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Throughout history marijuana has been used to serve various purposes in many different cultures. The purposes have changed over time to fit in with the current lifestyles. This pattern is also true in American history. The use of marijuana has adapted to the social climate of the time.

Marijuana, whose scientific name is cannibis sativa, was mentioned in historical manuscripts as early as 2700 B. C. in China. (Grolier Electronic Encyclopedia, 1995). The cultivation of the marijuana plant began as far back as the Jamestown settlers, around 1611, who used hemp produced from the marijuana plant’s fibers to make rope and canvas. It was also used in making clothing because of it’s durability. These uses fit in with the social climate of the time, because the main focus was on survival rather than for psychoactive purposes.

During the prohibition, marijuana was widely used because of the scarcity of alcohol. Prohibition was repealed after just thirteen years while the prohibition against marijuana lasted for more than seventy five years. This double standard may have resulted from the wishes of those in power. Alcohol prohibition struck directly at tens of millions of Americans of all ages, including many of societies most powerful members. Marijuana prohibition threatened far fewer Americans, and they had relatively little influence in the districts of power. Only the prohibition of marijuana, which some sixty million Americans have violated since 1965 has come close to approximating the prohibition experience, but marijuana smokers consist mostly of young and relatively powerless Americans (American Heritage, pg 47). Alcohol prohibition was repealed and marijuana prohibition was retained, not because scientists had proved that alcohol was the less dangerous of the various psychoactive drugs, but because of the prejudices and preferences of most Americans (American Heritage, pg 47).

In 1937 the government issued the Marijuana Tax Act, which levied a dollar an ounce tax on marijuana, coupled with fines of $2,000 for drug posession and jail sentences for evasion of the tax. For this reason marijuana use in the United States appears to have gone into decline in the late 30’s (Grolier Wellness Encyclopedia, pg 54). Then marijuana was outlawed in 1937 as a repressive measure against Mexican workers who crossed the border seekingjobs during the Depression. The specific reason given for the outlawing of the hemp plant was it’s supposed violent “effect on the degenerate races” (Schaffer, pg. 86).

Beginning in the 60’s marijuana use saw a resurgence which may be attributed to many causes. One of the main causes was the rebellion of youth against the Vietnam War. They used marijuana as an escape from war to peace. It was easy at this time to depict marijuana as a beneficial and completely harmless substance whose effects were far less harmful than those of legal drugs such as alcohol and nicotine because there was not enough scientific research done during the 60’s (Grolier Wellness Encyclopedia, pg 54).

Another cause may have been the discovery of the psychoactive component of marijuana- tetrahydrocannabinol, commonly known as THC. Users found the relation between the doses and the effects (Grolier Electronic Publishing, 1995).

The current atmosphere provides for doctors to suggest synthetic marijuana (THC) in a pure and standardized form by perscription (called Marinol) for the treatment of nausea associated with cancer chemotherapy. Also, although there is no scientific evidence that shows marijuana is beneficial in the treatment of glaucoma, it may prevent the progression of visual loss. Marijuana, along with alcohol and a host of other substances, can actually lower intraocular eye pressure. The mediction however, must be carefully tailored to the individual to prevent further eye damage.

The evidence has clearly shown that marijuana has been around for a great deal of time and has served multiple purposes throughout history.

Sources

Grolier Electronic Encylopedia, Electronic Publishing, Inc., 1995

Grolier Wellness Encyclopedia, Drugs, Society & Behavior. Vol. 3, 1992.

Ethan A. Nadelmann, American Heritage Magazine, Feb-Mar, 1993.

Medical Marijuana, http://www.lec.org/Drug_Watch/ Public/Documents/Med_Marijuana_Paper.htm, 1995

.

Cannibis Sativa

Throughout history marijuana has been used to

serve various purposes in many different

cultures. The purposes have changed over time

to fit in with the current lifestyles.

This pattern is also true in American history.

The use of marijuana has adapted to the social

climate of the time.

Marijuana, whose scientific name is cannibis

sativa, was mentioned in historical manuscripts

as early as 2700 B. C. in China. (Grolier Electronic

Encyclopedia, 1995). The cultivation of the

marijuana plant began as far back as the

Jamestown settlers, around 1611, who used hemp

produced from the marijuana plant’s fibers to make

rope and canvas. It was also used in making clothing

because of it’s durability. These uses fit in with

the social climate of the time, because the main

focus was on survival rather than for psychoactive

purposes.

During the prohibition, marijuana was widely

used because of the scarcity of alcohol. Prohibition

was repealed after just thirteen years while the prohibition

against marijuana lasted for more than seventy five years.

