Usage of a drug goes up, when young people perceive that drug to be less harmful or not harmful at all.... A decline in perceived harm predicated the current surge in marijuana use. In other words, your children are less likely to get involved with marijuana, if they realize that it really is harmful.

HOW HARMFUL IS MARIJUANA?

In Knox County, most young people do not use and have not experimented with marijuana. However, roughly 1 out of 5 sophomores and 1 out of 8 eighth graders in Knox County use marijuana on a monthly basis. This makes it the most widely used illegal drug in Knox County, as it is in the nation. Nationally, marijuana accounts for 81% of drug use. The main reason for marijuana's popularity is that young people don't think of it as harmful. It's a "soft drug", instead of a "hard drug" to them. As parents and educators, we need to teach our young people about marijuana and it's consequences.

Marijuana and Learning
Heavy marijuana smokers have trouble paying attention and taking in new information for at least twenty-four hours after use, according to a report by the Harvard Medical School published in the Journal of American Medical Association. THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) disturbs nerve cells in the part of the brain where memories are formed. It becomes difficult to learn and recall information, which is why marijuana use leads to a drop in academic achievement. According to the Illinois Drug Education Alliance, "marijuana make 'great' people average, and 'average' people dumb".

Marijuana and Motivation
Regular marijuana users have decreased motivation and cognition. They often develop amotivational syndrome. This includes 1) not caring about what happens in their lives, 2) having no desire to work regularly, 3) fatigue, 4) lack of concern for their appearance, and 5) poor performance in school.

Marijuana and the Brain
More than four hundred chemicals are in cannabis. One of them, THC, starts a chain of cellular reactions in the brain. These change the way sensory information gets into and is acted upon by the part of the brain crucial for learning, memory, and the integration of experience with emotions and motivation. The resulting impairments include memory, perception and judgment. Users have difficulty speaking, listening effectively, thinking clearly, retaining knowledge, problem solving and forming ideas. In an 8-year study by Dr. Robert Gilkeson, marijuana smokers had EEG (electroencephalogram) readings of brain dysfunctions similar to the learning disabled.

Marijuana and Internal Organs
Marijuana is the most chemically complex of all illegal drugs. Some of these chemicals and toxic and cancer-inducing. THC, one of the strongest, is absorbed by fatty tissues in the brain, bone marrow and sex organs. It stays in the body long after the user has come down from his high. For chronic users, THC can be detected for weeks after use has stopped. DDT is an example of a fat soluble substance, banned from use because of its staying power in the body.

Marijuana and the Lungs
Because marijuana smoke is deeply in haled and held in the lungs as long as possible, it is extremely damaging to the lungs and pulmonary system. The tar inhaled and the carbon monoxide absorbed by marijuana users are three to five times greater than with tobacco. Five joints a week expose a user to as many cancer causing chemical as a full pack of cigarettes smoked each day.

Marijuana and Illness
THC collects in the bone marrow, where blood cells are manufactured. It impairs the development of white blood cells used to fight off infection. In a 1997 National Institute of Health study, marijuana decreased the ability to resist viral and bacterial infection.

Marijuana and Behavior
Marijuana users have lower achievement, more acceptance of deviant behavior, more aggression and poorer relationships with their parents. Marijuana use correlates with higher rates of delinquency, arrests and failure in school. Dr. Gabriel Nahas of Columbia University states that throughout history, cannabis has been associated with mental disturbances ranging from distorted perception to schizophrenia.

Marijuana and Pregnancy
According to Dr. Akira Morishima, a specialist in cellular heredity, "I have never found any other drug, including heroin, which came close to the DNA damage caused by marijuana". Babies born to mothers who used marijuana during pregnancy developed health problems similar to fetal alcohol syndrome.

Marijuana and Development
Adolescence is an important period of physical, psychological and cognitive development. Using marijuana during this period, makes young people more likely to experience severe problems related to drug use. It impairs development in the frontal lobe of the brain, responsible for reasoned and logical thinking.

A Special Informational Series - provided by InTouch at Bridgeway - (309-344-4354) InTouch is funded by the Illinois Department of Human Services and stands for the Illinois Network To Organize the Understanding of Community Health.