Lecture 15Outline of Last Lecture I. None, this begins the Exam 4 materials. a. The past notes were for Exam 3. Outline of Current Lecture a. Marijuanai. Definition of Marijuana1. Classificationb. Historyc. Acute Toxicityd. Hypothesis and the Legalizing Marijuana Current LectureWe first need to define what marijuana means in terms of a drug by describing that the source of marijuana is Cannabis sativa, better known as the hemp plant. From the 1600s to the early 1900s, the growing of cannabis for hemp fiber was a major commercial crop in America, along with tobacco. In 1964, the major psychoactive ingredient from cannabis resin, called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), was isolated and identified. Other compounds extracted from this resin are referred to as cannabinoids. Marijuana consists of leaves and occasionally flowers of the cannabis plant that are first dried and then shredded. A more potent form, sinsemilla, is obtained by cultivating only the seedless portion of the plant. Still stronger is the dried cannabis resin itself, which yields hashish, hashish oil, or hashish oil crystals. Marijuana and other cannabis products are regarded in the United States as a Schedule I controlled substance. While references to cannabis as a psychoactive agent date back to China in the third millennium B.C., the popularity of recreational use originated primarily in the Islamic world. Europeans became acquainted withcannabis around 1800, and it was the subject of a popular craze at the time. Marijuana as a recreational drug was popular among musicians in major U.S. cities during the 1920s, where marijuana establishments were largely tolerated by local authorities. During this period, marijuana was not considered a social threat. Led by inaccurate (and since discredited) information distributed by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Narcotics in the 1930s, marijuana use was portrayed as an extremely harmful and dangerous practice. In 1937, legal restrictions on marijuana use began, with sanctions becoming progressively more and more severe. During the 1960s, marijuana use became emblematic of the youthful rebellion against authority and the establishment. More recently, attention has focused on the decriminalization of marijuana possession in small amounts and the possibility of marijuana availability for therapeutic use.These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute. BIOL 3303 1st EditionThe absorption of inhaled THC through marijuana smoking is extremely rapid, but excretion is very slow. THC metabolites remain in the body for several days even after smoking a single marijuana joint. Changesin heart rate and sexual reactivity depend on dosage level, expectations of the user, or a combination of both. In the 2008 DAWN statistics, approximately 374,000 of all drug-related emergency department (ED) visits involved marijuana, ranking it second behind cocaine in this respect. In about one-fourth of these cases, marijuana the sole drug present in the patient’s system at the time. In general, marijuana-related emergency department incidents have risen substantially in recent years; there was an increase of 33 percent from 2004 to 2008. A “marijuana high” is a feeling of euphoria, well-being, and peacefulness. There may be sharpened perception of one’s surroundings and an appearance of time elongation. There are deficits in attention and memory. Complex motor tasks are performed more poorly, so driving skills obviously suffer substantially. Marijuana is eliminated very slowly, with regular marijuana smokers likely to have a residual amount of THC still in their system prior to ingestion. Specific receptors in the brain are stimulated by THC. A natural substancecalled anandamide also activates these receptors and appears to produce the same effects as THC in the brain. Animals will self-administer marijuana in laboratory studies, but their behavior is not as compulsive as that observed with heroin, cocaine, or nicotine. The concept that marijuana is a gateway drug toward the recreational use of more dangerous drugs of abuse has also come into question. The overall hypothesis has been explored in terms of the sequencing question (whether marijuana use precedes the occurrence of other forms of illicit drug-taking behavior), the association question (whether marijuana use is statistically correlated with later illicit drug-taking behavior), and the causation question (whether there is a causal link between marijuana use and the use of other illicit drugs). The consensus on the question of whether marijuana is a gateway drug is that any early exposure to psychoactive substances in general, and illicit drugs such as marijuana in particular, represents a “deviance-prone pattern of behavior” that will be reflected in a higher incidence of exposure to psychoactive drugs of many types later in life. There is a statistical relationship between marijuana smoking and other forms of drug-taking behavior. Essentially, users initiate with the use of high-prevalence drugs (such as alcohol, tobacco, and/or marijuana) earlier than they initiate the use of low-prevalence drugs (such as cocaine or heroin). There is still needs to be more evidence to actually state that marijuana leads people to take other forms of drugs. For the purpose of this class don’t be to concerned over this concept too much, just know what the hypothesisis. Decriminalization of marijuana possession in small amounts (referring to the consideration that one is committing a civil offense punishable by a small fine rather than imprisonment) in the United States has been amatter settled state by state. Few Americans seem to believe that the legalization of marijuana would worsen crime. There has been though a huge change of view over legalizing marijuana from a couple years ago and now, but the debate is still up to discussion, major states like California, Washington, and Colorado are the few states who have put in their laws and not illegal with minor differences. Washing and Colorado are the only states who have accepted the recreational use of the drug, instead of California, only medical.These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a