HEALTH EFFECTS UNCLEAR FOR 4/20 CELEBRATIONS

When the clock strikes 4:20 p.m. today, a familiar odor will fill the
air in many private hangouts in Chapel Hill and Carrboro.

"4/20 has become a kind of day of celebration for people who smoke
marijuana," said senior Lotus Perkins. Typical acts of celebration
include smoking marijuana and watching others do the same.

Theories abound about the day's origin. Perkins said it started as a
tribute to Jerry Garcia, former lead singer of the Grateful Dead. The
Deadheads' favorite singer died at about 4:20 p.m. Aug. 9, 1995. It
has been largely speculated that Garcia's death was partly from drug
use.

As smokers elect to participate in the festivities today, researchers
are working to analyze the effects and applications of marijuana.

Wake Forest University professor Linda Porrino has a grant from the
National Institutes of Health to study the drug's impact on the brain.
Porrino said brain activity in areas responsible for learning, memory
and handling conflict is altered by marijuana.

Subjects at her lab participated in the Iowa Gambling Task, an
experiment where they chose cards from four decks - two of which
consistently yielded higher cards and earned them fake money.

"People generally learn to pick from the advantageous deck within 20
to 40 cards," Porrino said. "Marijuana users never learned the task.
They kept making bad decisions all the way through."

In her research, Porrino does not supply marijuana to her subjects but
instead chooses people who have a history of smoking.

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
estimates that about one-quarter of people in North Carolina ages 18
to 25 have used the drug in the past year.

Perkins said marijuana is fairly prevalent at UNC but is by no means
ubiquitous. She said people smoke it because it is perceived more
positively than other drugs and because of its pleasant effects.

"It relaxes you. It gives you a high feeling without losing control of
your body, at least for most people."

However, she also said it can induce memory loss, harm the lungs and
cause laziness.

"It's known as one of those drugs that's an ambition stealer," she
said. "If you start smoking, it can turn you into a couch potato."

Psychology lecturer Jeannie Loeb said marijuana use, depending on the
dosage, can impair short-term memory, interfere with tasks involving
multiple steps and alter sensory perception. She also said that more
negative effects could be discovered in the future.

However, marijuana in a purified form can be used to treat nausea,
seizures, asthma and glaucoma, she added. Cancer patients often use
the drug to alleviate pain resulting from chemotherapy.

Porrino said that tobacco and alcohol are more harmful than marijuana
and that the drug remains illegal for political or historical reasons
rather than scientific reasons.

Both strongly emphasized that they do not condone smoking
marijuana.

"The idea that marijuana use may be quite benign - a very common
belief - may be like many other things," Porrino said.

"It may be true in moderation, but it's certainly not true when
there's heavy use."

Popular explanations for the origin of 420:

Adolf Hitler died April 20

Many say tea time in Holland, The Netherlands - where marijuana is
legal - is 4:20 p.m..

Many say 420 is a police dispatch code for marijuana smoking in
progress.

Jerry Garcia, former lead singer of the Grateful Dead, died at about
4:20 p.m.

Students at San Rafael High School, in California, would meet at 4:20
p.m. to smoke marijuana and adopted 420 to use as a code.