Granted this was before it was made legal in California but it doesn’t matter....you’ll still believe as long as it puts you in an altered state of mind it’s still your miracle drug
1. It’s against the law (without proper prescription or recommendation).
2. There are 400-460 chemicals in a marijuana cigarette.
3. There are 55 known cancer causing chemicals in marijuana.
4. There is 3-5 times more tar in one marijuana cigarette as compared with tobacco.
5. There is 3-5 times more carbon monoxide absorbed as compared with tobacco.
6. Marijuana smoke is 18 times hotter than cigarette smoke.
7. Marijuana potency has increased as much as 40 times since the 60’s.
8. 90% of the tar inhaled remains in the lungs forever.
9. Six months of marijuana smoking produces the same damage as 20-25 years of cigarette smoking.
10. Marijuana causes 40-50% decrease in reaction time.
11. Marijuana causes heart rate increase of 15-20%, and raises or lowers blood pressure, as well as lowering body temperature.
12. With chronic/heavy use 3-12 times as many cancer growths develop as compared to other causes of cancer, and they grow 4 times more quickly.
13. Marijuana use can lead to addiction.
14. Marijuana causes substantial decrease in immunological response system and weakens macrophages (a.k.a. killer cells) and T-cells. .
15. Marijuana suppresses white blood cell, blood lymphocyte production..
16. Marijuana inhibits dopamine production (brain hormone/neurotransmitter involved with emotion, mood, attention, learning, sleep and many other complex brain and central nervous system functions).
17. Marijuana increases susceptibility to disease and prolongs illness.
18. Marijuana use depresses cell division and synthesis of DNA.
19. Marijuana use alters the structure of brain cell membrane.
20. Marijuana use alters cell structure in lung air passages and bronchial passages.
21. Marijuana may be laced with harder drugs before sale without the users’ knowledge.
22. Marijuana use in males can cause a 50% decrease in testosterone levels, with as little as one weeks use.
23. Marijuana use (chronic/heavy) in prepubescent males may cause: permanent sterility, failure to develop masculine traits, reproductive immaturity or chromosome damage.
24. Marijuana use (chronic/heavy) in prepubescent females may cause: inactive ovaries and post puberty may cause low birth weight babies or still births
25. Marijuana use in females can result in 3-4 times as many defective monthly cycles (no ovulation or shortened fertility)
26. Long term use can cause “A-motivational syndrome”, which is the loss of motivation, short attention span, decreased energy and ambition, impaired communication skills, poor judgment and diminished effectiveness in social situations due to permanent damage to the limbic area of the brain.
27. Chemicals (THC) from marijuana are fat-soluble and tend to be retained in the body, particularly in the brain and reproductive organs.
28. Marijuana impairs judgment which contributes to accidents, bad decision making and harmful behavior (STD’s, HIV, car accidents, pregnancy, arrests, etc.).
29. Marijuana use leads to abnormal functioning of lung tissue (injured or destroyed).
30. Marijuana use can cause distorted perception (sight, sounds, time, touch)
31. Marijuana use can cause loss of motor skills (timing, balance, movements, and coordination).
32. Marijuana users are at greater risk for chest colds, lung infections, pneumonia, daily cough, phlegm, bacterial infections, fungi and bronchitis.
33. Marijuana users are at risk to become addicted to “harder” drugs.
34. Marijuana use puts adolescents at risk of damaging key brain pathways.
35. Chronic/heavy marijuana use can cause withdrawal symptoms
36. Marijuana use shuts down or restricts blood flow patterns to the frontal lobe, and interferes with the normal function of the hippocampus and cortex.
37. Marijuana use can lead to lower college entrance exam scores.
38. Marijuana users (teenaged) are 4 times as likely to become pregnant or get someone pregnant
39. Marijuana linked to lower grades. “D” average students are 4 times as likely to have used marijuana as “A” student.
40. Marijuana use can lead to loss of scholarship or scholarship money.
41. Teenage marijuana user’s drop out rate is twice that of non-user, 5 times as likely if alcohol and other drugs are used.
42. Marijuana users are more vulnerable to neuropsychological deficits, especially verbal.
43. Marijuana use may cause or trigger paranoia, hallucinations, flash backs, depersonalization, depression, aggressiveness, toxic psychosis, bipolar, schizophrenia, social withdrawal, irritability, paranoia, anxiety, nervousness, anger, insomnia, violent outbursts, suicidal thought, severe changes in appetite and delusions.
44. Marijuana changes and impedes mental health similar to ways that cocaine, heroin and alcohol do. Regular use may double risk of developing psychotic symptoms.
45. Marijuana users 4 times (5 times in females) as likely to suffer from depression later in life. Childhood use increases depression risk 17%
46. Marijuana can cause problems with memory, learning, concentration, language, and information retention, processing, registering, organizing, and shifting attention (can last for several weeks or be permanent6yvb)
47. Marijuana can cause loss of abstract memory (chronic/heavy use), as well as problems with emotion, creativity and problem solving.
48. Marijuana users are 3 times as likely to have suicidal thoughts.
49. Marijuana users are more likely to have panic attacks and anxiety.
50. Marijuana users (even infrequent) have a 40% increased chance of developing a psychotic disorder later in life. Heavy users (daily) increase risk from 50%-200%.
51. Marijuana users have a more than 6 times greater risk of developing schizophrenia. Even greater risk if there is a family history of the disorder.
