MARIJUANA

A drug, medically termed cannabis indica, derived from the hemp plant and taken primarily in cigarette form to obtain pleasurable effects.In Eastern countries preparations of marijuana, also known as hashish, bhang, and charas, are chewed, smoked, or drunk. There has recently been a sharp increase in the number of young people in the United States and other Western countries who are smoking “reefers,” or “pot,” as they call it. An estimated 25 to 40 per cent of college students experiment with the drug, but the majority try it on no more than one to four occasions. Inhalation of marijuana produces a state of euphoria and exhilaration, during which the smoker talks volubly and feels increasingly self-confident. This state is usually followed by pleasurable relaxation and sensations of drifting or floating on a cloud.Psychological tests have demonstrated that in spite of feelings of greater capability and efficiency, practically all abilities—motor, intellectual, and perceptual—are actually diminished. This combination of increased confidence with reduced competence is a dangerous one, and often leads to reckless driving, impulsive antisocial acts, and sexual misbehavior. Marijuana smoking is reputed to increase sexual adequacy, but this is based more on psychological than on physiological effects, since the smoker simply feels more self-assured and less inhibited.In contrast to the opium addict, the marijuana user does not become physically dependent on the drug, nor does he acquire an increased tolerance which would lead to more and more smoking to get the same effect. Moreover, the habit can be given up without experiencing withdrawal symptoms. For these reasons the drug cannot be said to produce a true addiction, although it is sometimes described as addictive. The term habituation is more accurate.Marijuana does not appear to lead to physical deterioration. Nevertheless many users react in unpredictable ways. It sometimes produces pathological intoxication and the disturbed behavior that goes with it; and it may even precipitate an acute psychotic reaction in predisposed individuals. Louria (1967) quotes a study in which “one subject smoked one cigarette and became restless, agitated, dizzy, fearful of his surroundings, afraid of death, and had three short attacks of unconsciousness.” He comments, “That is not my