Marijuana most common drug in America
Addictive substance can cause distraction, higher chance of lung cancer
Issue date: 3/7/05 Section: Health
Pot, hash, Mary Jane, weed and countless other terms are all used to describe the drug marijuana.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States.
There are cultural perceptions about the drug that affect people's use, said David Sprick, interim chief of University Police.
"People may think it's harmless, that everybody does it or that it's no big deal," he said.
But marijuana use can cause problems for some students on a personal level, Sprick said.
"For some people, at the very least, pot is a distraction," he said. "The worst-case scenario is it becomes an addiction problem."
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2003, 33.7 percent of college students had used marijuana in the past year, and 19.3 percent in the past month.
Although those numbers indicate that young adults use marijuana, many, like junior Dawn Snyder, choose not to.
"I've been around enough second-hand smoke in my life," she said. "I don't think I need to put anymore (smoke) into my body."
There are both short- and long-term physical effects of using marijuana, Sprick said.
These include a higher chance of lung cancer and other smoking-related illnesses.
"There is damage to white blood cells in the lungs," he said, "which reduces the ability to fight lung infections and illness."
According to NIDA, marijuana has the potential to promote cancer of the lungs and other parts of the respiratory tract, due to irritants and carcinogens in the smoke.
For men, it causes decreased testosterone levels and lower sperm counts, Sprick said.
Marijuana also can affect a person psychologically, he said.
"It can cause loss of short term memory and loss of motivation," Sprick said.
The short-term effects also include "distorted perception, difficulty thinking and problem solving, loss of coordination and increased heart rate," according to NIDA.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug in the United States.
There are cultural perceptions about the drug that affect people's use, said David Sprick, interim chief of University Police.
"People may think it's harmless, that everybody does it or that it's no big deal," he said.
But marijuana use can cause problems for some students on a personal level, Sprick said.
"For some people, at the very least, pot is a distraction," he said. "The worst-case scenario is it becomes an addiction problem."
According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in 2003, 33.7 percent of college students had used marijuana in the past year, and 19.3 percent in the past month.
Although those numbers indicate that young adults use marijuana, many, like junior Dawn Snyder, choose not to.
"I've been around enough second-hand smoke in my life," she said. "I don't think I need to put anymore (smoke) into my body."
There are both short- and long-term physical effects of using marijuana, Sprick said.
These include a higher chance of lung cancer and other smoking-related illnesses.
"There is damage to white blood cells in the lungs," he said, "which reduces the ability to fight lung infections and illness."
According to NIDA, marijuana has the potential to promote cancer of the lungs and other parts of the respiratory tract, due to irritants and carcinogens in the smoke.
For men, it causes decreased testosterone levels and lower sperm counts, Sprick said.
Marijuana also can affect a person psychologically, he said.
"It can cause loss of short term memory and loss of motivation," Sprick said.
The short-term effects also include "distorted perception, difficulty thinking and problem solving, loss of coordination and increased heart rate," according to NIDA.