Marijuana can be detected even after a month after stopping using it. According to a new American study, it is stated that marijuana remains in the human body, urine, hair and saliva for a month!
In urine: seven to thirty days.
In the blood: about two weeks.
Hair: up to 90 days.
Side effects – marijuana can affect your memory and concentration, exhaust and weaken your motivation. You may feel anxiety, panic, or feel disturbed if you are not used to smoking marijuana or use a stronger type of effect. You can experience illusions and hallucinations.
Danger – Many people think that marijuana is a non-dangerous drug. However, studies show that it can be dangerous for long-term users when it comes to controlling marijuana’s use and you can be easily addicted. Smoking of marijuana increases the risk of heart and cancer (such as lung cancer) and can affect your fertility. For people with minor mental health, smoking marijuana can cause schizophrenia. In Ireland, marijuana is the second most common drug which is found in the blood of drunk drivers.
What is marijuana?
Marijuana – a psychoactive substance derived from hemp and used for medical and recreational purposes. The main psychoactive component of marijuana is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Besides, there are at least 483 chemical compounds in marijuana, including at least 65 other cannabinoids. Marijuana is commonly used for smoking; it can also be taken with food or as an extract.
Marijuana is the most commonly used illegal drug. Studies have found that roughly 4% of adults worldwide use marijuana once a year,and 0.6% uses it daily.
The consumption, storage or sale of marijuana has become illegal in most parts of the world at the beginning of the 20th century. Since then, some countries have tightened the rules against marijuana, while others have weakened or even abolished the ban at that time.
Not for all marijuana smoking has a significant impact. It is believed that most people who are smoking marijuana feel relaxed, wants to talk a lot. In fact, after the ingestion of THK and other cannabinoids, the senses become more intense, and the person’s well-being depends heavily on the environment. If a person, who smoked marijuana, will be in his or her opinion in an unsafe situation, he will feel insecure and worried. And in a friendly atmosphere, he will be relaxed, will want to talk a lot.
Sometimes for people who are smoking marijuana, the color may appear brighter and sound louder. This is due to increased sensitivity.
If marijuana is used daily, psychological dependence can develop, sensitivity is also increased. Intensive use of marijuana affects memory impairments, temporarily reducing the ability to perform tasks requiring a high concentration, such as driving. Also, the smoking of marijuana can be a reason for mental illness if a person has a predisposition. One of the most common symptoms is depersonalization.
What effect does the marijuana to the human organism?
The effect of marijuana:
- Drowsy mouth and throat;
- Heart rate is increasing;
- Coordination and imbalance;
- Slower reaction time;
- Short-term memory is diminished.
Medium doses cause relaxation, stimulate fantasies. High doses can cause hallucinations and paranoid. Usually, short-term effects of marijuana disappear completely after 2-3 hours. However, tetrahydrocannabinol is not eliminated from the body. This substance is soluble in fat. Therefore, it accumulates in the adipose tissue, in the fat of the liver, lungs, suckling and other organs. Two days after taking marijuana, a quarter of tetrahydrocannabinol is still present in the body. In the urine test, traces of tetrahydrocannabinol can be detected for another three days after smoking marijuana, and in susceptible blood tests, it is recognized for up to 2 weeks.
24 hours after taking marijuana, memory impairment may occur, loss of effectiveness of information absorption, difficulty in accumulating attention, impairment of mathematical and speaking skills. According to some studies, marijuana can have irreversible effects on memory, due to changes in the area of mind in the brain.
Constant use of marijuana reduces respiratory resistance in the body: colds, bronchitis, bronchial asthma may develop. The risk of lung cancer increases. The harmful effects of marijuana on the body are five times stronger than tobacco.
Regular marijuana smoking in adolescents slows puberty. Men can reduce sperm production; women may experience a menstrual cycle irregularity. The use of marijuana during pregnancy increases the likelihood of congenital disabilities. Long-term use of marijuana becomes an addiction.
Facts about marijuana
Teenagers think this is a “light” drug that does not create a quick addiction.
However, marijuana affects the human brain centers responsible for motivation, behavior, memory. Therefore, the effects of marijuana-smoke-faded adolescence can be felt throughout their lives.
Risk of Schizophrenia
On the one hand, marijuana weakens the vital functions of the organs: for example, the lungs, hurt metabolism. Another damage is done to the psyche. First of all, let’s start with the fact that not everyone who is smoking marijuana, it is smoking only it. Most of the marijuana is supplemented with synthetic cannabinoids, in order to enhance its effect.
In this case, marijuana toxicity and adverse effects on the body increases.
And even if the smoker is entirely sure that he bought 100 percent natural marijuana, this drug has been treated with various pesticides, antifungal agents. It’s all being smoked to your lungs.
Smoking marijuana up to the age of 21, when the brain is still developing, it really does work on the psyche. The more abundant and the sooner you start to smoke it – the more significant and residual effects. For example, the link between the development of schizophrenia and marijuana smoking has been medically proven. Schizophrenia is six times more likely to develop; it can occur at a younger age.
