... that date back all the way to about 4000 B.C. where the Chinese first discovered its medicinal uses. In a pharmacy book written by the emperor Shen-Nung about 2657 B.C., he recommends marijuana as a cure for "gout, rheumatism, malaria, beriberi, constipation, and absent mindedness (Stwerka 5)." By the second century A.D., the plant was being used for anesthetics during surgical operations involving stomach ... of dysentery, which was highly prevalent among Civil War soldiers, and until 1937, it was listed in the U.S. Pharmacopoeia as a tranquilizer (Richardson 42). Physicians of the tim...

• Word Count: 3551
• Approx Pages: 14
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... and punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine up to one thousand dollars. Possession of greater than thirty-five grams of marijuana it is considered a felony and is punishable up to seven years in prison and a fine up to five thousand dollars. Possession of greater ... hundred kilograms or more carries a penalty of ten years to life in prison and a fine up to twenty thousand dollars. In Missouri if caught selling marijuana, even if the transaction consisted of only one gram, it is a felony and is punishable by up to seven years in prison and a fine up ... parole or probation (Te...

• Word Count: 896
• Approx Pages: 4
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... these "natural" drugs have been replaced with synthetic pharmaceutical drugs, which are usually more effective and more profitable than herbs. The drug marijuana is a plant and consuming it causes a number of effects on the user, though the total set of effects varies from person to person. A ... commonly reported unpleasant side effect of marijuana is anxiety and panic. One reason marijuana causes anxiety is that it can increase the user's heart rate by 20 to 50 percent within about ten minutes of smoking ... American Heart Association (AHA), researchers questioned 3,882 middle-aged and...

• Word Count: 711
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... The legal acceptance of alcohol, however, does not exclude it from the category of a "drug," even in the eyes of the Food and Drug Administration. The prohibition of marijuana is historically counteractive and a direct defiance of First Amendment rights. This prohibition has denied thousands of critically ill patients a drug that would effectively treat their illness and relieve their pain ... is little proven danger of physical or psychological harm from the experimental or intermittent use of natural preparation of cannabis," and recommended then that the personal and medical use of m...

• Word Count: 1707
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... binge leads to crashing (anxiety, depression, suspiciousness, sleep craving) and withdrawal (absence of pleasure in all things, lack of motivation, and boredom). Many users take other drugs ( alcohol , marijuana , heroin ) to attenuate these effects. A dangerous combination of cocaine and heroin, known as a "speedball,"" is used by some. Withdrawal usually results in further use, often spurred by a ... it affects short-term memory and comprehension. Heavy smokers often sustain lung damage from the smoke and contaminants. Regular use can result in dependence. marijuana Section: History of...

• Word Count: 5106
• Approx Pages: 20
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... nausea that accompanies chemotherapy, and the medicines used to treat the horrible disease. Cannabis makes lifesaving treatment possible where it wasn't before. Until 1937, there were twenty-seven medicines containing marijuana were legally available in the United States to aid suffering patients including those of AIDS, cancer, glaucoma, and even multiple sclerosis. Lobbying groups like the PAAC and the NLF, are ... working hard to show substantial evidence that marijuana can be used as a prescribed drug. Many advocates who are pro-legalization complain that morphine and cocaine are le...

• Word Count: 689
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... to the amount needed to get a person high is roughly ten thousand times as much, maybe more. One would have to smoke 1,500 pounds of marijuana in less than 15 minutes to attain a lethal dose, which is physically impossible. Compare this to alcohol, a legal substance, where the ratio of ... or people beaten up by drunk, angry rednecks or husbands. Although research has yet to discover any specific long-term dangers to this drug, marijuana can cause psychological problems such as laziness, loss of memory, paranoia, and apathy. Additionally, excessive use can slow down your social skills a...

• Word Count: 842
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... income they already had at an increasingly rapid rate meaning predatory crimes would eventually become a quick and logical alternative to addicts. The effects of narcotics such as cocaine, heroin, and marijuana are proven to make addicts more violent and, in some cases, suicidal. Increase in use would mean an increase in violent, homicidal or suicidal addicts. Just because legalization would redefine ... were the only cause of drug-related deaths [he] had seen except for occasional deaths from overdoses (108). He confirmed the inference that clean, reasonable dosages of heroin, cocaine ...

• Word Count: 4624
• Approx Pages: 18
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... income they already had at an increasingly rapid rate meaning predatory crimes would eventually become a quick and logical alternative to addicts. The effects of narcotics such as cocaine, heroin, and marijuana are proven to make addicts more violent and, in some cases, suicidal. Increase in use would mean an increase in violent, homicidal or suicidal addicts. Just because legalization would redefine ... were the only cause of drug-related deaths [he] had seen except for occasional deaths from overdoses (108). He confirmed the inference that clean, reasonable dosages of heroin, cocaine ...

• Word Count: 4794
• Approx Pages: 19
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... bureau of narcotics in 1930 and appointed Harry J. Anslinger as commissioner. Under his 32 year tenure, drugs were increasingly criminalized. The Boggs Act intensively increased the penalties for marijuana use. The Narcotics Control Act of 1956 eliminated all discretion to suspend sentences or grant probation. Parole was only privileged to first offenders convicted of possession, and the ... drugs in its entirety. The "Hippie" movement counterculture popularized drugs making it fashionable and appealing, especially on college campuses. Numerous Vietnam veterans returned with heroin and ...

