Dro_Princess
09-27-2006, 06:55 PM
This may be long, but after being stoned for the past few hours I gathered a few facts about Marijuana, and found them intresting and wanted to share. Caution it may be hard for some of us to understand this while stoned I had to read some of it twice during the peek of my high.
A study of the development of 59 Jamaican children, one-half of the sample's mothers used marijuana during pregnacy, was research from birth to age 5 years. Pregnant non-using mothers were paired with cannabis users who matched age, parity, and socioeconomic status. Testing was done at 1, 3, and 30 days of age with the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scales, and at ages 4 and 5 years with the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities test. Data was also collected from the child's home environment and temperament, as well as standardized tests. The results over the entire reseach period showed no significant differences in development testing outcomes between using and non-using mothers. At 30 days of age, however, the children of marijuana-using mothers had higher scores on autonomic stability and reflexes.
The effects of tobacco and cannabis smoking differ, however, as they affect different parts of the respiratory tract: whereas tobacco tends to penetrate to the smaller, peripheral passageways of the lungs, cannabis tends to concentrate on the larger, central passageways. One consequence of this is that cannabis, unlike tobacco, does not appear to cause emphysema. Also, unlike tobacco, regular cannabis use does not appear to cause COPD, either. Researchers have speculated on potential side effects from the fact that cannabis burns at a higher temperature than tobacco.
Cannabis smoke contains numerous compounds known to cause cancer. Surprisingly, however, scientific studies have failed to show higher cancer rates in cannabis smokers. A study published in 2006 on a large population sample (1,200 people with lung, neck, or head cancer, and a matching group of 1,040 without cancer) failed to positively correlate a lung cancer risk, in fact the results indicated a slight negative correlation between long and short-term cannabis use and cancer, suggesting a possible therapeutic effect. This followed an even larger 1997 study examining the records of 64,855 Kaiser patients, which also found no positive correlation between cannabis use and cancer. It has been noted, separately, that THC, a dilative agent, may help cleanse the lungs by dilating the bronchia, and could actively reduce the instance of tumors. Additionally, a study by Rosenblatt found no association between marijuana use and the development of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
Like tobacco smoke, marijuana smoke contains tars which are rich in carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are a prime culprit in smoking-related cancers. However, cannabinoids themselves are not carcinogenic. An obvious way to protect smokers' health is therefore to minimize the content of smoke tars relative to cannabinoids.
The most obvious way to do this is to bypass smoking completely by simply eating the cannabis as "space cakes".
Another way is to increase the THC potency of the marijuana (see also section on potency above). Assuming smokers adjust their smoke intake to the cannabinoid dosage, the higher the concentration of cannabinoids, the lower the amount of tars they are likely to consume to achieve their desired effect.
Vaporisers, by heating the cannabis oils to be inhaled without combustion, almost avoid the risk altogether. A 2000 study conducted by NORML and MAPS found that the two tested vaporizers performed up to 25% better than unfiltered marihuana cigarettes in terms of tar delivery.
Surprisingly, the same study found that water pipes (bongs) and filtered cigarettes performed 30% worse than regular, unfiltered joints. The reason is that waterpipes and filters filter out more psychoactive THC than they do tars, thereby requiring users to smoke more to reach their desired effect. The study does not, however, rule out the possibility that waterpipes could have other benefits, such as filtering out harmful gases such as carbon monoxide.
The areas of the brain where cannabinoid receptors are most prevalently located are consistent with the behavioral effects produced by cannabinoids. Brain regions in which cannabinoid receptors are very abundant are: the basal ganglia, associated with movement control; the cerebellum, associated with body movement coordination; the hippocampus, associated with learning, memory, and stress control; the cerebral cortex, associated with higher cognitive functions; and the nucleus accumbens, regarded as the reward center of the brain. Other regions where cannabinoid receptors are moderately concentrated are: the hypothalamus, mediating body housekeeping functions; the amygdala, associated with emotional responses and fears; the spinal cord, associated with peripheral sensations like pain; the brain stem, associated with sleep, arousal, and motor control; and the nucleus of the solitary tract, associated with visceral sensations like nausea and vomiting.
Currently, seven people receive medical marijuana shipments from the US Federal Government as part of the Compassionate Investigational New Drug program including Irvin Rosenfeld, a 52-year-old stockbroker who has been featured in numerous print articles and on the Penn & Teller: Bullshit! cable television series. Rosenfeld has been receiving the federal marijuana since 1983. The marijuana is grown on a farm at the University of Mississippi in Oxford and each person receives 300 joints a month.
