted that by 2020 their retail sales may reach a total of £62.7billion. Put simply, that’s loads. However, journalist John Markoff revealed in his 2005 book that it was actually a transaction of marijuana that became the first to ever happen on the world wide web in the 1970s. Buying illegal drugs on the Internet is not such a new phenomenon nowadays with more people purchasing online than ever before, according to the 2015 Global Drug Survey.
What are the potential, scientifically-tested health benefits?
Studies in the 1970s showed that marijuana, when smoked, lowered pressure of the eyeball in those with glaucoma, although it was said that pharmaceutical drugs were more effective. A study of 5,115 adults over 20 years published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that marijuana doesn’t impair lung function like tobacco does, and those who smoked pot without tobacco actually had increased lung capacity – which may be due to taking deep breaths.
Chemicals found in marijuana can also ease the pain suffered by those with arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis and cancer patients post-chemotherapy.
Active ingredients of marijuana Tetrahydrocannabinol, cannabidiol, cannabinol,
tetrahydrocannabivarin
Cannabidiol can also have powerful antipsychotic and anti-anxiety properties. It’s also approved to treat PTSD in some US states, may slow the progression of Alzheimer’s, prevent epileptic seizures and has been shown to lessen the side-effects from treating hepatitis C. Chemicals in cannabis, such as THC and cannabidiol, may interact with cells that play an important role in gut function, potentially helping with inflammatory bowel diseases such as Crohn’s disease. A chemical found in marijuana has also been shown to stop cancer cells from spreading in lab and animal tests that span 20 years of research.
What are the downsides?
Cannabis has long thought to increase the risk of developing schizophrenia, however the evidence is still not fully conclusive. A New Zealand-based study found that smoking cannabis before the age of 15 increased the risk of schizophrenia from 3% to 10% by age 26. Those with pre-existing psychotic disorders are advised to avoid regular cannabis use. Studies have suggested that regular, long-term cannabis use is one of a number of environmental factors that, for those with genetic predispositions, may increase a young person’s chance of developing schizophrenia.
A study at the University of Heidelberg in Germany found other possible side-effects of marijuana include: having a slow reaction time or trouble paying attention, experiencing impaired physical and mental performance, and possibly experiencing hallucinations or paranoia. The type and severity of these depend on cannabis composition, consumption and user’s disposition. Most symptoms of marijuana intoxication typically go away within a few hours of using the drug, but some people can have delusions that last as long as a week.
Some countries welcome ‘the herb’, some hate it. Others do both… The Netherlands is probably the most famous place where possession is decriminalised. Uruguay has fully legalised, while Portugal became the first country in the world to decriminalise all drugs in 2001. But don’t get caught with it in Japan, Indonesia or the United Arab Emirates, where just a single joint can get you thrown in jail for four years.
But when you talk to researchers who study cannabis, they say there's still a lot we don't know about marijuana.
The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) considers marijuana a drug with no medical value, so it's hard to get approval to research it and impossible to study the cannabis products most people use, since researchers can only give study participants cannabis grown at DEA-approved facilities. "It's pretty amazing" that we have so many unanswered questions, says Staci Gruber, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and director of the Marijuana Investigations for Neuroscientific Discovery program at McLean Hospital. "It ain't new, it's been around for thousands and thousands of years, it's not like we just made this in a lab."
Why is marijuana illegal ??
It’s a long and complex history, but in the UK, the 1914 Defence of the Realm Act blanket banned substances as cocaine, opium, cannabis and others that caused 'highs' to troops fighting in World War One. This was later extended to the general population in 1928. However, doctors were able to prescribe it for medical uses until 1971.
In the 1930s, Harry Anslinger became renowned for his campaign against marijuana. He kept reports now colloquially known as the 'Gore Files'; a collection of criminal and sexual acts he attributed to marijuana, and became the foundation of the 1936 film ‘ Reefer Madness’. Some of Anslinger’s critics say marijuana prohibition was steeped in racism rather than scientific evidence.
This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and others.” (Emphasis Mine). cause they smoke more often
Weed is safer than tobacco, cause tobacco Kills you… In more ways than one. Yet only one of them Receives Government subsidies
To date, there hasn’t been a single overdose death involving marijuana and all evidence shows that it doesn’t cause black lung, cancer or any other kind of lung disease. Tobacco on the other hand, causes more annual deaths than murder, AIDS, heroin, crack, car accidents, cocaine, fire, and alcohol combined! According to the CDC, tobacco causes 480,000 deaths per year, and 16 million Americans live with an illness caused by smoking. Surely, such a toxic substance should be illegal… right?
Final Thoughts on Marijuana & What they don’t want you to know
The amount of misinformation surrounding marijuana is incredible. From its purported addictive properties to its alleged capacity to lower intelligence, weed has been on the receiving end of unwarranted criticism for almost a century. It is remarkable that in the technological age, we are still effectively in the Dark Ages when it comes to our attitude toward it.
Even the Gateway Drug theory, which has been debunked time and again, resurfaces in every anti-weed rant. Here are the facts: Only 1 in every 104 marijuana users move on to cocaine, and even fewer move on to heroin. Most of the time, the prohibition of weed causes the problem; someone buys weed from a dealer and is offered heroin for example.
Marijuana is not illegal because it is harmful or addictive, it is illegal because it represents a clear and present danger to Big Pharma and perhaps even the tobacco industry. Its illegality was based on lies, immorality, and racism, and it is very sad indeed that in this day and age, such propaganda still wins out.(Marijuana break)
Why do you think its illegal?
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