Print this article
Send this article to a friend
Add to Favorites

Marijuana: Botany


Hemp grows easily throughout the tropics, sub-tropics, and temperate regions, varying from a few feet to 15 feet (4.6 m) in height. Once established, it reseeds itself and spreads to neighboring areas; when birds eat the seeds, the defecated seeds may be scattered over considerable distances and produce new plants.

Two genetic strains of hemp are recognized: one produces plants excellent for fiber with very little drug material; the other produces plants with weak fibers but much drug content (TETRAHYDROCANNABINOL, THC). To harvest the drug-laden plant, it is simply cut down and usually chopped into small pieces with all parts included. These clippings resemble lawn cuttings, so one of the slang terms is "grass." The major use of this form in the United States is for illegal marijuana cigarettes, often called reefers.

Since the early 1900s, marijuana has been considered the one drug that might introduce the susceptible to hard drugs, drug abuse, and drug dealing. In the United States until 1937, Cannabis had been used in medical practice for a number of conditions but marijuana use for its euphoric effect was relatively uncommon. By 1937, forty-six of the then forty-eight states had laws against the use of marijuana, and its use had already been made a criminal offense under federal law. Until the 1960s, it was smoked largely by African Americans and Hispanics in the United States but was generally shunned by the white majority. During the social and political protests of the 1960s, a change in attitudes allowed widespread but illegal marijuana use into all levels of society, along with an increase in the use of several other illegal drugs and a boom in the drug trade that continued into the 1990s.

Marijuana Addiction Treatment

 Fond du Lac man charged with sending marijuana through the mail
A 23-year-old Fond du Lac man accused of shipping several pounds of marijuana through the ...
 Warren police uncover $1.2 million worth of marijuana
WARREN, Mich. (AP) -- A suspicious business owner and the police department's canine unit helped ...
 Anti-drug group: Give your kids 'presence' for Christmas
WASHINGTON -- The national Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign urges parents to give their teens "the ...
 False perceptions about marijuana are putting our children at risk
Today, more than 3,000 American youths will try marijuana for the first time. Will a ...
 Marijuana effects on the lungs
Three cannabis joints a day cause the same damage to the lining of the airways ...
 Marijuana is Gateway Drug
New research confirms that marijuana is a gateway drug for most teens who use it. ...