Marijuana
(See: Drugs in American Society, 5th, 6th, and 7th editions, Erich Goode, McGraw-Hill, 1999/2005, 2008. Chapter 9 and Drugs, Society, and Human Behavior (7th ed), Ray and Ksir, Mosby, 1996. Chapter 16)

Basic Facts

• A Vegetal Substance
• Parts used (ASC): Leaves, Flowering Tops- (Buds), Resin
• Parts Used (Other): Fibers (rope), Seeds (oil--diesel fuel, cosmetics and food), Entire plant (paper, clothing, etc.)
• Psychoactivity: Plant genetics and environment
• Three Species: Named in 1793 by Linneaus
1. Cannabis Sativa (Asia- fibers, up to 18 ft., Specified in Law)
2. Cannabis Indica (Grown specifically for resin, 2-3 ft.)
3. Cannabis Ruderalis (Russian)
4. Varieties
• Hemp (local) versus Marijuana

WWW Links

1. DrugText Information on Cannabis

2. Marijuana Links

3. PDX NORMAL Article Links

4. William Novak's "High Culture"  1980.

5. The Lycaeum

6. The Vaults of Erowid: Exposing Marijuana Myths

7. Yahooka

8. Cannabis Research Library

9. Drug Policy Alliance Library (Lindesmith Center) (Medical Marijuana)

10. Safety First Fact Sheet on Marijuana

11. Marijauna-Info.org (NIDA)

12. Cannabis Facts and Information

13. http://www.drugscience.org Cannabis Rescheduling

14. "Busted: America's War on Marijuana" (PBS)
    
    
15. YouTube Marijuana Videos
    
    
16. Google Marijuana Videos
    
    
17. A cannabis reader: global issues and local experiences, EMCDDA, Lisbon, June 2008 (local copy in .pdf)

Active Ingredients

• About 400 Chemicals in the smoke of marijuana
• 61==> Cannabinoids (found only in marijuana)
• Primary Active Ingredient: Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)

Marijuana contains between 1-20% THC

1. Mexican marijuana (1960-1970's): ~2-6% THC
2. Columbian marijuana: 4-8% THC
3. Sinsemilla: 6-20% (Female versus Male plant)
4. Domestically cultivated marijuana today can contain up to 20% THC but this is rare (about 10% of confiscated samples have THC content above 15%
5. Marijuana potency in Europe, 2005
6. Street level content today: 1-20%; typical 4-10% !!! No Significant Change. More potent forms more easily available, but no dramatic (20-30 times) increase in potency as reported by press and governmental agencies. See also: http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/373/marijuanapotency.shtml, and http://www.maps.org/news-letters/v09n3/09320gie.html
   1. Reports from the DEA Marijuana Potency Monitoring Project indicate perhaps a doubling of average potency over past 10 years

Traditional Indian Preparations

Charas (pure resin)

Ganja (Top and pistillate flowers) from the female plant (Sinsemilla)

Bhang: All the rest

Red Oil of Cannabis

1. Boil plant substance in ETOH
2. Filter
3. Evaporate=> (Hash Oil): up to 50% THC
4. Long known and utilized for a variety of recreational and medicinal purposes.

Street level content today: 1-20%; typical 4-10% !!! No Significant Change. More potent forms more easily available, but no dramatic (20-30 times) increase in potency as reported by press and governmental agencies. See also: http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/373/marijuanapotency.shtml, and http://www.maps.org/news-letters/v09n3/09320gie.html

1. Reports from the DEA Marijuana Potency Monitoring Project indicate perhaps a doubling of average potency over past 10 years

Other Psycho-Active Agents

• 11-Hydroxy-delta-9-THC (major metabolite of THC)
• Cannabidiol (CBD): common in low potency marijuana, primarily a sedative effect
• Cannabinol (CBN): Produced when THC is exposed to the air. (Little in fresh substance- typically more potent). CBN heightens disorienting qualities of drug.
• Biosynthetic precursor to THC produced by plant: THC Acid. Over time, warmth changes THC Acid=> THC.
• At any time plant material contains THC in all three states: Inactive THC Acid, active THC, and disorienting CBN.
• THC isolated and synthesized in 1964
• Dronabinol (Marinol) (medical marijuana): FDA approved for use in 1985.
• Other cannabinoids
• A cannabis reader: global issues and local experiences, EMCDDA, Lisbon, June 2008 (local copy in .pdf). Chapter 3: Pharmacology of Cannabis

