Marijuana- legal or otherwise – is a hot topic across the country, and in Garrett County as well. As in many other communities, survey data indicates that our youth perception of the risk of marijuana use is going down. Typically, when drug use is not seen as being risky, use of the drug goes up.
According to the 2015 Core Measure Survey that was administered to all middle and high school youth in Garrett County, more high school youth see smoking cigarettes as risky than smoking marijuana (72% vs. 52%). In fact, between prescription drug use, smoking cigarettes, binge drinking, and marijuana use, the latter was seen as the least risky. In looking at the data over time, youth perception of the risk of marijuana use has gone down from 74% viewing it as risky in 2004 to just 52% in 2015.
The Facts:
Marijuana is a product of the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa. There are over 400 chemicals in marijuana, but the main active chemical is THC. It is the THC that affects the brain the most. It is a mind-altering chemical that gives marijuana users a high.
The Risks:
- Addiction— 1 in 10 adults and 1 in 6 adolescents who try marijuana will become addicted to it. The adolescent brain is especially susceptible to marijuana use.1,2,3
- Mental Health—Chronic marijuana users have an increased risk of schizophrenia (6 fold increase), depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts.4,5,6
- Effects on the Brain— Persistent and heavy use among adolescents reduces IQ by 6-8 points.7 Immediate effects of marijuana use on the brain include impaired short-term memory and impaired attention and judgment.
- Effects on the Body—Marijuana smoke is an irritant to the lungs. It contains more carcinogens than tobacco smoke. Marijuana smoke leads to a greater prevalence of bronchitis and cough.
- Drugged Driving—Because marijuana impairs judgment and coordination and slows reaction time, it is the second most common drug (after alcohol) implicated in car crashes.
The Issues:
Is marijuana medicine? An authoritative report from the Institute of Medicine, Marijuana and Medicine,8 acknowledges that marijuana has medicinal properties, but it does not have to be smoked or eaten to get those benefits. Scientific data shows that there is potential value in drugs that come from the marijuana plant (called cannabinoids). These drugs continue to be clinically tried for their effectiveness in pain relief, control of nausea and vomiting, appetite stimulation, and in the treatment of epilepsy and glaucoma. However, smoking marijuana for its medicinal value is a crude delivery system that delivers harmful substances along with the medicinal ones, including most of those found in tobacco smoke. According to the report, the future of medicinal marijuana lies not in smoked marijuana, but in chemically defined drugs.
What you can do to help:
Educate: Take advantage of any of the resources below that can help start a conversation with or provide information to people that you have access to.
- Talking Points—Garrett County data and talking points with reference to research
- Marijuana Talk Kit—what you need to know to talk with your teen about marijuana; from the Partnership for Drug-Free Kids
- Click on this link if you are interested in reading about Maryland’s Medical Cannabis Regulations.
1Anthony, J; Warner, L.A.; and Kessler, R.C. Comparative epidemiology of dependence on tobacco, alcohol, controlled substances, and inhalants: Basic findings from the National Comorbidity Survey. Exp Clin Psychyopharmacol 2:244-268, 1994.
2Hall, W.; and Degenhardt, L. Adverse health effects of non-medical cannabis use. Lancet 374:1383-1391, 2009.
3Hall, W. The adverse health effects of cannabis use: What are they, and what are their implications for policy? Int J of Drug Policy 20:458-466, 2009.
4Arseneault, L. Cannabis use in adolescence and risk for adult psychosis: longitudinal prospective study. British Medical Journal, 2002.
5Patton, G. et. al. Cannabis use and mental health in young people: cohort study. British Medical Journal, 2002.
6Rey, J. Cannabis and mental health, British Medical Journal, 2002.
7Meier, M. Persistent cannabis users show neuropsychological decline from childhood to midlife. Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, 2012.
8Joy, J., Watson, S., Benson, J.; Institute of Medicine. 1999. Marijuana and Medicine: Assessing the Science Base. National Academies Press. Www.nap.edu/catalog/6376.html.
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