Marijuana: Facts About Cannabis

Marijuana is the slang term for portions of the Cannabis plant. It is one of the oldest psychoactive substances used by man.

Marijuana, also called pot, weed, ganja, mary jane, and a host of other nicknames, is made from the Cannabis plant, which has three species: Cannabis sativa; Cannabis indica and Cannabis ruderalis. The flowering plant, which can grow to 16 feet (5 meters) high, likely originated in the Central Asian steppe, near the Altai or Tian Shian Mountains, and was first cultivated in China and India, according to "Cannabis and Cannabinoids: Pharmacology, Toxicology and Therapeutic Potential," (Routledge, 2002).

The leaves, stems, flower buds and extracts from the marijuana plant can be eaten, brewed in a tea or put into a tincture. It can also be vaporized using an e-cigarette pen. Yale University researchers surveyed 3,847 Connecticut high school students about this practice in a 2015 study that was published in the journal Pediatrics. The study found nearly one in five e-cigarette users also have vaporize cannabis or byproducts like hash oil using the device. -

"This is a relatively novel way of using marijuana, and kids are using it at a fairly high rate," said lead author of the study Meghan E. Morean in a Yale press release.

There are hundreds of compounds in marijuana, but scientists believe the one responsible for the drugs' psychoactive effects is tetrahydrocannbinol, or THC. THC binds to cannabinoid receptors throughout the body, and marijuana's "high" comes from THC's binding to brain regions responsible for pleasure, time perception and pain, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

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