Spring Break
Marijuana most common drug in America
Addictive substance can cause distraction, higher chance of lung cancer
Ashley Dziuk
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.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 21
Josh
posted 5/30/07 @ 12:56 PM CST
it is good for u there is a religion behind it and you say its bad?
UWEC Alumni
posted 6/06/07 @ 2:30 PM CST
How can you report all of the negative health related implications of marijuana, yet fail to even mention the fact that it is currently prescribed in some states to treat health ailments from cancer to annorexia? How about you compare health implications of other legal drugs like alcohol or tobacco to those of pot. (Continued…)
Brandy
posted 11/15/07 @ 9:04 AM CST
So I did a little search on Google for "marijuana" and I came upon a page at Brown University's Health Services. This page features a list of short-term dangers, and I have included it here:
-Impaired memory and ability to learn
-Difficulty thinking and problem solving
-Anxiety attacks or feelings of paranoia
-Impaired muscle coordination and judgment
-Increased susceptibility to infections
-Dangerous impairment of driving skills. (Continued…)
laura
posted 10/12/08 @ 5:44 PM CST
it should be legalized..its safer than alcohol, cigarettes...less addictive i might add.
would create jobs and pot smokers would not be in prison, and the anxiety feelings would decrease. (Continued…)
Alum
posted 10/14/08 @ 11:26 AM CST
Why is it that every time the spectator decides to do an article about marijuana (usually) or some other drug (rarely) they gather their medical information from the chief of poliece. (Continued…)
Andy
posted 11/25/08 @ 7:38 PM CST
lets see, ive smoked pot everyday for two years.
1. im in college and have a 3.9 gpa
2. i experience no anxiety whatsoever
3. i dont have "impaired muscle coordination"
4. (Continued…)
Anna Reed
posted 3/16/09 @ 9:59 AM CST
Thanks to author! I like articles like this about , very interesting.
Science & Tech Writing graduate
posted 3/17/09 @ 10:52 AM CST
No mention of its positive health effects or its medical uses.
Also it would have been nice to compare the dangers of pre-existing legal drugs to the dangers of marijuana. (Continued…)
Rachel Whitney
posted 3/20/09 @ 12:49 PM CST
That looks like lots of fun. When I was in college we didn't had so many fun activities.
Brittany
posted 6/09/09 @ 1:17 PM CST
well, i believe that marijuana should be legalized simply because children wouldn't lose their loved family members to the drug. i think it should be legalized because i smoke on a daily basis. (Continued…)
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