My eyes are tired.
A study of the development of 59 Jamaican children, one-half of the sample's mothers used marijuana during pregnacy, was research from birth to age 5 years. Pregnant non-using mothers were paired with cannabis users who matched age, parity, and socioeconomic status. Testing was done at 1, 3, and 30 days of age with the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scales, and at ages 4 and 5 years with the McCarthy Scales of Children's Abilities test. Data was also collected from the child's home environment and temperament, as well as standardized tests. The results over the entire reseach period showed no significant differences in development testing outcomes between using and non-using mothers. At 30 days of age, however, the children of marijuana-using mothers had higher scores on autonomic stability and reflexes.
The effects of tobacco and cannabis smoking differ, however, as they affect different parts of the respiratory tract: whereas tobacco tends to penetrate to the smaller, peripheral passageways of the lungs, cannabis tends to concentrate on the larger, central passageways. One consequence of this is that cannabis, unlike tobacco, does not appear to cause emphysema. Also, unlike tobacco, regular cannabis use does not appear to cause COPD, either. Researchers have speculated on potential side effects from the fact that cannabis burns at a higher temperature than tobacco.
Cannabis smoke contains numerous compounds known to cause cancer. Surprisingly, however, scientific studies have failed to show higher cancer rates in cannabis smokers. A study published in 2006 on a large population sample (1,200 people with lung, neck, or head cancer, and a matching group of 1,040 without cancer) failed to positively correlate a lung cancer risk, in fact the results indicated a slight negative correlation between long and short-term cannabis use and cancer, suggesting a possible therapeutic effect. This followed an even larger 1997 study examining the records of 64,855 Kaiser patients, which also found no positive correlation between cannabis use and cancer. It has been noted, separately, that THC, a dilative agent, may help cleanse the lungs by dilating the bronchia, and could actively reduce the instance of tumors. Additionally, a study by Rosenblatt found no association between marijuana use and the development of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.
Like tobacco smoke, marijuana smoke contains tars which are rich in carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are a prime culprit in smoking-related cancers. However, cannabinoids themselves are not carcinogenic. An obvious way to protect smokers' health is therefore to minimize the content of smoke tars relative to cannabinoids.
The most obvious way to do this is to bypass smoking completely by simply eating the cannabis as "space cakes".
Another way is to increase the THC potency of the marijuana (see also section on potency above). Assuming smokers adjust their smoke intake to the cannabinoid dosage, the higher the concentration of cannabinoids, the lower the amount of tars they are likely to consume to achieve their desired effect.
Vaporisers, by heating the cannabis oils to be inhaled without combustion, almost avoid the risk altogether. A 2000 study conducted by NORML and MAPS found that the two tested vaporizers performed up to 25% better than unfiltered marihuana cigarettes in terms of tar delivery.
Surprisingly, the same study found that water pipes (bongs) and filtered cigarettes performed 30% worse than regular, unfiltered joints. The reason is that waterpipes and filters filter out more psychoactive THC than they do tars, thereby requiring users to smoke more to reach their desired effect. The study does not, however, rule out the possibility that waterpipes could have other benefits, such as filtering out harmful gases such as carbon monoxide.
The areas of the brain where cannabinoid receptors are most prevalently located are consistent with the behavioral effects produced by cannabinoids. Brain regions in which cannabinoid receptors are very abundant are: the basal ganglia, associated with movement control; the cerebellum, associated with body movement coordination; the hippocampus, associated with learning, memory, and stress control; the cerebral cortex, associated with higher cognitive functions; and the nucleus accumbens, regarded as the reward center of the brain. Other regions where cannabinoid receptors are moderately concentrated are: the hypothalamus, mediating body housekeeping functions; the amygdala, associated with emotional responses and fears; the spinal cord, associated with peripheral sensations like pain; the brain stem, associated with sleep, arousal, and motor control; and the nucleus of the solitary tract, associated with visceral sensations like nausea and vomiting.
Currently, seven people receive medical marijuana shipments from the US Federal Government as part of the Compassionate Investigational New Drug program including Irvin Rosenfeld, a 52-year-old stockbroker who has been featured in numerous print articles and on the Penn & Teller: Bullshit! cable television series. Rosenfeld has been receiving the federal marijuana since 1983. The marijuana is grown on a farm at the University of Mississippi in Oxford and each person receives 300 joints a month.
My eyes are tired.