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As a hallucinogenic addiction, cannabis has now become a "social drug" in Europe and the United States, widely abused among teenagers, and even has a special anniversary.
Taking the 2020 statistics of the U.S. government as an example, 11.4% of thirteen- and fourteen-year-olds have smoked marijuana, and 1.1% have smoked marijuana every day. 28 percent of sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds have smoked marijuana and 4.4 percent have smoked every day. Among eighteen- and nineteen-year-olds, 35.2% have smoked marijuana and 6.9% have smoked marijuana every day!
On this vast basis, the remarks that "marijuana is not a drug" and "addictive, harmful or even less harmful than cigarettes" came into being. So is this really the case? Let's take a look.
【History of Cannabis】
Cannabis is an annual herb of the genus Zanthoxylum that originated in Central Asia and was used by humans thousands of years ago, mainly for religion, medicine, and the making of hemp rope, until recent centuries, when it began to develop into recreational pastimes, that is, drugs.
Therefore, according to the use scenario, cannabis is divided into three categories: drug-type, industrial and medical- type, and the standard for differentiation is the content of the psychoactive substance tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in its body.
The THC content of drug-based marijuana > 0.5%;
The THC content of industrial hemp < 0.3%;
Medical-type hemp has tHC content between industrial hemp and drug marijuana, i.e. > 0.3% and < 0.5%.
In general, the human body uses THC content < 3.0g. Kg-1 (dw) of cannabis, there is no psychoactive reaction, only the intake of THC content of > 3.0g-kg-1 can produce psychedelic sensations.
Therefore, most countries have taken measures against drug-based marijuana as a ban and a severe crackdown. Medical marijuana is also listed as a prescription drug because of its tendency to abuse, and it is strictly controlled. Industrial hemp is not regulated or prohibited.
Statistically, drug-based cannabis is currently one of the most widely used drugs in the world. According to the World Drug Report released by the United Nations, in 2019, about 200 million people used cannabis, accounting for 4% of the global population.
Among them, North America has the highest number of people, accounting for 14.5%, followed by Australia and New Zealand, accounting for 12.1%, West Africa and Central Africa accounting for 9.4%, and Asia has the lowest number of people, accounting for 2%.
【History of drug-based marijuana transmission】
It is widely believed internationally that THC-high-content drug-based cannabis originated as a variant of Indian cannabis, hence the name Indian cannabis.
Indian cannabis probably followed a type of mohe tobacco (a coarse-grained, coarse-looking tobacco product made from the crushing and drying of the stems and leaves of yellow-flowered tobacco) around the 16th-17th centuries. The smoke was strong and was banned in 2005) spread to Xinjiang, China.
By the 18th century, Indian cannabis smoke spread throughout Xinjiang, initially smoked by the upper echelons of society and the wealthy, and then gradually spread to the lower middle class, forming a vice of life.
In the same period of the 18th century, when Indian cannabis spread to Xinjiang, cannabis seeds also spread to the Americas with the colonial expansion of European powers, through wars, trade, slaves, etc., and have since blossomed and spread.
As the largest consumer of drugs, the "trend" of smoking marijuana in the United States began in 1900 and was triggered and spread by Mexican laborers who entered the country.
At that time, American Tobacco was teaching people how to use their lungs to inhale addictives more "healthily", which incidentally led to the spread of marijuana smoke in society.
Due to the low price of marijuana cigarettes, one sells for between 50 and 50 cents, and is popular with young urban blacks in the emerging pop subculture, who lead by example to smoke marijuana and contribute to the promotion.
The U.S. government initially opposed the epidemic of marijuana smoke, labeling it a drug early on, and the hippie movement in the 1960s was a determined decision to crack down on it.
Still, marijuana became increasingly popular among young Americans as the hippie movement became more popular, which in turn influenced government policy, and by the late 1970s there was a trend toward legalization.
Smoking marijuana in the United States today has become a common practice, from the president to the students, more than a dozen states have been fully legalized, and more than a dozen other states are moving toward full legalization.
【Addictiveness of drug-based marijuana】
The content of THC, the psychoactive ingredient of drug-based cannabis, determines the effect after smoking, the higher the effect, the stronger the effect, and the weather, soil, and cultivation method determine the content of THC.
