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What is life like for a heroin addict? - CNN Video

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The American heroin epidemic has become more dangerous, as reports of heroin laced with carfentanil are being reported throughout the country. CNN's Rachel Crane speaks to a drug addict about the outbreak.

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What I mainly feel about the drug weed it that it's really stupid that teenagers smoke this sometimes just for fun or just to fit in but i got really surprise that alcohol is more dangerous than weed.

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 Where can someone go for help to stop using the drug?

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 Where can someone go for help to stop using the drug?

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Get educated
Take care of yourself
Talk about it
Find help for the person

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Stopping smoking can be hard, but free services and treatments are available to help and these have been shown to roughly triple the chances of success compared to going "cold-turkey" alone.

To show you what it might be like, we filmed Brian's experiences with his local Stop Smoking Service.

NHS Smokefree helps thousands of people stop smoking every year, so if you are looking to stop, talk to your doctor or pharmacist, visit www.nhs.uk/smokefree or call the NHS Smokefree Helpline to find your way out of smoking:

England: 0800 022 4 332

Wales: 0800 085 2219

Scotland: 0800 84 84 84

Northern Ireland: 0808 812 8008

They have a range of free services on offer to help keep you on track, including:

Stop smoking groups or one to one counselling - a trained advisor will talk to you about your smoking habits and give you tailored advice and support

Prescription medication to help you control the withdrawal symptoms - this could be nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) or non-nicotine stop smoking medications- varenicline (Champix) or bupropion (Zyban), find out more here

Email and text support programmes

An app for smartphones.

E-cigarettes are far safer than cigarettes and could help you quit

Electronic cigarettes produce vapour from nicotine dissolved in propylene glycol or glycerine but do not contain tobacco. Low levels of other, potentially dangerous chemicals have been found in e-cigarettes but usually at far lower levels than in cigarettes. All the evidence so far suggests e-cigarettes are far safer than tobacco cigarettes.

Growing evidence shows e-cigarettes may have the potential to help smokers move away from tobacco. But it's not yet possible to know the long-term impact of these products.

There are answers to the most common questions about e-cigarettes on our blog.

Is nicotine itself harmful?

The main reason smoking is addictive is because tobacco contains nicotine. Nicotine causes addiction in much the same way as heroin or cocaine and it is just as addictive as these 'harder' drugs. But using nicotine itself (for example in NRT) won't make a difference to your risk of cancer.

Cigarettes are deliberately designed to give you a fast nicotine hit - it takes less than 20 seconds for the drug to reach your brain from inhaled cigarette smoke. Nicotine replacement therapy and e-cigarettes can deliver nicotine but not as much, as quickly. Swapping to these cleaner sources of nicotine or using them to wean yourself off nicotine entirely is far safer than continuing to smoke and you don't need to worry about using them too much. The most important thing is to stop smoking.

Advice for going it alone

We know that using Stop Smoking Services still gives you the best possible chance of stopping and their specialist support can make a big difference whether you chose to use prescription medication, an e-cigarette, or nothing.

If you do decide to try stopping by yourself, NRT can increase your chances of success - as long as it is used properly. Talk to your GP or local pharmacist to make sure you're using enough to wean yourself off nicotine without falling back into smoking. Combining a slow release product (the patch) with a fast release one (such as the inhalator, gum, microtab or nasal spray) can also increase your chances of quitting. You can also read more about quit aids on our blog.

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Stopping smoking can be hard, but free services and treatments are available to help and these have been shown to roughly triple the chances of success compared to going "cold-turkey" alone. To show you what it might be like, we filmed Brian's experiences with his local Stop Smoking Service.

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When you smoke,vaporize or other wise ingest it there's an immediate increase in testosterone levels says Dr. Ostad.

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Best 25+ Marijuana facts ideas on Pinterest | Weed facts, Medical marijuana and 420 friendly means

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Find and save ideas about Marijuana facts on Pinterest. | See more ideas about Weed facts, Medical marijuana and 420 friendly means.

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You can't die of an overdose of weed

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What are the short and long term effects of weed?

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What are the short and long term effects of weed?

