Marijuana

Marijuana refers to the dried flowering tops and leaves of the hemp plant, Cannabis sativa, and its [Page 414]relative, Cannabis indica; it also refers to the plant itself. The female of the species is rich in the sticky psychoactive resin that coats its upper parts; cultivators exclude the male plant to prevent pollination and seeding. Cannabis is a wild (or feral) and hardy weed; it grows in every country of the world and in every state in the United States. Though THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is its principal psychoactive agent, the plant contains more than 400 chemicals, called cannabinoids, unique to itself. Different batches of marijuana contain varying proportions of THC, from plants growing by the side of the road, which contain 1% to 3% THC to cultivated sinsemilla (seedless plants) and hydroponic plants (grown in a nutrient-rich aquatic solution) containing more than 10% to as much as 20% of the psychoactive ingredient. Not only do batches vary by potency, users affirm that varying batches induce qualitatively different kinds of effects as well. Hashish contains only the resin and pollen (and some flowering buds) of the plant; processors press this material into solid or crumbly form. Hash usually contains a higher THC content than the average batch of marijuana. Unlike drinking alcohol, cannabis use is by definition the attempt by users to introduce a psychoactive substance into their body—to get high or intoxicated. However, intoxication is manifested in degrees, from “getting a buzz on,” a mild high, to “getting wasted,” a more extreme state.

Historical evidence suggests that, for millennia, societies have cultivated cannabis for its psychoactive properties and possibly for a far longer stretch of time. Archaeologists have found charred cannabis seeds in 3,000-year-old burial sites in Romania, China, Nepal, the Middle East, and Central Asia. Currently, the use of cannabis for euphoric purposes is common in North Africa, the Middle East, India, Southeast Asia, and Latin and North America. In 2004, the United Nations estimated that 4% of the world's adult population—162 million people—took marijuana at least once during the prior year, and 0.6% (or 22.5 million) used it daily; worldwide, it is the most commonly used illicit psychoactive substance. In the United States, natural marijuana is most commonly smoked in the form of cigarettes or joints, though also often in a small pipe through a tin foil, or in a bong or water pipe. Some users take it by means of a vaporizer, which releases the substance's smoke without igniting it—that is, active ingredients without combustion thereby throwing off fewer toxins. In some regions of the world, cannabis is brewed into a tea.