HEALTH RISKS STILL ASSOCIATED WITH USE OF MEDICAL MARIJUANA

Medical marijuana is marijuana. Marijuana is still an illegal drug
whether prescribed medically or not. It affects your lungs, brain and
overall health. There were 1,663,582 state and local arrests for drug
abuse violations in the United States during 2009. Six percent of the
arrests were for the sale and/or manufacture of marijuana, and 45.6
percent were for marijuana possession. An even greater number were
punished with probation, fines, and civil sanctions, including having
their property seized, their driver's license revoked and their
employment ended.

The number of people in hospital emergency rooms who say they have
used marijuana has increased. In 2005, nearly 242,200 people were
admitted to emergency rooms suffering from marijuana-related problems.
During 2007, 308,547 emergency department visits of the total 116
million visits were marijuana-related. In two years marijuana-related
emergency department visits increased by 66,347 cases.

First, marijuana affects the lungs. Marijuana smoke contains
carcinogens just like tobacco smoke. In fact, marijuana smoke deposits
four times more tar in the lungs and contains 50 percent to 70 percent
more cancer-causing substances than tobacco smoke does. Smoking
marijuana can cause long-term health problems, such as chronic
coughing, chest colds, lung infections, breathing problems and cancer.

Second, marijuana induces anxiety, causes feelings of paranoia, and
produces immediate changes in thoughts, perceptions and information
processing. Heavy marijuana use has been linked with depression and
personality disturbances. THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol -
the active psychoactive ingredient in marijuana) affects the nerve
cells in the part of the brain where memories are formed so the
short-term memory and capacity to recall new information are affected
negatively. It can heavily affect your sense of time, coordination,
and motor-control activities like driving. Forty-three percent of
driving under the influence of drugs cases involved THC in 2007 and
2008 (303 cases). In 20 percent of driving fatalities in 2007 and 2008
blood THC content was a contributing factor (62 fatalities). Ninety
percent of people who smoked what they believe is their typical
amount, fail field sobriety tests, and two hours later, 60 percent
still fail field sobriety test! s.

Third, most teens who try drugs start with marijuana, alcohol or
tobacco. One study found people who used marijuana before the age of
17 were more likely to use other drugs and develop addiction problems
later in life. Some users do develop signs of dependence especially
since the average THC level has dramatically increased over the past
20 years. In 1997, 197,840 people were admitted for addiction
treatment compared to 287,933 in 2007. The marijuana admissions
represented 12.3 percent of the total drug and alcohol admissions to
treatment during 1997 and 15.8 percent of the treatment admissions in
2007. The average age of those admitted to treatment for marijuana
during 2007 was 24 years old.

Besides lungs, brain, and overall health, medical marijuana affects
our county and our lives in many aspects.

This is the first article in a series looking at how this drug impacts
our communities. There are community groups already working on
reducing substance abuse. On such group is STAND; the next meeting is
at the M&M Cafe Feb. 22 at noon in Sidney. Please feel free
to attend.

If you would like to become involved, please contact Melissa Larson
and Bridget Tighe at 433-4097, e-mail mlarson@richland.org or
b.tighe@live.com, or e-mail Becca Todd at beccatodd99@gmail.com.