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... cy, meaning that currently available marijuana must be considered an addictive drug. Increasing numbers of teenagers report getting "very" intoxicated or "bombed" when they smoke marijuana, suggesting they may be using a powerful form of the drug. Among teens who smoked in the last month, nearly 20 percent reported compulsive daily use. Dr.
Charles Schuster, former director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), stated: "Physical dependence, which is what most people mean by addiction, has been scientifically demonstrated. The abstinence syndrome, (the indicator of physical dependence) can occur when a state of marijuana intoxication is maintained over a prolonged period of time and then abruptly discontinued. Anorexia, anxiety, agitation, depression, restlessness, irritability, tremors, severe insomnia, sweating, exaggerated deep tendon reflexes, tremulousness of the tongue and extremities, and dysphoria have all been observed when marijuana use is rapidly withdrawn. It is important to note that these effects occur after only a few weeks of constant use and at dosages that would be common among street users. "Marijuana does not produce the same kind of hangover that alcohol does. While the after-effects of marijuana use are not usually dramatic, they still exist.
Because the fat-soluble cannabinoids are washed out of the cell slowly (20 to 30 days), marijuana withdrawal occurs over a longer period of time with less dramatic symptoms. Alcohol is water soluble, and the ethanol is washed out in 12 to 24 hours causing more pain, headache, etc. Young adolescent users occasionally report withdrawal symptoms, and parents and pediatricians should be aware that a temporary flu-like syndrome may occur when a youngster stops using marijuana. How do the chemicals in marijuana change the way a person sees, hears, smells, tastes, and feels things? When someone uses marijuana, these chemicals travel through the bloodstream and quickly attach to special places on the brain's nerve cells. These places are called receptors, because they receive information from other nerve cells and from chemicals.
When a receptor receives information, it causes changes in the nerve cell. The chemical in marijuana that has a big impact on the brain is called THC -- tetrahydrocannabinol. Scientists recently discovered that some areas of the brain have a lot of THC receptors, while others have very few or none. These clues are helping researchers figure out exactly how THC works in the brain.
Some of THC's effects are useful in the world of medicine -- like preventing nausea and blocking pain. The trick is for scientists to get these results without the harmful effects. Researchers recently found out the brain makes a chemical -- anand amide that attaches to the same receptors as THC. This discovery may lead to the development of medications that are chemically similar to THC but less harmful, and they may be used for treating nausea and pain. Due to restraints on experiments in which marijuana is used on human subjects, especially on the female who may become pregnant, most of our information comes from animal studies and healthy males. Since marijuana was seldom used by the female in ancient cultures, there is little information that can be drawn from historical data.
However, current research is reporting effects of marijuana use on females during pregnancy. The recent research is raising serious concerns about the effect on female reproductive health. This new information, along with research on animals, helps us better understand the harmful effects of marijuana. Marijuana acts on the part of the brain (the hypothalamus) which directs the signals that regulate hormones.
In turn, this determines the sequence in the menstrual cycle. Scientists have found that marijuana interferes with the hormone signals, which can cause irregular or absent ovulation. In the only clinical study reported on human females, the menstrual cycles were irregular, the female hormones were depressed, and the testosterone level was raised. In animal studies and in clinical reports, a complete cessation of menstruation is sometimes found in heavy users. Even though this effect may be reversible, it may take several months of no marijuana use before the menstrual cycles become normal again. Researchers are particularly concerned about marijuana use by adolescent girls, whose reproductive systems are in a fragile and complex period of development.
A disruption or decrease of sex hormones in the developing and immature body of the young female may have longer lasting or even permanent effects. In both animal and human studies, marijuana has been shown to have negative effects on pregnancy. We know that the chemicals in marijuana are transported to the developing fetus through the placenta. There seems to be a disruption of the placenta function, which may explain the increase in miscarriages, stillbirths and deaths soon after birth.
Visible birth defects, such as limb malformations, have not been reported in humans. Recent clinical studies of newborns born to mothers who were marijuana smokers show subtle defects in the central nervous system. These babies show abnormal reactions to light and sound, exhibit tremors and startles, and have the high-pitched cry associated with drug withdrawal. Scientists are concerned about the long-term effects of marijuana on the unborn child. Occurring at five times the rate of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Fetal Marijuana Syndrome is a growing concern of many doctors. Concern that maternal marijuana use during pregnancy may be linked with non lymphoblastic leukemia in children is also rising.
Furthermore, doctors worry that children born to marijuana-using mothers will have learning disabilities, attention deficits and hormonal irregularities as they grow older, even if there are no apparent signs of damage at birth. Pregnant or nursing mothers who smoke marijuana should talk to their doctors immediately. Studies consistently show that marijuana interferes with growth and reproductive hormones. This is of particular significance to developing adolescents who are going through a very vulnerable period of rapid and complex biochemical changes.
In the U. S. , as in most countries, marijuana experiments on adolescents are not allowed; therefore, most of our scientific knowledge about marijuana's effect on the growth process and sexual development of our youth is based on animal research and research on the adult male. The chemicals in marijuana affect the parts of the brain which control and regulate the sex and growth hormones. In males, marijuana can decrease the testosterone level. Testosterone is a major growth hormone and is essential to the completion of the growth process in young males.
This process, including the broadening of shoulders, enlargement of muscles in the chest, biceps, and buttocks, deepening of the voice, beard growth and genital development, is dependent on adequate hormone levels. For a long time parents and physicians have described the typical male "pot head" as having narrow shoulders, lack of muscle development (particularly in upper arms, chest, buttocks and upper leg), pale looking face and heavy-lidded eyes. Pediatricians and endocrinologists report increasing cases of pubertal arrest which seem to be marijuana- related. The occasional cases of enlarged breasts in male marijuana users seem to be triggered by the chemical impact on the hormone system. Regular marijuana use is also associated with a decrease in sperm count and sperm motility, as well as significant increases in abnormal and immature sperm. In many of the sperm, the transmission of DNA is altered and chromosomes are rearranged.
Recent animal studies have raised serious concerns that chromosomal aberrations and genetic mutations may be transmitted from the father to the next generation of male offspring. Marijuana is a contributing factor in the rising problem of infertility in males. Young males should know the effects and potential effects of marijuana use on sex and growth processes. Bibliography:
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