Marijuana is considered as a hallucinogenic drug and it means that it is with the capacity to alter the perception. Its active ingredients come from the resins of a plant called Cannabis Sativa. The flowers of this plant are dried and smoked and the resin can be extracted and concentrated to produce the other types of substances such as hashish or hash oil. It is not uncommon to add a variety of types of the adulterants.
Long Term Effects of Marijuana
The long term effects of Marijuana are also unclear. A syndrome of apathy and lack of the motivation have been described, although other investigations have refuted these effects. And the same can be said about their association with schizophrenia.
What does seem clear is that marijuana often worsens the problems that the person who consumes it already has in his or her life. The alteration of the mood caused by this drug allows the consumers to avoid reality and avoid facing their problems and, the more they avoid facing the reality, the more problems they add to their lives.
It is not uncommon for the people who have been to the drug rehab centers, recovering from marijuana addiction to mourn the lost opportunities, loss of work productivity, job abstinence, and problems in their relationships or even broken relationships.
Addictive Potential
There is great controversy over the addictive potential of marijuana. At first, it was thought to be non-addictive because there is no observable withdrawal syndrome. But with the passage of time, the improvements in the cultivation of this plant have made it quite more potent than in the past, and a withdrawal syndrome can occur with anxiety, insomnia, irritability, decreased appetite and marijuana cravings. These symptoms usually begin the day after leaving the drug, peaking two or three days later and decrease one or two weeks after consuming it for the last time. Since marijuana slowly disappears from the body, the withdrawal syndrome is not marked.
Therapeutic Uses
Marijuana is often used in the cases of glaucoma for the reason that it lowers eye pressure, helps counteract the nausea caused by chemotherapy and has also been used to manage pain, as a muscle relaxant and as a tranquilizer. There are pharmaceutical products derived from this plant such as Marinol, which is used for nausea and as an appetite stimulant. However, the negative effects described above also occur in the cases where it is consumed therapeutically.