• Word Count: 1432
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... main topic is whether or not THC, the main psychoactive ingredient of marijuana, can even cause schizophrenia or any other type of psychosis. It seems that there have been very few studies which have linked marijuana use with psychosis, although there seems to be a correlation between the use of marijuana and occurrence of psychosis. This correlation is likely to do the use of ... drugs whose use is linked with marijuana use, amphetamines in particular. "If cannabis-induced psychoses exist, it seems that they would ... a natural experiment that may help clarify the neurobiology and the...

• Word Count: 653
• Approx Pages: 3
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... drugs over the last few decades. In the past, most drugs were made from plants, such as opium poppies for heroin, coca bush for cocaine, and cannabis for hashish or marijuana. Now drugs are being produced with various chemicals such as Ecstasy or LSD. Drugs of abuse fall into three categories: depressants like heroin, stimulants like cocaine, and crack, and hallucinogens ... like marijuana, Ecstasy, and LSD. A psychoactive substance is any substance that people take to change either the way they feel, think, or behave. People have taken psychoactive drugs for religious and recreational ...

• Word Count: 619
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... -thirds of prisoners incarcerated under mandatory minimum drug laws were high level offenders. One of the harshest minimum penalties for a drug offender is death for the possession of 60,000 marijuana plants. Although this seems like a huge offence, the punishment is extreme as well. Only so much space is available in state and Federal prisons, and yet mandatory minimum laws continue ... selective application of mandatory sentences is by far a better solution than applied them to all cases. As stated by Schlosser, " of the 4,244 people convicted last year of violating federal marijuana l...

• Word Count: 1958
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... researcher Dr. Nora Volkow of the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, NY, Dr. Volkow found a significant relationship between the intensity and duration of the rush of dopamine levels associated with marijuana and the degree to which the drug blocks one of the key mechanisms that control the amount of dopamine in the brain. Previous animal studies have shown that cocaine occupies ... ...

• Word Count: 1130
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Psychoactive drugs are classified into four major groups: stimulants, depressants, narcotics, and hallucinogens. Three other types of drugs - cannabis (marijuana), inhalants, and designer drugs - have the same effects as some drugs in the four major groups. Steroids are not considered psychoactive drugs but are abused for other reasons. Stimulants are ... ...

• Word Count: 334
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... researchers make conclusive findings. Researchers believe that alcohol's unpredictable nature may have to do with the fact it affects so many sites in the brain. Unlike drugs like cocaine and marijuana that act in specific sites and on specific neurotransmitters, alcohol does the total opposite. Alcohol has been known to affect brain cells in the hippocampus which is responsible for the ... ...

• Word Count: 478
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... two can result in gangs worldwide echoing the "East Coast", "West Coast" dimension. Rap artist 50 and colleagues in G'D Up are excellent propagandist. Fifty Cents rattlers on "Cocaine, Heroin, Ecstasy, Marijuana, im new on that greyhound Fuckin wit NY, to Carolina" By hearing such remarks by 50 many will agree that he is a frivolous rapper who neglects and overlooked the damage ... ...

• Word Count: 1286
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... crime in multiple ways. First of all, and most directly, it is a crime to use, possess, manufacture, or distribute drugs classified as having a potential for abuse (such as cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and amphetamines). Illegal and illicit drugs also are directly related to crime through the effects they have on the user's behavior and by generating violence and other illegal activity in ... ...

• Word Count: 2815
• Approx Pages: 11
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... the criminal community, and birth in Medellin, Columbia made him an excellent person to implement the trafficking of Columbia's newest illegal export: cocaine. Columbia had already been successful at transporting marijuana to North America, by the time cocaine became popular in the United States. Columbia's strategic location between the cocoa crop countries of Peru and Bolivia gave delinquents a great opportunity to ... ...

• Word Count: 2508
• Approx Pages: 10
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... are said to be substance-dependent or addicted. The term substance abuse is used broadly and includes psychological and/or physiological dependence on a variety of drugs such as alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, sedatives, stimulants, and hallucinogens. Because substance abuse is so widespread, many practitioners of theories have devoted significant attention to this area. Examples of treating alcoholism or other drug abuse are ... ...

• Word Count: 493
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... populations incur an enormous financial cost on society, but as long as drug laws remain people will continue to be needlessly incarcerated. Canada has reacted by minimizing administrative requirements involving marijuana charges (the most common of drug offences) while America has formed a separate court system for drugs all together that attempts to focus less on incarceration. (www.csdp.org/factbook/drugcour ... ...

• Word Count: 2317
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... living in U.S. households. These data are used to report trends in illegal drug use for large and small metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas of the United States. Lifetime-use patterns of marijuana, hallucinogens, inhalants, and cocaine by age group for the three population density areas are compared. In general, nonmetropolitan prevalence rates for the four drugs were slightly lower than those for ... ...

• Word Count: 2051
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate