LANGUAGE               
                                                                                                               
     
drug guide
CANNABIS
         
         
         
         
 
 
What is cannabis?

Cannabis is the Latin name of hemp. It is a plant native to Central Asia, specifically the foothills of the Himalayas, which is used by man for thousands of years in the Far East and the Middle East.

Cannabis is an annual herb, theoretically dioecious (there are male and female feet feet). It belongs to the family of cannabinoids (the family includes only two genera: hemp and hops).

 
Cannabis comes in 3 forms:
     
  THE MARIJUANA (pot, joint, marie-jeanne, herb, grass, ganja) :
Came from the stem, are the dried flowers and leaves of the Cannabis Sativa plant. Its colors can go from green gray to brown greenish. The substance contains usually seeds and stems. Strong smell. Marijuana is often smoked in hand-rolled cigarettes (joint, firecracker), or in pipes, but it can also be eaten in bakery recipes. The content of THC changes according to the amount of cannabis, 0,1% to 15% and 25% to 30% with the new hydroponics techniques.
     
     
  THE HASHISH (Hasch, H, shit) :
Extract of the resin segregated by the cannabis, the hashish is sold only in form of a cube or in pieces where the color goes from light brown to black. Its texture can go from dry and hard to soft and crumbly. It’s usually mixed with tobacco and smoked. Is more powerful than marijuana because it has a higher content of THC, 12% to 20%.
     
     
  THE HASHISH OIL :
It’s a concentrated of hashish, viscous and thick, a dark green, brown or black liquid, obtained by percolation from purified hashish with an organic solvent or alcohol. Its THC concentration level is very high, from 60% to 80%. Hashish oil is added to joints to increase its power..
 
 
Consumption form : 

Inhalation : joint (hashish or tobacco cigarette or just marijuana) or "bang" (water pipe).

Ingestion : drinks (tisane, mixture with milk) or dishes, bakery (space cake), jams.

 
 
What are the effects?
Category : Disruptive
Caractéristics : The active element of Cannabis is the Delta 9 THC (tetrehydrocannabinol). The leaves have 2 to 7% of it, according to the geographic origin of the plant (25 to 30% with the new Dutch cultures called "Nederwiet".
The resin has from 10 to 25%. The oil extract has about 60%.

Cannabis is a narcotic, say an euphoriant substance, harmful to health. It causes dependence. Because its elimination is slow, the symptoms of lack are moderated. Detoxification is a long term process during which the regular cannabis user suffers for months consequences of psychological order.
 

General order effects:

These are four phases:

  Euphoric excitement, well-being moral and mental sensation, expansive communicative joy.
  Sense and affective exaltation, disorientation that carries hashishtique intoxication with hilarity and phases and disturbance of the time and space notion.
  Ecstasy and bliss.
  Depression and sleepiness.
Took in small quantities, cannabis generates a state of euphoria and dream and open appetite.
Audio and visual perceptions can be modified.
In regular use, behavior and mental functions disturbance can be noticed. The individual loses his self-control, the sense of reality, the notion of time and space.
 
Effects over the brain:
THC carries biochemical changes.
By acting over the action of the
neurotransmitters, it alters the delicate balance between the pleasure center (limbic cells) and the command, reflection center (neo-cortex).
That explains the deceleration of the intellectual interest, certain indifference, the social life distance, the periodical phases of euphoria followed by periods of apathy and depression more and more longs.

It carries also memory problems.
 
Effects over the respiratory functions:
The excessive use of joint (5 to 10 per day) can bring, in a year, sinusitis and chronic bronchitis that a 20 to 40 years tobacco smoker meets in 5 to 10 years.
He is ten times more predisposed to have lung or aero digestive tract cancer.


Effects over the inmunitary system:
THC causes inhibition in the lymphocytes reproduction, blood white cells that carry the antibodies needed to fight infection diseases. In a normal individual, 5.9% is in constant reproduction.
In a cannabis user this percentage drops to 2.3%.
The immunitary system gets weak and lets an open field to virus and microbes.


Dependence: Regular cannabis users can develop a psychological dependence; the consumption of the drug becomes their center of interest. Their tolerance rate increases, needing always more drug quantities to feel the same effects. In the physical plan, dependence remains slow in spite of certain symptoms related to detoxification during the stoppage of cannabis use:



  Anguish
Nervousness
Insomnia
Sweats and lost of appetite
 
 
Legislation :
Cannabis is an illicit product.

 

     



 
 
 
 
DONATE
& make a difference
We have many young consumers to stop and support the families affected by addictionous.
 
 
 
 
 
DRUG
GUIDE
 
Read our guide to learn about drugs.
 
 
 
 
 
TESTIMONY
 
The testimony came from parents and young people face the problem of addiction.
You can also send your own.
 
 
 


Parents Contre la Drogue (C) - Serge LEBIGOT