Marijuana
Names given to Cannibus:
- Grass
- Pot
- Mary jane
- Tea
- Weed
- Cannibus Indica
- Cannibus Indica – marijuana christmas tree
- Cannibus Americana
The following Indian names were given to different preparations from cannibus:
- Bhang comes from cut tops and low resin content
- Ganja obtained from flowering tops and leaves and has higher quality and quantity or resin than Bhang
- Charas obtained from top of mature plants. It is refined resin that is called Hashish
Derivatives of Cannibis:
- Many dervatives of cannabinol have been prepared
- The active constituents of hashish are various isomers of tetrahydrocannabinol
- The most important is Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)
General Use:
- Marijuana is second only to alcohol as the most widely used of the drugs we are including this chapter
- Marijuana smoking is the frequent form illicit drug use in the USA
- The drug can be ingested through:
- Smoking
- Eating
- Drinking – in the form of tea
- Intravenous injection (rare)
- When smoked intoxication occurs almost immediately; peak plasma level within 10-30 minutes; intoxication lasts 2-4 hours
- When the plant is eaten, a greater percentage of the drug is absorbed and the result longer (5-12 hours), but less predictable intoxication
- Half-life may be 7 days; MOA is not well understood
Cannibus Intoxication
- Euphoria
- Anxiety
- Suspiciousness or paranoid ideation
- Sensation of slowed time
- Impaired judgement
- Impaired color discrimination
- Social withdrawal
- Inappropriate laughter
- Dysphoric affect (at times)
- Conjunctival injection
- Tachycardia
- Dry mouth
- Increased appetite- possibility on the future treatment of annorexia nervosa
- Depersonalization and derealization
- Hallucinations (usually with high doses)
- Heightened sensitivity to external stimuli (colors seem brighter, subjectively enhances the appreciation of music)
- Splitting of consciousness
- Synthesias- should not be used by people with seizures
- Deeper sense of awareness
- Sedation
- Problems with short-term memory
- Sometimes confusion, disorientation, and panic attacks
- Fine shakes and tremors
- Slight increase in body temperature, muscle strength, and motor coordination
- Headaches, nystagmus, and mildly lowered blood pressure
- TCH may ppt seizures in epileptics
- At the beginning
Tags: Bhang, Cannibus, Cannibus Americana, Cannibus Indica, Charas, depersonalization, derealization, Dysphoric affect, Ganja, Mary jane, Tachycardia