If a person is still learning, it becomes difficult for him to acquire information, this effect can last up to one week after drug use. Lovers of marijuana are less likely to learn; sometimes they do not finish school – later it leads to an unlucky career, low remuneration and complicated relationships with loved ones.
Several times stronger than in hippies era
It has been shown that marijuana worsens short-term memory, affects appetite, even intelligence. In the teenage age smoked marijuana reduces human IQ by 6-8 points. This is a lot. There is also a myth that marijuana does not cause addiction. Indeed, maybe the physical dependence is weaker, but the psychological one is really very strong.
Discontinuation also results in mood changes, and sleep disturbances, anxiety attacks. We know from the story of the “flower children” who, in their pockets of jeans, were always carrying some joints of marijuana. Today’s marijuana, however, differs significantly from what the “flower children” have been smoking. Nowadays, marijuana is growing in individual rooms, which special lighting increases the amount of active substance in the plant – tetrahydrocannabinol.
If hippies were satisfied in marijuana with 5-7% active ingredients, today’s marijuana has 20-30 per cent and even more.
THC METABOLISM AND INTOXICATION DURATION
The growing interest in how marijuana can be used for medical purposes has led to research into the effects of THC and other substances in marijuana on the human body. These studies provided useful information to help you understand the development of the use of marijuana products. When smoking marijuana, the concentration of THC in the blood rapidly reaches the maximum in a few minutes. If the product enters the body with food, such as eating marijuana-containing pastry or chocolate, the THC reaches the peak in the blood only after 30 or 60 minutes.
The duration of intoxication depends directly on the dose of THC. If the marijuana preparation was smoked low, the effect lasted for several hours and twice as long as the marijuana was eaten. The level of THC in the blood decreases relatively quickly when it is split into intermediate products and dissolved in the fatty tissues.
The THC metabolism process in the adipose tissue has not yet been adequately studied, for example, what amounts of THC and its degradation products remain in the fatty tissue and how they affect the human body after they return to the bloodstream.
It is believed that when it enters the blood, THC and its degradation products will no longer reach a concentration that would have a psychological effect or affect normal human activities.
Studies have shown that after taking marijuana, THC has an adverse effect on the human capacity for up to 24 hours.
Since the removal of THC products through the liver and kidneys, its degradation products can be detected in urine at least 6 weeks after the use of marijuana products.
Are you getting addicted to marijuana?
Abuse of drugs leads to an addiction that is characterized by an insurmountable urge to consume drugs on a daily or almost daily basis. Not only psychological but also physical dependence develops, as well as abstinence syndrome, which develops anxiety, irritation, insomnia. For people who have smoked marijuana at least once in their lives, there is a likelihood that later 10% dependence can develop from them. Also, people who smoke marijuana have a higher risk of getting addicted to other drugs. As far as drug dependence is concerned, abusive and addictive terms are distinguished.
Abuse is not continuing drug use. It causes physical, mental and social harm to the users themselves and others. However, the person controls drug use and may periodically abstain from being dependent yet.
The development of addiction adds to the undeniable need to be continuously intoxicated. Social, mental or physical harm is ignored and a lot of time is spent on acquiring drugs, their use, and consequences. Other interests are shifted to the second plan, and attemptS to terminate addiction are usually fatal. Raising tolerance is the need for a person to increase the dose to achieve a certain degree of intoxication (addiction), and when abstinence symptoms stop after taking drugs.
There is a need for cureness
The need for treatment for marijuana sufferers is growing. This tendency is monitored by doctors and scientists. Therefore, there is a need for new treatment programs and a qualitative assessment of their effectiveness. Recognizing that treatment for marijuana addiction requires different ways than those currently used to treat other drug dependence, encourages the development of new methodologies.
Treatment options for marijuana addiction are adapted in the United States, Australia, the Nordic countries. There is a strong interest in the practice of developing treatment methods in Sweden. In this country, twenty-five teams of specialists are involved in the treatment of marijuana addiction.
Marijuana and mental disorders
Marijuana smoking seriously disturbs a person’s mental health. Many research findings have confirmed that the effects of marijuana on psychosis are one of the most disturbing aspects. Misuse of marijuana may be due to the development of addiction to marijuana, acute mental disorders, marijuana psychosis, a manifestation of other psychoses, peculiarities of their course, personality disorders, depression, suicide, and aggression. Smoking marijuana products, especially those with high THC levels, can lead to short-term toxic psychosis (from several days to several weeks).
Some researchers have found that marijuana smoking can also cause long-lasting psychosis, sometimes referred to as “marijuana psyche,” which is clearly different from schizophrenia.
It is believed that excessive smoking of marijuana may be the cause when a person who is prone to schizophrenia has an earlier onset of the disease. Research has confirmed that smoking marijuana accelerates the incidence of schizophrenia by an average of 4 years.
Marijuana mixing with other drugs
A particular concern is the effects of the abuse of marijuana and alcohol at the same time. This is not a new phenomenon. The conclusions of the research carried out and confirmed that the use of these substances simultaneously poses a danger not only to the person but also to the environment – negatively influences the ability to drive, increases the tendency of personality to aggression, more frequent manifestations of character and mental disorders and acute psychosis.
So consider if you want to start smoking marijuana, or continue to do it if you have already started.
