The Deep Roots of Marijuana

Still the most widely used illicit drug in our society, marijuana use crosses social, ethnic and economic lines and reaches down to grab hold of our most precious commodity, our children.

From the time the Monitoring the Future Study began in 1975 to 2003, between 83% and 90% of every senior class have said that they could obtain marijuana fairly or very easily.

The 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) showed that an estimated 94.9 million Americans age 12 or older had used marijuana or hashish in their lifetime.

Contributing to the justification of its use, marijuana advocacy groups have been in existence for decades.  Such misinformed groups have held numerous rallies and demonstrations and even have multi-million dollar lobbying campaigns working on the federal government. 

However, many people feel that allowing marijuana for medical situations or lowering possession charges to the equivalency of a traffic ticket would only open the door further for our youth to smoke it and even for promoting it's total legalization.  While some people argue that marijuana is not as dangerous as other drugs, most know and understand that pot dulls a person's senses and causes lethargy.  In addition, its potency as characterized by THC content continues to rise.

What advocates fail to mention is the truth about what the drug actually does to a person, such as damaging the lungs, nerves and brain.  There are over 400 chemicals found in marijuana smoke and 60 of them have been proven to cause cancer.  Marijuana contains the neurotoxin THC, which is a poison that affects the brain and nerves.  When someone smokes pot, two things happen two them: 1) There is an almost immediate burn-up of vitamins and minerals in the body. 2) The nerves in the body go numb. 

This occurs every time someone takes the drug and it causes that individual's health to steadily decrease.  A person's tolerance to the drug also builds and eventually he or she has to smoke pot almost continuously just to feel somewhat normal because they have caused so much damage internally. 

Marijuana's negative effects also last well beyond the initial use.  THC is lipophilic, meaning the chemical is fat-bonding and in the late 70's L. Ron Hubbard discovered that toxins get stored inside a person's body for weeks, months and even years after use ceases.  He also discovered the only known remedy for the removal of the stored chemicals.

Along with impaired conditions and senses comes altered judgment, such as continuing to use more drugs, driving under the influence and committing other crimes.

According to Initiation of Marijuana Use: Trends, Patterns, and Implications, adults who used marijuana before age 15 were 6 times more likely to be dependent on an illicit drug and 62% also reported cocaine use at some point later in their life.

Estimates derived from the U.S. Census Bureau and Monitoring the Future data indicated approximately 600,000 of the nearly 4 million U.S. high school seniors drive under the influence of marijuana.  Additionally, among the male juvenile detainees who were tested in five sites during 2002, an average of 57.7% tested positive for marijuana.

Regardless of the type of drug, its potency, legality or how many people use it, a drug is still a drug and addiction is America's number one societal problem.  Well over 20 million people in this country are caught in the trap of substance abuse.

To find out more information log on to www.marijuanaaddiction.com.  To get help for a loved one in need contact Narconon Arrowhead today at 1-800-468-6933.  Addiction can be overcome.

---