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SHORT TERM
memory problems
panic
loss of sense of personal identity
LONG TERM
addition
poor school performance and higher chance of dropping out
lower life satisfaction

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Marijuana As Medicine: Top Concerns (lung cancer, memory problems, lung damage) and Perceived Risks (legal issues, overdose) | Medical Cannabis/Marijuana

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1)marijuana is derived from the Cannabis plant
2) marijuana has different strains
3)marijuana can be consumed in a number of ways
4)marijuana has physical and psychological effects
5)marijuana has many street names
6)the legality of marijuana varies by country
7)marijuana is commonly used
8)marijuana is one of the world's oldest crops
9)marijuana is safer than alcohol
10) marijuana can be prescribed for many conditions

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THC resembles another cannabinoid naturally produced in our brains, anandamide, which regulates our mood, sleep, memory, and appetite

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Curious about what smoking weed does to your body? The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) may have a few answers for you. In January [2017], the groups published a comprehensive review of human research on how cannabis interacts with the body. While this review has some significant limitations, it does shed some light into promising therapeutic areas for cannabis research. According to the investigation, here's what smoking weed does to your body.

What does smoking weed do to your body?

The goal of NASEM report is to paint a clear picture of the current high-quality evidence about cannabis does to your mind and body. They also sought to highlight opportunities for further investigation and understanding.

There is much confusion over the exact impacts of cannabis on the human body, and the publication attempted to sort out fact and fiction under the accepted scientific framework.

Based strictly on the results of this review, cannabis seems to have the most therapeutic potential in the areas of:

Cannabis can also have a variety of physical effects. Here are some short-term effects of cannabis in the body:

Red, dry eyes

Dilated pupils

Boosts in pleasure and mood

Temporary increase in heart rate

Temporary fluctuations in blood pressure

Distortion of time

Changes in balance, coordination, and posture

Difficulties with memory

Drowsiness

For more information on what cannabis does to the body, take a look at the full article here.

What does cannabis do to the heart?

According to the report, the research on cannabis as an influence for cardiovascular health is inconclusive. There is not enough evidence to determine whether or not the herb has a significant positive or negative impact on the cardiovascular system.

Based on the research available, the review addressed the following areas:

Acute myocardial infarction (heart attack)

Stroke

The researchers found no statistical association one way or another between cannabis and heart attack. There was limited statistical evidence that suggested an association between cannabis and:

A decreased risk of diabetes

An increased risk of prediabetes

Stroke

Triggering a heart attack caused by smoking

The ultimate conclusion? There is simply not enough high-quality evidence to decide. What little evidence is available is not nearly comprehensive enough, and there is no way to determine the overall health ramifications of the herb from this data.

Looking for more information on what cannabis does to your heart? Read the full article here.

What does cannabis do to the lungs?

The impacts on cannabis and the lungs might take you by surprise. The review cited moderate evidence that there is no correlation between smoking cannabis and lung cancer.

The research was also hard pressed to find a statistical association between cannabis and head and neck cancer, which cannot be said of tobacco.

However, the review did find one irritating side-effect. Long-term cannabis consumption can cause coughing and mucus production. Yet, these chronic bronchitis symptoms go away if you abstain from smoking.

There is even some evidence that the cannabis smoking can improve some lung functions in moderate consumers. Based on the research available, the authors concluded that there is no or insufficient evidence that:

Cannabis increases the risk of asthma symptoms.

Cannabis does or does not increase the risk of hospital admissions for COPD after smoking cannabis.

There are weak correlations between:

Cannabis and pulmonary conditions like COPD after controlling for tobacco.

There is moderate evidence that:

Acute cannabis use and airway improvement, but not so much with chronic use.

Cannabis can improve forced exhalation, indicating a potential increase in lung capacity.

For more information on the effects of cannabis on the lungs, take a look at the full article here.

What does cannabis do to the immune system?

Research has shown that the active compounds in cannabis can have immuno-modulatory effects. In some cases, the herb may decrease inflammation, which could be helpful to a wide range of diseases.

However, some wonder if these effects can have a negative impact in healthy people. After all, a little inflammation is needed to help prevent infection and stay healthy.

The review took a stab at this question, and their overall consensus was that there is insufficient data to come to a firm conclusion about the effect of cannabis on immunity. The researchers found that there is no or insufficient evidence that:

Cannabis smoking causes adverse immune activity.

