In a report from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), Susan Okie, M.D. ... The number of drug-related deaths involving opioids actually tripled from 1999 to 2008" (Mann, 2012, June 29). ... Food and Drug Administration" (FDA) is recommending against continued prescribing and use of the pain reliever propoxyphene because new data show that the drug can cause serious toxicity to the heart, even when used at therapeutic doses" (2010, Nov.19). ... Indeed, marijuana is less toxic than many of the drugs that physicians prescribe every day" (2011, July 25). ... British Medical Journal, "no ac...

• Word Count: 1371
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

"The National Household Survey on Drug Abuse" reports that 31.6% of Americans have used marijuana. ... It is not the lower class drug that it was once known to be, such as crack cocaine, which only has about six hundred thousand users as opposed to the estimated 6.8 million marijuana users. ... The drug known as Marinol is a synthetic form of THC. ... Adults who used marijuana as children are 17 times more likely to be regular cocaine users (Merrill). This information is factual but it is also true that the vast majority of marijuana smokers never try cocaine. ...

• Word Count: 2117
• Approx Pages: 8
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

THC is so powerful that it is what designer drugs try to copy. ... THC is also fat soluble instead of water soluble like cocaine and heroin. This results in a build up in the body, making it last longer than cocaine and heroin. ... Schwarts of Georgetown University School of medicine in Washington D.C., studied teenagers who had abused marijuana. ... He found that drug users did a lot worse on short-term memory tests. ...

• Word Count: 1349
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

Within the Drugs Misuse Regulation (1987), the legislation is categorised under two types of dangerous drugs: Schedule 1 and Schedule 2. Cocaine, heroin and methylamphetamine are included under Schedule 1, while Schedule 2 contains; cannabis, betameprodine and methadone (Refer to Appendix 1 for additional examples) [CITATION Aus1 l 3081 ]. If the dangerous drug is specified in Schedule 1, the maximum penalty is life imprisonment whereas for Schedule 2 drugs, the maximum penalty is twenty-five years imprisonment. ... Methadone is an example of a Schedule 2 dangerous drug that is actively used...

• Word Count: 2315
• Approx Pages: 9
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

The United States government has expressed its concern that these actions are sending the wrong message to children, and will lead to extended substance abuse in the future. ... People consider it a gateway drug because adolescents often smoke marijuana before they go off into worse and more abusive/addictive drugs. ... In a way alcohol and cigarettes are gateway drugs too; youths are just looking for a way to rebel. ... The majority of people know it is not near as serious a drug as cocaine, heroin, or crystal methamphetamines. ... The drug was delivered as a spray into the mouth." ...

• Word Count: 1524
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Cannabis was the only drug put in the least dangerous category. ... In the most dangerous category, they included heroin and other opiates, and cocaine. ... As the WHO's first report on cannabis for 15 years, the document had been eagerly awaited by doctors and specialists in drug abuse. ... It is understood that advisers from the US National Institute on Drug Abuse and the UN International Drug Control Programme warned the WHO that it would play into the hands of groups campaigning to legalise marijuana. ... Chronic abuse of marijuana also is associated with impaired attention and memor...

• Word Count: 2428
• Approx Pages: 10