Once humans have obtained pleasure in a substance, they will desperately pursue more intense pleasure, and under the "efforts" of smokers, the content of cannabis THC soared from 1% in 1974 to 16% in 2019.
Even if it has been multiplied dozens of times, it still can't satisfy some addicts, so a hashish made of cannabis fat and hemp oil was born, and its THC content is as high as 20% to 30%.
Addiction dependence and tolerance to cannabis have previously been controversial, with some smokers often citing the following studies to prove that marijuana is "less addictive, harmful or even less harmful than cigarettes."
In fact, the study in the figure above is from 2007, based on the conclusion that the average THC content of marijuana at that time was 8.22%, and the average content of marijuana THC today has doubled, which can be said to be outdated.
Not to mention the famous medical journal "The Lancet", which also published its opinion in 2007: even the data showed that marijuana was less harmful and dependent on the body than tobacco and alcohol. But if you think that marijuana is harmless to people, you are leading to another misunderstanding. Although it is true that the physiological harm of cannabis is smaller than that of tobacco, the loss of control caused by hallucinogenicity is itself dangerous, and the long-term psychological effects are difficult to estimate. There is nothing wrong with being identified as a drug.
In addition, the addiction of cannabis has also been proven by studies, and scientists have found that THC of cannabis interacts with many neurotransmitters and opioids, which is believed to be the main reason for dependence.
And the addict's obsessive cannabis can enter a dream state of consciousness after smoking, floating in the air like an out-of-body experience, (the source of the nickname "pilot"), and there is an indescribable sense of relaxation in the spirit, and the listening vision is extremely sensitive.
At the same time, the user's perception of time, color, and space will be distorted, and the concept of the passage of time in the brain will drop rapidly, as if the world has stopped.
Compared with other drugs, cannabis withdrawal reactions are not particularly obvious, especially when inhaled or intermittently used, but long-term use, and the dose is getting larger and larger, once the smoking is stopped, there may be a possibility of including tremor, sweating, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, agitation, irritability, anorexia, insomnia, body temperature drop and even chills, fever, tremor and other mild to moderate withdrawal reactions, similar to the withdrawal symptoms of alcohol addiction.
【The harm of drug-based marijuana】
The toxicity and addiction of cannabis is relatively mild and slow, so it is also known as "soft drugs" in Europe and the United States, and its harm is often easy to be ignored, but long-term abuse will still have a great impact on physical health, we can understand it from physiological, psychological and spiritual aspects.
Physiological aspects:
1. Increased heart rate: THC effect leads to a beat of heart rate, and the heart rate increases by 20% to 50%, up to 140 to 150 beats per minute (normal heart rate is 60 to 100 beats per minute). If patients with pre-existing cardiovascular disease are prone to induce or worsen symptoms, increased heart rate is related to the dose used and the amount in the blood.
2. Red eyes: because smoking cannabis can cause the expansion of the ocular binding membrane and hyperemia of the conjunctiva, the smoker will have similar "red eyes" symptoms.
3. Respiratory system: Due to the similarity of smoking methods to cigarettes, the lung and upper respiratory tract functions of long-term cannabis users are most vulnerable to damage, which can cause diseases such as tracheitis, pharyngitis, asthma attacks, laryngeal edema, etc. As well as pre-existing respiratory diseases, people with pre-existing respiratory diseases are prone to induce and aggravate symptoms, increasing the probability of respiratory cancer.
4, the immune system: there will be no obvious problems when inhaled in the early stage, but for a long time, you can feel the decline in physical fitness, which is one of the reasons why cannabis can induce and increase the symptoms of pre-existing diseases.
5. Reproduction and development: Cannabis hinders the ability of sperm and egg to combine to complete the fertilization process. Long-term cannabis use can have adverse effects on the human reproductive system, reducing the number of sperm in men's semen, decreasing the secretion of progesterone in women, disordered menstrual cycles, and even stopping ovulation.
6. Motor system: excessive consumption of cannabis, making muscle tension relax, balance function disorders, causing unstable standing, involuntari tremor of both hands. The coordination of operation is weakened, the ability to operate is reduced, fine motor skills are lost, such as the ability to drive motor vehicles and control machines is lost, causing social and public problems, resulting in casualties and economic losses.