Metabolism of THC

Marijuana and the Brain

• 1988-90- Researchers at St. Louis University identified specific receptor site for cannabinoids in the brains of laboratory rats.
• 1992- the chemical substance (neurotransmitter) anandamide is identified- a endogenous cannabinoid produced by the body which is tied to the above receptor sites.
• Jon Gettman's 1995 article reviewing this discovery in "High Times" magazine: Part 1 and Part 2. Also available through PDX NORML
• FAQs on marijuana

History of Marijuana Use

• Legend--Earliest reference: 2737 B.C.- Chinese Emperor Shen Nung=> "Liberator of Sin" (euphoria) and medicinal uses=> "female weakness, gout, absent mindedness (Goode-page 214, 5th edition-suggests current research indicates this actually comes from a text of the first or second century!)
• There are accounts that demonstrate marijuana fibers being used in pottery that dates back 10,000 years in China (p. 213, from Ernst Abel: Marijuana the First Twelve Thousand years, 1982, p.4)
• Other References
• By 1000 A.D.-- social use spread to Moslem world; North Africa. Legend of the "cult"- Hashishiyya (assassin). Story spread by Marco Polo (1259), Topic in literature (Arabian Nights, etc.), circulated widely in Europe.
• American Colonial Use:
1. 1619-Jamestown; 1631-Massachusetts Law requiring every household to cultivate=> important resource for a maritime society: Hemp fibers-> Rope vital to military development, military uniforms, sails, and varnish from oil (as well as for lamps)
2. 1763-1767 Virginia: imprisonment for not growing
3. George Washington grew plant (as many others did); once commenting in a diary his neglectfulness in separating out the male plants
4. Thomas Jefferson (Tobacco vs. Hemp):

   "It is impolitic. The fact is well established in the system of agriculture that the best hemp and the best tobacco grow on the same kind of soil. The former article is of first necessity to the commerce and marine, in other words to the wealth and protection of the country. The latter, never useful...derives its value from taxes." (Jefferson's Farm Journal (16 March 1791), see Robert Nelson's, A History of Hemp)

5. Widely used medicinally
6. 1850 (Post-colonial): 8,327 hemp plantations of 2,000 acres or more. Hemp and industry.

• By end of 19th Century- other drugs introduced (barbiturates and narcotics common) and use declined. Hashish never really significant in "middle" America.
• American psychologist William James: introduced idea of using psychoactive substance in the study of psychological processes. One psychologist is recorded as saying:

"To the psychologist it (Cannabis) was as useful as the microscope to the naturalist; it magnifies psychological states and in this way is an aid to its study"

20th Century USA

• Early--little discussed or used recreationally
• But, significant commercial use: Paints, varnishes, and other industrial applications
• 1935: 116 million pounds of hempseed oil used-- "The Billion Dollar Crop" (Total DEA seizures 1988 -all parts of plants- 130,200 pounds)
• Use by Mexicans started surfacing in the 1920's- associated with deviant behavior, Newspaper series in 1926 from New Orleans linked marijuana and crime and stimulated national interest
• Bureau of Narcotics file on marijuana was less than 2 inches thick in 1931: Treasury Department memo- "No cause for alarm"

See Also: Clifford Schaffer's History of Drugs

Yet- 1935: 36 states pass laws, 1936: all 48, and 1937: Marijuana Tax Act. (Transcripts)

Moral and Economic Entrepreneurs: Harry Anslinger, William R. Hearst, DuPont chemical, and Andrew Mellon

(source: Oregon NORML) (careful about conspiracies)

• Technological improvements in cultivation and harvesting=> equivalent of the cotton gin.
• Supreme court ruling: Enabled the legislation of taxes as a means of prohibiting things.
• DuPont: 1937 patented a process to make plastics/nylon: direct competitor to hemp. Also a process to make paper from wood pulp. These processes used chemicals to which DuPont owned the rights
• Prior to the Marijuana Tax Act passage, a report to DuPont shareholders indicated:

"radical changes (were coming) from the revolution raising government into an instrument for forcing new ideas of industry and social reorganization"