Affirms or denies an adverse association between cannabis or dronabinol (Marinol) on immune activity in HIV-positive individuals.

Regular cannabis consumption causes an increased risk of oral HPV virus.

There is limited evidence that:

Cannabis smoking reduces pro-inflammatory compounds in healthy people.

Daily cannabis use can cause liver damage in individuals with viral hepatitis C.

For more information on cannabis and autoimmune disease, take a look at the full article here.

What does this research mean?

It's important to note that while this report is an impressive endeavor, there are still significant limitations. This report limited its review to human studies only.

The federal research restrictions on cannabis mean that sufficient human research is lacking, which prevents us from understanding the precise risks or benefits of cannabis consumption.

Further, this report can only point out potential correlations and associations. It cannot determine whether or not cannabis is the cause of these outcomes, or if some other environmental factor contributes to these results.

Correlation does not mean causation. The only way to prove cause is to conduct more high-quality research expand the scope of the review to include possible mechanisms of action.

However, the research has identified a few key risk groups that should be further explored. These groups include:

Limiting barriers to research is essential for improved understanding of how the cannabis plant impacts the body. More research is also needed to how best to use and regulate the herb from a public health standpoint. Current studies are limited by self-reporting, unknown or inconsistent dosage information, sample size, or other possible confounding factors.

Further still, the bulk of the research that discusses specific ailments and other health effects of cannabis comes from observational studies, not randomized clinical trials.

This opens the door for false correlations caused by polysubstance abuse and fails to demonstrate the effect of consuming only cannabis.

Unfortunately, one of the biggest philosophical problems in scientific research is its failure to precisely connect with lived, subjective human reality.

While this report is an important, helpful, and informative tool, it is not an end-all, be-all roadmap to what cannabis does to your body. Though, the publication is an excellent guide for further research and investigation.

Want to learn more? Here are a few additional articles to read:

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What Exactly Does Smoking Weed Do To Your Body?

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Curious about what smoking weed does to your body? The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) may have a few answers for you. In January [2017], the groups published a comprehensive review of human research on how cannabis interacts with the body.

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The U.S has 5 percent of the worlds population

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Home " Monitoring the Future Survey, Overview of Findings 2013

This year's Monitoring the Future Survey of drug use and attitudes among American 8 th, 10 th, and 12 th graders continues to provide generally encouraging news, with many forms of drug use holding steady at low levels among the nation's adolescents; however, concerns persist over the softening of attitudes around some types of drug use, particularly decreases in perceived harm and disapproval of marijuana use and perceived harm of non-medical use of prescription medications such as Vicodin, OxyContin and Adderall.

The Good News

Cigarette smoking continues to drop and is currently at its lowest rate in the survey's history. One-year declines were seen in lifetime and past-month use among 10th graders, and all prevalence periods have seen a continued trend of decreasing cigarette use. For example, there were significant 5-year drops in lifetime, current (past-month), and daily cigarette use among all grades. Current use was reported by 9.1% of 10th graders, down from 12.3% in 2008 and from 10.8% last year. Eighth and 12th graders also saw a drop from 2008 to 2013, from 6.8 to 4.5% for 8th graders and from 20.4% to 16.3% for 12th graders reporting past-month use. Although there were no increases between 2012 and 2013, it appears that marijuana use continues to exceed cigarette use in these students. In 2013, 22.7% of high school seniors used marijuana in the past 30 days compared with 16.3% who smoked cigarettes.

Likewise, 5-year trends continue to show significant decreases in alcohol use among all grades and across nearly all prevalence periods. For example, from 2008 to 2013, current use of alcohol declined from 15.9% to 10.2% among 8th graders, from 28.8% to 25.7% among 10th graders, and from 43.1% to 39.2% among 12th graders. From 2012 to 2013, decreases were observed in binge use of alcohol (defined as five or more drinks in a row in the last 2 weeks) among 10th graders, with a 5-year trend showing a significant decrease in all three grades.

