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Marijuana. Pot. Weed. Whatever you call it, it's the most popular illegal drug in the world, gaining support for legalization for both medicinal and recreational purposes. But what does marijuana actually do to us? Let's take a look at this fascinating drug, its health effects, and potential concerns about using it.
Marijuana Is a Controlled Substance...Lacking in Controlled, Scientific Research
Before we start, we should note that a whole lot more research needs to be done in this area. Although marijuana has been used for centuries as a medicine and as an inebriant (it's even mentioned in the Old Testament several times as "kaneh-bosem"), we don't know a great deal about the health effects of using it. That's because there haven't been many controlled studies on it, due to the way marijuana is classified by the federal government.
The Food and Drug Administration classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug, defined as the most dangerous of all drug schedules, with "no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse." (Fun fact: heroin, ecstasy, and LSD are also Schedule I drugs, but cocaine and meth are considered less dangerous Schedule II drugs.) As such, to do clinical research with marijuana, you need a license from the DEA and your study approved by the FDA, and to obtain research-grade marijuana, you have to go through the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Popular Science explains. Otherwise, since it's federally illegal to have marijuana (even in states that have legalized marijuana), researchers working in hospitals, colleges, or other institutions that receive federal funding risk losing their funds to do this research.
There have long been movements to reclassify marijuana and open up the doors for more studies, but, for now, here's what we do know about marijuana and our health.
TL;DR - It Um, ehhh , Oh Yeah , It Gets You High n Stuff...
Read More:
http://lifehacker.com/what-marijuana-actually-does-to-your-brain-and-body-1693986467
Marijuana. Pot. Weed. Whatever you call it, it's the most popular illegal drug in the world, gaining support for legalization for both medicinal and recreational purposes. But what does marijuana actually do to us? Let's take a look at this fascinating drug, its health effects, and potential concerns about using it.
Marijuana Is a Controlled Substance...Lacking in Controlled, Scientific Research
Before we start, we should note that a whole lot more research needs to be done in this area. Although marijuana has been used for centuries as a medicine and as an inebriant (it's even mentioned in the Old Testament several times as "kaneh-bosem"), we don't know a great deal about the health effects of using it. That's because there haven't been many controlled studies on it, due to the way marijuana is classified by the federal government.
The Food and Drug Administration classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug, defined as the most dangerous of all drug schedules, with "no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse." (Fun fact: heroin, ecstasy, and LSD are also Schedule I drugs, but cocaine and meth are considered less dangerous Schedule II drugs.) As such, to do clinical research with marijuana, you need a license from the DEA and your study approved by the FDA, and to obtain research-grade marijuana, you have to go through the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Popular Science explains. Otherwise, since it's federally illegal to have marijuana (even in states that have legalized marijuana), researchers working in hospitals, colleges, or other institutions that receive federal funding risk losing their funds to do this research.
There have long been movements to reclassify marijuana and open up the doors for more studies, but, for now, here's what we do know about marijuana and our health.
TL;DR - It Um, ehhh , Oh Yeah , It Gets You High n Stuff...
Read More:
http://lifehacker.com/what-marijuana-actually-does-to-your-brain-and-body-1693986467