• DuPont's financial backer==> Andrew Mellon. Mellon served as President Hoover's Secretary of the Treasury. Mellon appointed Harry Anslinger (a relative) to be the head of the Bureau of Narcotics (1931).
• Anslinger viewed marijuana and its"spreading use" as a cause for the "greatest national concern."
• Federal hearings are held.
• 1936 "Scientific American" article: marijuana makes smokers vicious- fight and kill. "Popular Science Monthly"-- "a horrible crime: look first at the marijuana smokers"
• One contrary report in the "Literary Digest" linked criminal violence to alcohol-- largely ignored.
• Anslinger's "Pyramid of Prejudice":
  1. Anslinger's agents testify at hearing: presenting hearsay evidence
  2. Medical journal cites testimony: often in letter to editor
  3. Anslinger writes article citing JAMA as source of information
• Hearst's newspapers, dominating the American market, provided further "documentation" that minorities such as "mexicans, niggars, and chinamen" were responsible for most of the crimes in American society
• This association with "deviant" minorities, coupled with the depression which led to a distrust of "foreign influences" helped steamroll the act through congress.
• Marijuana: Assassin of Youth (1937) (still off-line, looking for a new source)
• Reefer Madness (1938) (part 1, too)
• Ads and media focus: Reefer Madness, too.
• 1935-1940: 95% of popular magazine characterize marijauan as dangerous, with use leading to violence. Moderate use was discounted, and the "marijuana addict" became a public menance. (Himmelstein, in Goode, 2005, page 123)
• Bill was introduced to the Ways and Means Committee, bypassing other appropriate committees (Ways and Means is only committee which can send its bills directly to House floor without debate within other committees).
• Testimony from the AMA representative urging not to pass the bill was covered up: When asked if the AMA had been consulted, Committeeman Vinson answered "Yes, they are in complete agreement."
• Tax Act passed on Oct. 1, 1937: Taxed growers, distributors, sellers, and buyers- making it impossible to legitimately engage in production or use
• Bureau of Narcotics writes uniform law (been pushed since 1934)- specifically naming C. Sativa, for adoption by the 48 states, making production, sale and consumption illegal.
• After passage: reports of criminal behavior decline rapidly
• Price of marijuana on the streets goes up by a factor of 6.
• Concern over "violence" and marijuana use wanes, by the 1970s, it's the "drop-out drug."

Post 1937 to Today

See Also Clifford Schaffer's Collection of Major Studies

Portland NORML's Article collection

• Ned Polsky (1960s research): Use spreads from Mexican-Americans in S.W. USA to working class Blacks- especially linked to New Orleans.  From there, use spreads to urban north, working class and jazz musicians (1920s).  From there recreational use   spreads to other entertainment subcultures to the "beats" and finally the college scene.  By the 1970s!!! (p. 213, see: Polsky, Hustlers, Beats, and Others, 1969)
• Hemp for Victory--cultivation during WWII
(see it)
• Henry Ford's Hemp Bodied Car.
• LaGuardia (Mayor NYC) becomes aware of the 1930 Panama study linking troubles to alcohol rather than marijuana. Orders own study by the New York Academy of Medicine.
• Report issued in 1944: Agrees with the 1890 Indian Hemp Commission Report, and the Panama Canal Zone Report of the 1930's==> Slight impairment of intellectual functioning when under the influence, no impact on basic personality structure, no overt increase in behavioral activity, no long term mental or physical deterioration.
• 1950-1960's: No research
• Studies in New Zealand, Canada, Great Britain, and the USA during the 1970's support.
• 1970: Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act: Marijuana-- Schedule I
• 1972: National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse: Allow private use and possession. AMA favors. ABA: Decriminalize.
• Even William F. Buckley agrees
• 1973: Oregon decriminalizes-- $100 fine
• 1977: President Carter suggested decriminalization.
• During 1970's: Defacto decriminalization

• This was at the time of nationwide peak in use.
• Eleven other states follow suit (through October 2006): Maine, Colorado, California (est. $95 million saved between 1976-1985), Minnesota, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, and Ohio (possession up to 100 grams: $100 fine), Alaska (legal for personal/home use), Nevada. (Explore the list)
• World Health Organization 1981, and U.S. National Academy of Science 1982 Report to the Congress of the United States: Both agree that there is no evidence of marijuana being a dangerous drug.
• Alaska legalized private use and possession- up to 4 oz., but in 1990 recriminalized.
• 1980's: President Reagan: Get Tough- focus on domestic cultivation, international interdiction, seizure of private property.
• 1988: Anti-Drug Abuse Act=> $2.7 billion for enforcement
• 1990: $6.5 billion
• In 1991 Oregon raised the fine for possession to $500, currently a debate to recriminalize is being held.
• FY 1996: $9.3 billion ($5.3 for demand reduction)
• New Strategy for 1996: Marijuana targeted as "The Gateway Drug"
(see also, Denise B. Kandel, Does Marijuana Use Cause the Use of Other Drugs?, JAMA 289:4, January 2003, 482-483.