This double standard may have resulted from the wishes of

those in power. Alcohol prohibition struck directly at

tens of millions of Americans of all ages, including many of

societies most powerful members. Marijuana prohibition

threatened far fewer Americans, and they had relatively

little influence in the districts of power. Only the

prohibition of marijuana, which some sixty million

Americans have violated since 1965 has come close

to approximating the prohibition experience, but

marijuana smokers consist mostly of young and

relatively powerless Americans (American Heritage, pg 47).

Alcohol prohibition was repealed and

marijuana prohibition was retained, not because

scientists had proved that alcohol was the less dangerous

of the various psychoactive drugs, but because of the prejudices

and preferences of most Americans (American Heritage, pg 47).

In 1937 the government issued the Marijuana Tax Act,

which levied a dollar an ounce tax on marijuana,

coupled with fines of $2,000 for drug posession and

jail sentences for evasion of the tax. For this

reason marijuana use in the United States appears

to have gone into decline in the late 30’s

(Grolier Wellness Encyclopedia, pg 54).

Then marijuana was outlawed in 1937 as a

repressive measure against Mexican workers

who crossed the border seekingjobs during

the Depression. The specific reason given

for the outlawing of the hemp plant was it’s

supposed violent “effect on the degenerate races”

(Schaffer, pg. 86).

Beginning in the 60’s marijuana use saw a

resurgence which may be attributed to many

causes. One of the main causes was the

rebellion of youth against the Vietnam War.

They used marijuana as an escape from war to peace.

It was easy at this time to depict marijuana as

a beneficial and completely harmless substance

whose effects were far less harmful than those

of legal drugs such as alcohol and nicotine

because there was not enough scientific

research done during the 60’s (Grolier Wellness

Encyclopedia, pg 54).

Another cause may have been the discovery of

the psychoactive component of marijuana-

tetrahydrocannabinol, commonly known as THC.

Users found the relation between the doses and

the effects (Grolier Electronic Publishing, 1995).

The current atmosphere provides for doctors to

suggest synthetic marijuana (THC) in a pure and

standardized form by perscription (called Marinol)

for the treatment of nausea associated with

cancer chemotherapy. Also, although there is no

scientific evidence that shows marijuana

is beneficial in the treatment of glaucoma,

it may prevent the progression of visual loss.

Marijuana, along with alcohol and a host of

other substances, can actually lower intraocular

eye pressure. The mediction however, must be carefully

tailored to the individual to prevent further eye damage.

The evidence has clearly shown that marijuana

has been around for a great deal of time

and has served multiple purposes throughout history.

Karen Sipes

Dana Pentoney

Jeni Roane

Sources

Grolier Electronic Encylopedia, Electronic Publishing, Inc., 1995

Grolier Wellness Encyclopedia, Drugs, Society & Behavior.

Vol. 3, 1992.

Ethan A. Nadelmann, American Heritage Magazine,

Feb-Mar, 1993.

Medical Marijuana, http://www.lec.org/Drug_Watch/

Public/Documents/Med_Marijuana_Paper.htm, 1995.

Marijuana

My hopes of doing this research project were

to specifically determine what effect marijuana

in combination with different substances had

on the body. I also decided to determine the

differences between marijuana and tobacco,

due to the high misconceptions about both of

them in society today.

First of all, I had begun to due research

specifically on the subject “Is marijuana more

dangerous than tobacco”, but due to the lack

of information, I had to broaden my topic. I

now understand which one is more

dangerous and, for the most part, the long

term affects. Through both animal and human

testing, it has been proven that marijuana

impairs lung functions to a greater extent than

tobacco cigarettes do. However, this does not

necessarily mean that marijuana users are

putting themselves at more risk persay.

Actually, a typical marijuana user will smoke

maybe two cigarettes a day, whereas a typical

tobacco-user will smoke between forty and

sixty cigarettes in the same period. Now, the

effects of the two have changed roles.

Marijuana may have more tar in it, but at the

usage rate in society today, tobacco-users put

themselves at a much larger risks. Also, there

is a chemical called benzopyrene that is 70%

more abundant in marijuana than tobacco.

This chemical is believed to cause and

produce cancer. Tobacco has the same

dangerous chemicals in it, yet the main one

that it lacks that marijuana has is THC. THC,

more specifically known as

delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, is the drug that

produces the “high” feeling that so many

marijuana users become accustomed to.

Marijuana usually does not contain more than

1 percent of THC. There are stronger drugs

related to THC, such as “hash oil”, which can

contain up to a 28 percent THC level. There

have been some cases where “street”

marijuana has been found to contain up to 5

percent THC content. That is very potent for

normal marijuana, and is probably very hard to

come by in the United States. Other countries

seem to use different forms of THC related

drugs such as hashish, and hemp. Both of

these contain more THC than marijuana. As

far as long term effects of tobacco and

marijuana go, they are about the same.

