I can remember I was always told “drugs are bad,” and “never get mixed up with them.” At the time I was young and that was more than enough information for me so I never once questioned it, but as I grew older my curiosity began to grow along with me.

I wanted to know “Why is this drug so bad?” and “What exactly are its effects on the human body?” My questions began to expand over time. “If this drug is so bad, how come almost half of America is on it, well at least that’s what it seems like in my neighborhood.” With all these unanswered questions roaming around in my head there was no question that this was the topic I was going to write my I-search paper on.

I began investigating the issue at home online. I started by searching various search

engines such as yahoo, excite and dogpile. The one I found to be the most resourceful was

dogpile. “Marijuana: facts for teens,” was one of the web pages that contained an

students surveyed in a yearly national survey, only about one in five 10th graders report they are current marijuana users (that is, used marijuana within the past month). “Fewer than one in four high school seniors is a current marijuana user. (Marijuana : Facts for Teens, pg 3) Discovering this information made in apparent that my assumption that “everyone is doing it,” is not valid.

The first thing I researched was what marijuana exactly was. “Marijuana is a a green, brown or gray mixture of shredded leaves, stems, seeds and flowers of the hemp plant” (Marijuana : Facts For Teens, pg 1.) On the streets its slang terms are often pot, chronic, trees, weed, ect. There are over two hundred slang terms used today. There are also different forms of marijuana such as Sinsemilla, Hashish and Hash oil, which are all the stronger forms. All forms of marijuana contain THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), which is the main active chemical in marijuana. They also contain more than 400 other chemicals. Marijuana's effects on the user depend on the strength or potency of the THC it contains. “THC potency of marijuana has increased since the 1970s but has been about the same since the mid-1980s” (Marijuana: Facts For Teens, pg 1.)

Many people find it hard to perform ordinary tasks when “high” on marijuana. With an increased heart rate, and distorted perception it becomes more difficult to concentrate. For a younger person school work might seem more difficult and for an older person their job duties might seem t

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