Marijuana in youth
Uploaded by tomgood152 on Jun 21, 2004
Drugs in Youth
Drugs in young people are one of the major problems concerning the younger generations. Drugs effect the youth of Australia greatly and they are one of the major problems in society today. In this assignment I chose to focus on Marijuana because it is the most commonly used illegal drugs in teenagers. Marijuana is made from the dried flowers and leaves of the plant Cannabis Sativa. Marijuana can look like dried herbs or tea it can be green grey or brown. Marijuana is usually smoked in hand rolled cigarettes called “joints” or in water pipes called bongs. Sometimes it is mixed in with cakes and biscuits and eaten.
The Cannabis plant grows wildly in places like India and Jamaica and these are the country’s that first discovered its effects on the body. Marijuana was still available to buy in Australia up until the 1900’s in pharmacies where you could readily buy it. There are still places that you can buy it legally one of these places is Jamaica where some people’s way of life is based around it, these people are called Rastafarians one of the most famous Rastafarians was the singer Bob Marley.
Marijuana is the choice of many young people because of its availability and the fact it is not physically addictive such as many other drugs. Many teens find this drug easy to get or grow their own. Also another influencing factor is that if you get caught with under 30g or two plants it doesn’t go on your criminal record. Marijuana is one of the softer drugs and is not considered as bad as many others this is probably another reason why younger people are attracted to this drug.
Marijuana Contains a chemical called THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) this is the chemical that creates the “High” feeling. This means you change in mood and may see or feel things in a different way. Some parts of the plant contain a higher level of THC than others for example the buds and Flowers contain more than the leaves and stems. The level of THC also depends on how the plant is grown many plants are grown using Hydroponics and this makes them much stronger.
When Marijuana is smoked the THC effects the brain by going into the lungs and then into the bloodstream where it travels into the brain and...