52. In 2013, approximately 455,668 people were admitted to emergency rooms for marijuana related problems.
53. Addiction to marijuana can lead to costly drug rehabilitation (marijuana main problem).
54. Purchasing marijuana financially contributes to various levels of criminal enterprise and enables numerous crimes and violence to occur.
55. If you are arrested or cited for a marijuana related offence you may incur: fines, court costs, legal fees, jail sentence, community service time, suspended license, delayed license issuance, and criminal arrest record. You may also incur job loss, school suspension/expulsion, increased vehicle insurance rate and denial of college admittance.
56. Marijuana users are 3 times more likely to develop cancer of the head and neck.
57. Marijuana users risk for heart attack is nearly 5 times greater in the first hour after smoking pot.
58. Marijuana smokers experience 55% more industrial accidents, 85% more injuries, 75% increase in absenteeism, greater workers compensation claims and higher job turnover
59. Marijuana users (early start age) have substantially lower incomes.
60. Long term marijuana users show 70% impairment in decision making abilities.
61. Driving after even a small amount of marijuana use doubles risk for fatal highway accident, larger dose triples risk.
62. Heavy marijuana users at higher risk for gum disease before age of 32, (marijuana is responsible for, 1/3 of new cases).
63. In males, marijuana use causes: significantly less seminal fluid, lower sperm count changes in sperm enzyme cap, reduced ability to attach to egg, abnormal sperm behavior and decreased fertility.
64. Evidence suggests marijuana may be a risk factor in stroke.
65. Evidence suggests marijuana may increase chances of lung, oral cavity, pharynx, and larynx cancer,
66. Marijuana smoke contains 50-70% more carcinogenic hydrocarbons (cancer causing agents) than cigarette smoke.
67. Woman who abuse marijuana during pregnancy or breast feeding expose their children to neurological problems, poor memory and attention, deficits in problem solving and attentiveness, altered response to visual stimuli, impaired motor development, birth defects and retardation of fetal growth and development and lower birth weight babies.
68. Marijuana smokers increase risk of lung cancer by 5.7 times over non-smokers.
69. Marijuana smokers hold harmful smoke in their lungs longer and deeper, which increases their exposure to the dangerous toxins in the drug.
70. Marijuana can contain deadly molds (aspergillus) and the salmonella bacteria.
71. Marijuana may suppress sex drive and contribute to sexual dysfunction.
72. One in four people have the genetic profile that makes marijuana five times more likely to trigger psychotic disorders.
73. 12-17 year olds who smoke marijuana are 85 times more likely to use cocaine.
74. Regular marijuana use may double the risk of developing psychotic symptoms.
75. More kids enter treatment for marijuana dependency then all other illegal drugs combined.
76. Adolescent marijuana use can permanently stunt intelligence by up to 8, I.Q. points.
77. Marijuana use can cause Alzheimer like symptoms.
78. Marijuana use can cause impaired disease resistance.
79. Heavy marijuana users admitted marijuana use negatively impacted all aspects of their lives, including job performance, health, mental wellbeing and satisfactory socializing.
80. Marijuana users report greater health problems later in life.
81. Even light marijuana use shows significant abnormalities in two vital brain regions (nucleus accumbens & amygdala) important in motivation and emotion. These areas control pleasure, reward and reinforcement learning.
82. In the brains of marijuana users, natural rewards such as food, sex and social interaction are less satisfying. This renders the drug more important than normal life pleasures.
83. 9% of marijuana users become addicted.
84. THC levels of commercially available marijuana (edible products) are unreliable (far weaker or up to 50% higher) and in some instances have been found to be “blatant misstatements.”
85. Marijuana use may contribute to heart and artery disease among young and middle-aged adults, particularly those already at risk.
86. Research has linked marijuana use during pregnancy to brain and behavior problems in the babies.
87. Regular marijuana users experienced more antisocial behavior at work such as: stealing and lying.
88. Regular marijuana users experience more relationship problems such as: intimate partner violence and controlling abuse.
89. Regular marijuana users experienced ending up in lower-paying, less skilled and less prestigious jobs than non-users.
90. Regular marijuana users ended up in lower social class than their parents.
91. Marijuana use in late teen years (18-19) are 40% more likely to die by the age of 60.
92. Marijuana use in early life is linked to poorer psychological health.
93. Recreational marijuana use leads to alarming increase of fatal vehicle crashes.
94. Heavy and/or long-term marijuana use can cause Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS), which can cause nausea, vomiting, dehydration and possibly kidney failure.
95. Marijuana use encourages illegal farming, which pollutes the environment with large amounts of deadly toxic pesticides and fertilizers.
96. Marijuana smokers are a three time greater risk of dying from hypertension, or high blood pressure than those who have never used the drug.
The facts in this list have been collected from numerous sources. They include but are not limited to:
www.theantidrug.com , National Institute of Drug Abuse (
www.nida.nih.gov ),
www.abovetheinfluence.co m ,
www.howstuffworks.com , Office of National Drug Control Policy, Drug Awareness Warning Network (DAWN), AAA, Narcotic Educational Foundation of America (
www.cnoa.org), National Center on addiction and Substance Abuse,
www.msnbc.msn.com, Denver Post and others. Contributing groups for this information include but are not limited to Yale University, Harvard University, Cardiff University, Cambridge University, Duke University, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, University of Bristol, Columbia University, University of Washington, University of Buffalo, Karolinska Institute Stockholm, Journal of American Medical Association, New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of neuroscience, British Medical Journal, American Journal of public health, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry Kings College London, Archives of General Psychiatry, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, Psychological Medicine. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. * Last update 04-26-16 *
