Citation

Focus on Alcohol and Drug Issues 1980; 3(1): 7-23.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1980)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Marijuana; with the biological name of Cannabis sativa, grows wild and is cultivated in many parts of the world. Containing 419 chemicals, this plant has the ability to intoxicate its users, primarily because of the psychoactive mind-altering ingredient called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. It is the THC content, found at various concentrations in different parts of the plant, which determines the potency. The THC content is controlled by plant strain, climate, soil conditions, and harvesting. Hash oil is an extract of the Cannabis sativa plant. It may contain up to 30% THC, 10 times the amount found in marijuana. As research shows, the effects of marijuana can interfere with learning by impairing thinking, reading comprehension, and verbal and arithmetic skills. An estimated 43 million Americans have tried marijuana at least once. Approximately 16 million were considered current users at the time of the last national survey in 1977. Marijuana delays a person's response to sights and sounds, so that it takes a driver longer to react to a dangerous situation. The ability to perform sequential tasks can also be affected by smoking marijuana.


Keywords: Cannabis impaired driving

Language: en

Keywords

cannabis; tetrahydrocannabinol; car driving; legal aspect; drug dependence; human cell; forensic medicine; medicolegal aspect; central nervous system; drug mechanism; inhalational drug administration; short survey