Presentation Transcript

1. MARIJUANA/HASHISH
2. Objectives (What we’ll Learn) What is Marijuana? Reasons why teens do use marijuana. Realities of what it can/cannot do. Immediate and long term effects. Legal Status.
3. Vocab Marijuana: Comes from cannabissativa plant. Grows in the wild, contains over 400 chemicals. Psychoactive: Changes the way your brain works THC: Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol The mind altering ingredient. Various concentrations in different parts of the plant.
4. Prevalence What % of teens smoke marijuana? What % used in the last month? What % use daily?
5. The Real Truth!!
6. 46% of school students perceive moderate-great risk in occasional use. 73% perceive moderate-great risk from regular use.
7. Pros/Cons of Marijuana Use. Why/why not use?? Can it REALLY do all that??
8. Why Teens Begin Curiosity: it’s something new and different. Peer Pressure: Because their friends are doing it. Unable to say “no”, besides if all my friends are doing it how bad can it be?? Wanting to look more grown up: Viewed as a more “adult” behavior. Pleasurable Effects: Like the way it makes them feel. Coping Device: Feel it helps them deal with life’s problems
9. What Does It Do?? Causes heart to beat faster/work harder. Raises blood pressure. Hands less steady. Makes people feel sleepy. Harder to drive car/or machines. Harder to pay attention. Harder to learn new things. Harder to remember stuff. May make people feel nervous/confused/depressed
10. Short Term effects Usually smoked, but can be eaten. Effect reported in minutes, peak in approximately 30 minutes. Effects can last up to 3 hrs. Increased heart rate and pulse. Red, dry eyes. Dry mouth and throat (cotton mouth). Decrease in body temperature. Low doses = restlessness, followed by euphoria. Change in sensory perception (hallucinations of sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing).
11. Short Term Effects Cont. Strong dose= intensified effects. Image distortion Loss of personal identity and fantasies (hallucinations). Today’s marijuana in approximately 10 times more potent than in 1975.
12. Long Term Effects THC absorbed into body can stay present for 1 month. Smoking 5 days a week for six months showed changes in the brain cell structure. Increase heart rate by as much as 50%, resulting in chest pain and poor blood supply to the heart. Can result in lung inflammation resulting in reduced pulmonary function. Heavy use can affect white blood cell production, decreasing your ability to fight infection. Can affect reproductive systems. Males-lower testosterone and sperm production Females-affect fertility and regularity of menstrual cycles
13. Marijuana contains more than 400 chemicals, including most of the harmful substances found in tobacco smoke. Smoking one marijuana cigarette deposits about four times more tar into the lungs than a filtered tobacco cigarette.

14. 2006 CA Seizure of Potential $$ MARIJUANA 3,358 lbs. $1,418,794.00 MARIJUANA 236,526 plants,$236,699,500.00 Per Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement (CA Dept Justice)
15. Gateway Drug??? What is a “gateway drug”? Is there a relationship between marijuana use and use of other drugs? If using marijuana will someone move to more “dangerous” drugs? Can a marijuana user become a drug addict?
16. Marijuana As a Gateway Among marijuana's most harmful consequences is its role in leading to the use of other illegal drugs like heroin and cocaine. Long-term studies of students who use drugs show that very few young people use other illegal drugs without first trying marijuana. While not all people who use marijuana go on to use other drugs, using marijuana sometimes lowers inhibitions about drug use and exposes users to a culture that encourages use of other drugs. 
 The risk of using cocaine has been estimated to be more than 104 times greater for those who have tried marijuana than for those who have never tried it. INFORMATION ACCORDING TO U.S. DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION WEBSITE. http://www.justice.gov/dea/concern/marijuana.html
17. Laws SECTION 11357-11362.9 HS 11357. (a) -who possesses any concentrated cannabis, punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not more than one year or by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500), or by both. (b)-possesses not more than 28.5 grams of marijuana, is guilty of an infraction punishable by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars ($100). (c)-possesses more than 28.5 grams of marijuana, punished by imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not more than six months or by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500), or by both
18. Laws (e) Except as authorized by law, every person under the age of 18 who possesses not more than 28.5 grams of marijuana, other than concentrated cannabis, upon the grounds of, or within, any school providing instruction in kindergarten or any of grades 1 through 12 during hours the school is open for classes or school-related programs is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be subject to the following dispositions: (1) A fine of not more than two hundred fifty dollars ($250), upon a finding that a first offense has been committed. (2) A fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500), or commitment to a juvenile hall, ranch, camp, forestry camp, or secure juvenile home for a period of not more than 10 days, or both, upon a finding that a second or subsequent offense has been committed.
19. Laws HS 11358. Every person who plants, cultivates, harvests, dries, or processes any marijuana or any part thereof, except as otherwise provided by law, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison. HS 11359. Every person who possesses for sale any marijuana, except as otherwise provided by law, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison.
20. Laws HS 11361. (a) Every person 18 years of age or over who hires, employs, or uses a minor in unlawfully transporting, carrying, selling, giving away, preparing for sale, or peddling any marijuana, who unlawfully sells, or offers to sell, any marijuana to a minor, or who furnishes, administers, or gives, or offers to furnish, administer, or give any marijuana to a minor under 14 years of age, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a period of three, five, or seven years. (b) Every person 18 years of age or over who furnishes, administers, or gives, or offers to furnish, administer, or give, any marijuana to a minor 14 years of age or older shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for a period of three, four, or five years.
21. Medical Use Laws HS 11362.5. (a) This section shall be known and may be cited as the Compassionate Use Act of 1996. (b) (1) The people of the State of California hereby find and declare that the purposes of the Compassionate Use Act of 1996 are as follows: (A) To ensure that seriously ill Californians have the right to obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes where that medical use is deemed appropriate and has been recommended by a physician who has determined that the person's health would benefit from the use of marijuana in the treatment of cancer, anorexia, AIDS, chronic pain, spasticity, glaucoma, arthritis, migraine, or any other illness for which marijuana provides relief. (B) To ensure that patients and their primary caregivers who obtain and use marijuana for medical purposes upon the recommendation of a physician are not subject to criminal prosecution or sanction.
22. Medical Use Laws Cont. (C) To encourage the federal and state governments to implement a plan to provide for the safe and affordable distribution of marijuana to all patients in medical need of marijuana. (2) Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede legislation prohibiting persons from engaging in conduct that endangers others, nor to condone the diversion of marijuana for nonmedical purposes. (c) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no physician in this state shall be punished, or denied any right or privilege, for having recommended marijuana to a patient for medical purposes. (d) Section 11357, relating to the possession of marijuana, and Section 11358, relating to the cultivation of marijuana, shall not apply to a patient, or to a patient's primary caregiver, who possesses or cultivates marijuana for the personal medical purposes of the patient upon the written or oral recommendation or approval of a physician. (e) For the purposes of this section, "primary caregiver" means the individual designated by the person exempted under this section who has consistently assumed responsibility for the housing, health, or safety of that person.
23. Decriminalization-v-Legalization What is the difference?? DECRIMINALIZATION Clear penalties and gives impression using is against the law. Designed to establish more appropriate punishment for offence of possessing small amounts for personal use.
24. Decriminalization-v-Legalization LEGALIZATION If it were to become law, no penalty for possession. Due to long term studies and research, legalization becoming more unlikely