Cancer should appear in the lungs of a

tobacco-user earlier due to the amount the

tobacco-user smoke in relation to a normal

marijuana smoker. There have been many

assumptions that marijuana will cause long

term brain damage and so on, but, clinically,

none of this has ever been proven. In fact, in a

college survey, the students who use the drug

regularly possessed a higher GPA than those

who do not use. This is an entire different

subject, but it was interesting to learn.

Both tobacco and marijuana contain tar.

Marijuana contains a little more and will

actually “feel” heavier on the lungs after

smoking. Tar has been found to produce

tumors on the skin of animals that it is applied

to. Cancer has definitely been related to

smoking and is the largest killer in the United

States today. Thus, marijuana contains more

of the dangerous cancer causing chemicals

than tobacco does. Although this would

constitute marijuana as being more

“dangerous”, in the society we live in today

and the amount of tobacco that tobacco-users

consume. This belief is on the contrary. Due

to the smaller frequency use of product by

marijuana-users, tobacco has definitely been

proven the “killer” in today’s society.

Additionally, one of the predominant mixes of

today is the use of both marijuana and alcohol

in combination. Alcohol has already proven to

be a “lethal” drug, especially when driving, but

together with marijuana, the effects are much

greater than either drug alone.

As in a comparison between both of them,

alcohol has many more damages to the

human body and mental psyche than

marijuana. Both drugs can become

dependent upon, and the effects can be life

destroying. Alcohol as physical harm places

stress upon the body that could make it react

by not eating. Alcohol depletes the body of

certain vitamins and minerals, causing an

unsteady diet. It also wreaks havoc on the

bowel movements! As far as marijuana goes,

there may be a little redness in the eyes and

gaining in weight. The gaining in weight is

due to the conception of the “munchies” as

many marijuana smokers’ experience after

usage of the drug. Reasons for both of their

uses are different, but that really does not

matter in the scheme of this paper. As one

book supplied a very nice bit of information

concerning the usage of these drugs together.

Marijuana and ethanol (alcohol) not only

modify mental and psychomotor performance

but also influence physiological parameters.

Alcohol on the subject of driving is more

critical also. Although the effects of driving

under the influence of marijuana may seem

harmful, as listed in my annotations, the fact

still stands clear that more accidents are

caused by drunk drivers than any other drug or

combinations of them. Most of the information

I found on the effects of driving under the

influence of marijuana were very negative, but

they just didn’t seem to make sense since so

few accidents are caused by driving under the

influence of this drug. One book said, more or

less, that there is good evidence that

marijuana interferes with driving skills and is

a significant factor in erratic driving. That

seems like a valid statement. But, another

source stated, astonishingly enough after an

experimentation, that the experienced

marijuana smokers showed “no” impairment

of performance in their driving ability. The

opposite held true for the counterparts of

inexperienced marijuana smokers, but this

fact was very contradicting to everything else I

had read to this point. There it was, in black in

white, researched and everything, that there

was “no” impairment of performance in the

marijuana smokers driving ability under the

influence of the drug. Only one conclusion

could be made from that. Driving under the

influence of marijuana is a learned skill. I

guess Cheech and Chong had it mastered!!!

Finally, on to a more personal note. Marijuana

and combinations with other drugs have been

growing around the colleges for years. I

always thought–yeah, yeah, all the parties and

events that go on are the places to find them.

This assumption was definitely correct, both at

Ann Arbor and in Lansing. The surveys were

100% correct with the information that alcohol

and marijuana are the highest used drug

combination. There are also many other

drugs coming back into popularity from both

the past and new ones. A new combination

that I have heard about is Nitrous (laughing

gas) combined with marijuana use. It is

supposedly a potent combination and could

call for more research. I did a little on my own

and found out a couple of things. Nitrous

Oxide, which is normally found in dentist

offices all over, is a mixture of nitrous and

oxygen and is used to put a patient to sleep for

surgical reasons. The other kind going

around in circulation is pure nitrous, with out

the oxygen compound. The gas found at the

dentists’ office is supposedly safe, as I

consulted with a dentist on this topic, but the

nitrous in pure form is thought to kill brain

cells. Although I did not get too far into this

research, I found it interesting. I was just

curious because the word around is that it is

an intense “high”. In no way am I implying that

I have experienced any of this!

In conclusion, marijuana, especially in

combination with alcohol, is a very dangerous

drug. After the effects were compared, I

changed my point of view on the drug

altogether. It may cause more damage to the

body than tobacco, but the amount of tobacco

smoked by far ough, or especially up to date,

on the affects of marijuana that I could make

the great decision of whether it should be

legalized or not. After all, that is the main goal

of all of these papers.

by David Parker (6/2000)