7. Neurological disorders: If the smoker itself suffers from mild mental disorders, cannabis plays an inducing and aggravating role, resulting in confusion, anxiety, depression, etc., and is prone to hostile impulses or suicidal intentions.
8. Cognitive function: Abuse of cannabis can cause a wide range of cognitive function damage, which can reduce short-term brain memory, thinking, attention, and judgment, making people think slowly, muna, and memory confusion. Simply put, it is a serious decline in intelligence in a short period of time.
Spiritual aspect:
1. Emotional (mood) disorders: Some people abuse cannabis for a long time and are indifferent to the surrounding environment and people's concern and sympathy. If the abuser has a tendency to anxiety or depression, the symptoms worsen after smoking marijuana. Mood changes can trigger weird behaviors such as giggling, crying, shouting, and even impulsiveness.
2. Perceptual abnormalities: manifesting various forms of illusions, hallucinations, and perceptual comprehensive disorders such as time, space, and one's own form. There is a perceptual "dislocation", such as seeing sounds, hearing images, and even floating in the air like a soul out of the box, watching one's body move in its original position.
3, thinking abnormal: at the same time as the perception of change, think that their brain is better, the work is more competent, there are thoughts drifting, associations run, there are constantly new ideas emerging, but most of them see no logic in others, and unrealistic. There are also people who feel sluggish and feel that they have lost the ability to associate.
4. Personality changes: long-term cannabis users often have personality changes, resulting in "unmotivated syndrome", which is manifested as emotional indifference, sluggishness, boredom, laziness, irritability, change in sleep cycle, etc., and lose interest in personal appearance, hygiene, diet, lack of concentration, poor memory, obvious damage to judgment, and a state of mental decline.
5, social impact: some people after smoking marijuana, gradually become lazy, lose academic, career initiative, or completely lose work, opportunities, image, life and learning ability.
Overdose poisoning:
Substance abuse can cause poisoning, as cannabis. Once excessive consumption occurs, toxic acute brain syndrome, acute panic, acute depressive reaction, etc., which is often referred to as "crash" in the cannabis circle, and the main manifestations are as follows.
1. Acute brain syndrome: generally occurs in a large number of uses, mainly manifested as confusion of consciousness, impaired directional force (no concept of time, person, place, self), disorderly behavior, no purpose, inability to concentrate, restlessness, panic, and accompanied by delusions, hallucinations and thought disorders and other psychotic symptoms, some patients accompanied by fear and impulsive behavior, triggering uncontrollable behavior.
2. Acute panic disorder: when overdose, a serious sense of anxiety occurs, and the heavy one will have a catastrophe or feel that they are on the verge of life and death, and are in extreme fright and fear. Some people will be anxious at the same time as paranoia, conceit and psychotic symptoms, victimization delusions, and even feel that someone is stalking and monitoring themselves, and have inexplicable hostility and hatred towards others.
3, acute depressive reaction: excessive smoking patients have a serious one-time depressive state, manifested as pessimistic world-weariness, and even have serious suicidal ideas and suicide attempts, of course, this is also likely to be the smoker itself has mild depressive symptoms, and cannabis overdose is induced and aggravated symptoms.
【Write at the end】
Although there is no scientific basis for arguing that marijuana is called a "stepping stone to the drug world," the fact is that some people start with marijuana and then upgrade other drugs. For example, the little Flash actor who was confirmed to have died of a drug overdose a few days ago, started smoking marijuana at the age of 13, and then upgraded the more violent fentanyl drugs.
In addition, China's attitude towards drugs is fundamentally different from that of Europe and the United States, so the drug circles intersect with each other, or even completely coincide, that is, in the group that smokes and sells marijuana, there will also be people who smoke, sell meth, and heroin.
Finally, it is emphasized that although marijuana has a tendency to be fully legalized in many countries in Europe and the United States, it is a drug in China, and most countries, and smoking and selling are illegal and criminal acts (for example, smoking marijuana in South Korea is a crime, while China is still only illegal), and once caught, the cost is very large.