21st Century

• Marijuana 2002: Legalization? (Time Magazine (11/4/02) The New Politics of Pot)
• 2002: Cost of "War on Marijuana."
• 2003 Marijuana Arrests
• September 2004: Alaska Supreme Court Upholds Marijuana Use at Home
• November 2004: Alaska Rejects Legalization
• Other November 2004 Results
• March 2005: 12 states have decriminalized marijuana
• War on Drugs Shifts to War on Marijuana ("A study of FBI arrest and conviction data by a Washington think-tank has underscored a dramatic shift in US drug policy in the decade of the 1990s. "The War on Marijuana: The Transformation of the War on Drugs,", released Tuesday by the Sentencing Project, reports that from 1992 to 2002, the proportion of drug arrests involving marijuana increased from 28% to 45% of all drug arrests, while arrests for the much more dangerous cocaine and heroin decreased from more than half of all drug arrests to less than 30%. " http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/385/shifted.shtml 5/6/05))
• Marijuana Remains Legal in Alaska 5/13/05
• Supreme Court rules that federal authorities can prosecute individuals using marijuana on doctors' orders (June 2005).
• Cannabis use by young people not increased in states that legalized the medical use of cannabis (9/05).
• Arrests for marijuana at an all time high: 2004. (local copy)
• A cannabis reader: global issues and local experiences, EMCDDA, Lisbon, June 2008 (local copy in .pdf)

Current State and Federal Laws

Use of Marijuana

• Pervasive, relatively universal- all who have desired have had experience:

• Current (2000 NHSDA): Marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug. It is used by 76 percent of current illicit drug users. Approximately 59 percent of current illicit drug users consumed only marijuana, 17 percent used marijuana and another illicit drug, and the remaining 24 percent used an illicit drug but not marijuana in the past month. Therefore, about 41 percent of current illicit drug users in 2000 (an estimated 5.7 million Americans) use illicit drugs other than marijuana and hashish, with or without using marijuana as well.

For 2004 (NHSDUH, 2005)

• 40% of the population reports lifetime use, and 6% report use in the past month.
(NHSDUH, 2005)
• Use common among High School students. 48.8% 12th graders report lifetime use, 21.6% report use in past 30 days (down slightly from 1999) (MTF 2000 )
• Among persons aged 12 or older, the overall rate of past month marijuana use was about the same in 2004 (6.1 percent) as it was in 2003 (6.2 percent) and 2002 (6.2 percent).
(NHSDUH, 2004)
• 3x as many current (past year) users than have ever used cocaine, 6x current users than current cocaine users. 9x past month users than past month cocaine users.
• Used much more frequently, probably more frequently than all other illicit drugs combined.

Effects

Mechanism of Action (THC)

When THC containing cigarettes were smoked, infrequent users report more significant effect, than regular users. (Tolerance? See Jon Gettman's 1995 article reviewing this discovery in "High Times" magazine:  Part 2 for discussion of dynamic tolerance.)

• 1970's scares: Chromosomal distortion, sterility
• Research problems: Impact of poly-drug use (esp. Alcohol), laboratory studies vs. Reality of use
• Cerebral atrophy and other brain damage (very questionable research; current research-- some changes in brain structure; not permanent.
• Immune system: yes. but caused by exposure to high doses unlikely for typical user to experience through smoking
• Reproduction: lowering of sperm count in males, yet still within normal range. Some, although insignificant impact on fetus: But, don't do drugs when pregnant (goes for the man who got the woman pregnant , too!)
• Lungs and cancer: Maybe not, actually, No. Less frequency of use and THC appears to "kill aging cells and keep them from becoming cancerous."
• Marijuana use during pregnancy harms the fetus.
• Marijuana is an addictive drug.
• AMS: sure. When people are high, they sit around and avoid hard work.
1. Are users high most of the time
2. Is there a long lasting effect?
3. Role of metabolites? (Heavy users tend to excrete them faster)
• Use highly correlated with certain indicators: school performance, etc.
• But, Reality of a Non-Achieving Sub-Culture
• And, direction of influence? Could lose motivation and turn to drugs

