Marijuana: Is it Harmful?
By Rev. Mark H. Creech
Their friends do it and they think its cool. They hear songs about it and see it on TV and in the movies. Its leaf is on shirts and caps. Rock stars, athletes and other role models do it. They think everybody is doing it. They wouldn't want you or other authority figures to know about it, but they're doing it too and to them its no big deal.
What am I talking about? I'm talking about the attitude concerning marijuana and its use by many teenagers today. Pop culture touts marijuana as a "harmless high." Unfortunately, according to data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), many young people are buying it — literally and figuratively. NIDA reports that among high school seniors surveyed in 1997, marijuana use has increased by about 72 percent since 1991. The proportion of those seniors who believe regular use of marijuana is harmful has dropped by about 26 percent in the last ten years. These numbers suggest that a lot of teens are convinced that marijuana can't hurt them.
They are sadly mistaken! After years of being heavily used in the United States, marijuana continues to be a drug with an amazing potential to damage and destroy lives.
Marijuana is mind-altering; that is, it has a definite physical impact on the brain. The key ingredient is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which works on the brain to create the marijuana high. Most ordinary marijuana has about 3 to 4 percent THC. But due to hydroponics (water-based) and other new growing techniques, the THC content in marijuana is greater than it was in the 1960's or even the 1980's and can reach above 12 percent, making it more potent.
Some studies by the NIDA reveal that smoking five joints a week is like smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. Marijuana contains some of the highest cancer causing substances known. Its smoke produces airway injury, acute and chronic bronchitis, lung inflammation, and decreased pulmonary defenses against infection. One marijuana cigarette deposits four times as much cancer-causing tar in the airway as tobacco.
Marijuana also impairs psychomotor skills. The 1999 Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) survey reports that using marijuana can be a teenager's ticket to the emergency room, if not the morgue. According to the survey, in 1999 alone, there were 87,150 emergency room cases in which patients admitted to having used marijuana before their injury. When you consider how the social and legal implications of marijuana use may keep some patients from admitting to its use, chances are there are many more cases of marijuana-related emergency room visits than ever reported.
Marijuana hinders a person's ability to concentrate, solve problems, learn and retain new information. It impairs development of healthy social relationships, possibly alienating and isolating youth from their parents and positive role models and peers. It also seems to impair a young person's ability to make good decisions.
Perhaps one of the most devastating things about marijuana, is that despite all the talk that it is not addictive — it is!! In fact, more than 120,000 people in the U. S. seek treatment each year for their marijuana addiction. The drug can be so addicting that in the past few years a new organization was formed called Marijuana Anonymous (a parallel to the famous Alcoholics Anonymous) specifically designed for helping those who struggle with marijuana. According to its website, "Marijuana Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share our experience, strength, and hope with each other that we may solve our problem and help others to recover from marijuana addiction." Life With Hope, a book put out by Marijuana Anonymous, says in response to the claim that the drug is not addicting: "We who are marijuana addicts know the answer to this question. Marijuana controls our lives! We lose interest in all else; our dreams go up in smoke. Ours is a progressive illness often leading us to addictions to other drugs, including alcohol. Our lives, our thinking, our desires center around marijuana — scoring it, dealing it, finding it, and finding ways to stay high."
Contrary to popular belief, most teenagers have not used marijuana and never will. Among students canvassed in a yearly national survey, about one in five tenth graders report they are currently using marijuana. Less than one in four high school seniors is a current marijuana user. Its imperative that we give our children the facts — the majority of people their age do not use marijuana.
Parents, please believe me!!! Marijuana is anything but harmless. It can rob you of your child. Have a frank discussion with your teenager about marijuana and set strict ground rules against it. Moreover, as a role model, your own decision to "say no" to marijuana, other illicit drugs and alcohol also sends a powerful reinforcing message.
Their friends do it and they think its cool. They hear songs about it and see it on TV and in the movies. Its leaf is on shirts and caps. Rock stars, athletes and other role models do it. They think everybody is doing it. They wouldn't want you or other authority figures to know about it, but they're doing it too and to them its no big deal.
What am I talking about? I'm talking about the attitude concerning marijuana and its use by many teenagers today. Pop culture touts marijuana as a "harmless high." Unfortunately, according to data from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), many young people are buying it — literally and figuratively. NIDA reports that among high school seniors surveyed in 1997, marijuana use has increased by about 72 percent since 1991. The proportion of those seniors who believe regular use of marijuana is harmful has dropped by about 26 percent in the last ten years. These numbers suggest that a lot of teens are convinced that marijuana can't hurt them.
They are sadly mistaken! After years of being heavily used in the United States, marijuana continues to be a drug with an amazing potential to damage and destroy lives.
Marijuana is mind-altering; that is, it has a definite physical impact on the brain. The key ingredient is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which works on the brain to create the marijuana high. Most ordinary marijuana has about 3 to 4 percent THC. But due to hydroponics (water-based) and other new growing techniques, the THC content in marijuana is greater than it was in the 1960's or even the 1980's and can reach above 12 percent, making it more potent.
Some studies by the NIDA reveal that smoking five joints a week is like smoking a pack of cigarettes a day. Marijuana contains some of the highest cancer causing substances known. Its smoke produces airway injury, acute and chronic bronchitis, lung inflammation, and decreased pulmonary defenses against infection. One marijuana cigarette deposits four times as much cancer-causing tar in the airway as tobacco.
Marijuana also impairs psychomotor skills. The 1999 Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) survey reports that using marijuana can be a teenager's ticket to the emergency room, if not the morgue. According to the survey, in 1999 alone, there were 87,150 emergency room cases in which patients admitted to having used marijuana before their injury. When you consider how the social and legal implications of marijuana use may keep some patients from admitting to its use, chances are there are many more cases of marijuana-related emergency room visits than ever reported.
Marijuana hinders a person's ability to concentrate, solve problems, learn and retain new information. It impairs development of healthy social relationships, possibly alienating and isolating youth from their parents and positive role models and peers. It also seems to impair a young person's ability to make good decisions.
Perhaps one of the most devastating things about marijuana, is that despite all the talk that it is not addictive — it is!! In fact, more than 120,000 people in the U. S. seek treatment each year for their marijuana addiction. The drug can be so addicting that in the past few years a new organization was formed called Marijuana Anonymous (a parallel to the famous Alcoholics Anonymous) specifically designed for helping those who struggle with marijuana. According to its website, "Marijuana Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share our experience, strength, and hope with each other that we may solve our problem and help others to recover from marijuana addiction." Life With Hope, a book put out by Marijuana Anonymous, says in response to the claim that the drug is not addicting: "We who are marijuana addicts know the answer to this question. Marijuana controls our lives! We lose interest in all else; our dreams go up in smoke. Ours is a progressive illness often leading us to addictions to other drugs, including alcohol. Our lives, our thinking, our desires center around marijuana — scoring it, dealing it, finding it, and finding ways to stay high."
Contrary to popular belief, most teenagers have not used marijuana and never will. Among students canvassed in a yearly national survey, about one in five tenth graders report they are currently using marijuana. Less than one in four high school seniors is a current marijuana user. Its imperative that we give our children the facts — the majority of people their age do not use marijuana.
Parents, please believe me!!! Marijuana is anything but harmless. It can rob you of your child. Have a frank discussion with your teenager about marijuana and set strict ground rules against it. Moreover, as a role model, your own decision to "say no" to marijuana, other illicit drugs and alcohol also sends a powerful reinforcing message.
