Know before you smoke

Some effects of marijuana smoking for 4/20

While 420, the legendary police code for a marijuana bust, is a myth (there are no universal codes, different departments use different ones), many stoners celebrate April 20 as the day to get high. And although marijuana is not as harmful or additive as many legal substances, users should still know the real effects of the herb.

How Does it Affect You?

A mild hallucinogen, marijuana has some of alcohol’s depressant and disabling properties. User reaction, however, is heavily influenced by expectations and past experience, and many first-time users feel nothing at all.

Effects of smoking are generally felt within a few minutes and peak in 10 to 30 minutes. They include dry mouth and throat, increased heart rate, impaired coordination and balance, delayed reaction time and diminished short-term memory. Moderate doses tend to induce a sense of well-being and a dreamy state of relaxation that encourages fantasies, renders some users highly suggestible, and distorts perception (making it dangerous to operate machinery, drive a car or boat, or ride a bicycle). Stronger doses prompt more intense and often disturbing reactions including paranoia and hallucinations.

Most of marijuana’s short-term effects wear off within two or three hours. The drug itself, however, tends to linger on. THC is a fat-soluble substance and will accumulate in fatty tissues in the liver, lungs, testes and other organs. Two days after smoking marijuana, one-quarter of the THC content may still be retained. It will show up in urine tests three days after use, and traces may be picked up by sensitive blood tests two to four weeks later.

The Impact on the Mind

Marijuana use reduces learning ability. Research has been piling up of late demonstrating clearly that marijuana limits the capacity to absorb and retain information. A 1995 study of college students discovered that the inability of heavy marijuana users to focus, sustain attention, and organize data persists for as long as 24 hours after their last use of the drug. Earlier research, comparing cognitive abilities of adult marijuana users with non-using adults, found that users fall short on memory as well as math and verbal skills. Although it has yet to be proven that heavy marijuana use can cause irreversible loss of intellectual capacity, animal studies have shown marijuana-induced structural damage to portions of the brain that are essential to memory and learning.

The Impact on the Body

Chronic marijuana smokers are prey to chest colds, bronchitis, emphysema and bronchial asthma. Persistent use will damage lungs and airways and raise the risk of cancer. There is just as much exposure to cancer-causing chemicals from smoking one marijuana joint as smoking five tobacco cigarettes. And there is evidence that marijuana may limit the ability of the immune system to fight infection and disease.

Marijuana also affects hormones. Regular use can delay the onset of puberty in young men and reduce sperm production. For women, regular use may disrupt normal monthly menstrual cycles and inhibit ovulation. When pregnant women use marijuana, they run the risk of having smaller babies with lower birth weights, who are more likely than other babies to develop health problems. Some studies have also found indications of developmental delays in children exposed to marijuana before birth.

While there is a “National Smoke Out Day,” it’s in November and aims to get people to quit smoking cigarettes.

Also many people celebrate Earth Day on 4/20 as well. You know, plant a tree for Mother Earth.

Additionally, Hitler’s birthday was April 20, and no one should celebrate that, but the Columbine Shootings, which spawned from Hitler’s birthday, occurred on April 20.

An officer from the Lebanon Police Dept. informed The Pulse they do not even recognize April 20 as a target day; no road blocks, no extra men on duty.

But the officer added, “Any day that celebrates illegal drug use is dangerous to society.

“If you get behind the wheel of a car under the influence of marijuana it is just as dangerous as drinking and driving. Your depth perception and reaction times are slowed.”

And those are two things you definitely need when you drive!

Marijuana Dangers

? Impaired perception

? Diminished short-term memory

? Loss of concentration and coordination

? Impaired judgment

? Increased risk of accidents

? Loss of motivation

? Diminished inhibitions

? Increased heart rate

? Anxiety, panic attacks, and paranoia

? Hallucinations