SMOKING MARIJUANA – Very dangerous habit.

Marijuana is taken from the leaves, branches or other parts of the hemp plant Cannabis Sativa. They are usually smoked in pipes. In yet another way of smoking marijuana, they are smoked in blunts. Blunts are actually cigars that are emptied of tobacco and then filled with marijuana or some other drugs.

The effects of smoking marijuana are due to the presence of the highly dangerous chemical, THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabino). The chemical affects the brain by binding to the brains protein receptors. This causes a high, thereby creating an additive affect and ultimately affecting the brain and its parts. The chemical will also enter the lungs, travel along the blood stream and finally reaching the sensitive internal organs. Marijuana smoking has also found to cause severe allergic reactions affecting the trachea. This leads to breathing problems.

Marijuana smoking results in memory problems, learning problems, increase of heart rate, loss of coordination and distorted perception. There is also an increase in the risk of heart attack and thereby cardiac arrest which is fatal. The risk of heart attack is almost 4 times greater in case of marijuana smokers when compared to non smokers. The lungs are affected by the excessive production of phlegm resulting in severe coughs, chest illness, chest infections and even lung cancer. Cancer of other parts of the body could also result. Among women the problem is with pregnancy. The child will suffer from altered responses to visual stimuli and many neurological problems. Giving birth to mentally retarded children is the result of marijuana smoking among women.

Because of all these dangerous effects of smoking of marijuana, the need for putting a stop to it is very important. In order to meet this need of helping out marijuana-addicted people, many different rehabilitation centers have been opened all around the world. Some of them are operated by governments and others are privately owned. Online chat rooms are also available for this purpose. Addicted people can get professional advice from these sites. Certain other hospital groups are also opened. Since quitting marijuana smoking is very different, counseling, behavioral therapies physiotherapy etc have been adopted for the treatment of the patients.