MARIJUANA
Facts
you should know about Marijuana:
For parents:
Marijuana
Street terms for marijuana: grass,
pot, weed, bud, Mary Jane, dope, indo, hydro1
What does marijuana look like?
- A green, brown, or gray mixture of dried, shredded
leaves, stems, seeds, and flowers of the hemp plant. ("Cannabis"
refers to marijuana and other drugs made from the same plant.)
- Other forms, less common in the
United States
, are hashish and hashish
oil.
What are the methods of usage?
- Marijuana is usually smoked as a cigarette (called a
joint) or in a pipe or bong.
What are some consequences of marijuana use?
- May cause frequent respiratory infections, impaired
memory and learning, increased heart rate, anxiety, panic attacks,
tolerance, and physical dependence.2
- Use of marijuana during the first month of
breast-feeding can impair infant motor development.3
- Chronic smokers may have many of the same respiratory
problems as tobacco smokers including daily cough and phlegm, chronic
bronchitis symptoms, frequent chest colds; chronic abuse can also lead to
abnormal functioning of lung tissues.4
- A study of college students has shown that skills
related to attention, memory, and learning are impaired among people who use
marijuana heavily, even after discontinuing its use for at least 24 hours.5
Who uses marijuana?
- Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug.
- At least one-third of Americans have used marijuana
sometime in their lives.6
How does marijuana get to the United States
?
- Marijuana produced in Mexico
and smuggled into the U.S.
remains the most widely
available.
- High-potency marijuana also enters the U.S.
drug market from Canada
.
-
U.S.
drug law enforcement
reporting suggests increased availability of domestically grown marijuana.7
- The availability of marijuana from Southeast Asia
generally is limited to
the West Coast.
How much does marijuana cost?
- Prices for commercial-grade marijuana have remained
relatively stable over the past decade, ranging from approximately $400 to
$1,000 per pound in U.S. Southwest border areas to between $700 to $2000 per
pound in the
Midwest
and northeastern
United States
.
- The national price range for sinsemilla, a higher
quality marijuana usually grown domestically, is between $900 and $6,000 per
pound.8
1Office
of National Drug Control Policy, Street Terms: Drugs and the Drug Trade.
2Office of National Drug Control Policy, Drug
Descriptions: Marijuana, May 2002.
3National Institute on Drug Abuse, Marijuana
Infofax, October 2001.
4Office of National Drug Control Policy, Drug
Descriptions: Marijuana, May 2002.
5National Institute on Drug Abuse, Marijuana
Infofax, October 2001.
6Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration, Summary of Findings from the 2000 National Household
Survey on Drug Abuse, September 2001.
7Drug Enforcement Administration, Drug
Trafficking in the
United States
, September 2001.
8Ibid.
Information
on marijuana came primarily from www.dea.gov.