• Long history here, see: A cannabis reader: global issues and local experiences, EMCDDA, Lisbon, June 2008 (local copy in .pdf). Chapter 1: Cannabis and Mediciine in 19th Century Europe
• 200 A.D.: China- mixed with wine as anesthetic
• Extensively used in India
• Widely used in Europe during the 1800's
• 1839: Reviewed by British doctor in India: nontoxic, anticonvulsant, muscle relaxant, relieves pain of rheumatism
• 1860: Ohio Medical Association (C. Indica): Stomach pain, chronic cough, gonorrhea
• Problems: Variability
• 1902: Parke, Davis and Co.: new standardization- chocolate covered tablet, 1/4 grain.   Also, fluid extract of cannabis,
• 1937: all 28 legal preparations dropped from the market
• 1941: removed from the National Formulary and U.S. Pharmacopeia (wasn't much in use)
• 1949: Compare to dilantin as an anticonvulsant, perhaps useful for treatment of tension and migraines
• 1972: Interoccular Pressure. 1975 Glaucoma patient arrested, charges dropped, doctor certifies use and government supplies: FDA "compassionate use" protocol
• 1975: THC seen as effective in reducing the nausea associated with chemo-therapy
• 1982: National Academy of Science: Marijuana holds promise for-
  1. glaucoma
  2. chemotherapy
  3. seizures
  4. spasticity
• 1985: FDA approves Donabinol (Marinol) (Marinol image) for appetite stimulation in the treatment of cancer patients and AIDS
• NORML: Pushes for approval of marijuana
• DEA Chief Legal Counsel: Recommends Schedule II
• 1992: DEA==> NO! Since "pure" THC is now available, no need.
  • No medical value?
  • Time for medical regulation?
• FDA silently stopped reviewing "compassionate use" proposals for the plant substance
• 36 states had approved marijuana use under physician's prescription; only13 patients had received FDA approval over the 17 years of the program.
• Marijuana as Medicine:A Plea for Reconsideration. From the Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, and the Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Boston.  (Dr Grinspoon).   JAMA, June 21, 1995 -- Vol. 273, No. 23 1875.
• Marijuana Policy Project Page of State Laws Concerning Medicinal Use of Marijuana
• 1999: Institute of Medicine (prepublication release)--Marijuana is Medicine
• Summary of Active State Medical Marijuana Programs
• Overview of medical marijuana use form NORML
• Is Pot Good for You? (Time Magazine, 11/4/02)(alternative site: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1998/a09.html)
• Cannabis Neuroprotective?
• Cannabis and brain cell growth.
• November 2004: Montana becomes the ninth state to legalize marijuana for medicinal purposes (other states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington. Vermont and Hawaii have legislation protecting patients from prosecution. Maryland protects patients using marijuana from the threat of jail, but not arrest.
• Supreme Court rules that federal authorities can prosecute individuals using marijuana on doctors' orders (June 2005).
• Cannabinoids and medicine (9/05)
• Australian Survey on Cannabis for Medical Purposes (2005)
• Cannabinoids and Pain
• Marijuana a "wonder drug?"
• States with medicianl marijuana laws (NORML)
• Marijuana Vending Machines 2008

Radosevich (1980): Selective Interaction/Socialization

Structural Factors

• Age: peaks for 18-25 year olds: growing independence and freedom
• Gender: Men slightly more than women (58% vs. 48%). Once 2x as likely. Still higher rates of heavy use. Pattern typical for all drug use, except young cigarette use (no difference) and prescription drug use (females higher)
• Class, race, and residence

Socio-interactional Factors

• Peer influence: Reciprocity, Selective Socialization.
• Social context
• Friends legitimate
• Friends define experience
• Friends provide access to the drug

Attitudinal Variables

• Unconventionality
• Tolerance for deviance
• Risk-taking
• Less authoritarian
• Low religiosity

Use in International Setting: The Netherlands

• Technically Illegal, but allowed
• Supervised and control
• Clear distinction between cannabis and other drugs
• Very recently: stiffening of controls, yet focus on "Harm Reduction"
• Controls that work, or?
• A cannabis reader: global issues and local experiences, EMCDDA, Lisbon, June 2008 (local copy in .pdf). Chapter 9 Chapter 9: An open front door: the coffee shop phenomenon in the Netherlands

The Gateway Drug?

• Intrinsic:

1. Drug itself
2. Tolerance
3. Desensitizes
4. Leads to the need of a stronger substance
5. Hardin Jones: Gross tolerance to marijuana leads to heroin use
6. O'Donnell and Clayton: relationship exists, marijuana use precedes heroin use, "no other intervening variables" (??)

• Sociocultural

• Involvement: Activity of use vs. Experience of the drug effect
• Friends use of other drugs
• Access and exposure to other drugs
• Relationship is not spurious, the intrinsic explanation IS.

(2003 AMA Study: http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/289/4/427)

Hallucinogens

URL: http://www.umsl.edu/~keelr/180/pot.html
Owner: Robert O. Keel rok@umsl.edu
References and Credits for this Page of Notes
Last Updated: Thursday, August 28, 2008 1:29 PM