Overall, the use of most illicit drugs either remained steady or declined from 2012 to 2013. For instance, past-year use of synthetic marijuana (also known as K2 or "Spice") among high school seniors sharply decreased, from 11.3% in 2012 to 7.9% in 2013. Another harmful synthetic drug, bath salts (synthetic stimulants), was added to the survey last year; perceived risk of harm of using bath salts increased substantially among 12th graders, with 59.5% now saying they think someone who tries bath salts once or twice risks harming themselves (physically or in other ways), as compared with 33.2% giving the same response the previous year.

This year's survey continues to show a long-term drop in past-year nonmedical use of prescription medications. Use of the pain reliever Vicodin has decreased among all grades; among high school seniors, it dropped from 7.5% in 2012 to 5.3% in 2013. OxyContin, another pain reliever, also showed a long-term drop in use among 12th graders, from 4.7% in 2008 to 3.6% in 2013.

Lastly, use of inhalants is at its lowest levels in the history of the survey, among all grades and across nearly all prevalence periods. Among 8th graders, for whom inhalant use has always been most prevalent, past-year use dropped to an all-time low of 5.2% in 2013.

Areas of Concern

Five-year trends are showing significant increases in past-year and past-month (current) marijuana use across all three grades as well as increases in lifetime and daily marijuana use among 10th graders. From 2008 to 2013, past-month use increased from 5.8% to 7.0% among 8th graders, 13.8% to 18.0% among 10th graders, and from 19.4% to 22.7% among 12th graders. These increases continue to parallel softening attitudes about the perceived risk of harm and disapproval associated with marijuana use.

Since 2010, the survey has captured the use of tobacco products other than cigarettes, such as use of hookahs to smoke tobacco, among high school seniors. Past-year hookah use has increased among 12th graders to 21.4%-the highest rate since 2010, when the survey started capturing this type of tobacco use.

The increased abuse of prescription stimulants is also a cause for concern. The percentage of 12th graders reporting past-year nonmedical use of amphetamines rose from 6.8% in 2008 to 8.7% in 2013. Current use among 12th graders also increased from 2.9% in 2008 to 4.1% in 2013.

Changing attitudes toward substance abuse often precede changes in reported use. Although use of Vicodin has declined, so has perception of harm among teens. In 2013, perceived risk of harm of trying Vicodin occasionally declined in 8th graders, from 29.4% to 26.2% and 10th graders, from 40.3% to 36% in 2013. This could indicate that use could begin to rise again in future years.

Additional Graphs

Get Help

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Monitoring the Future Survey, Overview of Findings 2013

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This year's Monitoring the Future Survey of drug use and attitudes among American 8th, 10th, and 12th graders continues to provide generally encouraging news, with many forms of drug use holding steady at low levels among the nation's adolescents; however, concerns persist over the softening of attitudes around some types of drug use, particularly decreases in perceived harm and disapproval of marijuana use and perceived harm of non-medical use of prescription medications such as Vicodin, OxyContin and Adderall.

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Shit
Dope
Ganja
Bud
Grass
Reefer
Pot

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Utah Marijuana Rehab / Information

Definition

Marijuana is made from cannabis sativa, a plant that grows wild (and is also cultivated indoors and out) throughout many regions. Most of the marijuana used in the United States comes from sources in the U.S. , Mexico ("Mexican Red/Brown"), and Canada ("BC Bud").

Marijuana consists of the buds, leaves, and resin of the cannabis plant. The stalks and sterilized seeds are considered "hemp."

The plant cannabis sativa contains chemicals called "cannabinoids." THC (delta-9-tetrhydrocannabinol) is the cannabinoid believed to be responsible for the psychoactive effects of cannabis.

THC can be found in all parts of the cannabis plant, including hemp. This is why hemp is regulated carefully - some hemp products such as clothing, rope, yarn, lotion and soap are legal products because they do not cause THC to enter the human body.

Common Questions

How is marijuana used?

Marijuana is usually smoked as a cigarette, in a pipe or a bong. A marijuana cigarette is often called a joint or a nail. Marijuana has appeared in cigar wrappers called blunts. Blunts often contain marijuana and other drugs such as crack cocaine.

Is marijuana addictive?

Yes. While not everyone who uses marijuana becomes addicted, when a user begins to seek out and take the drug compulsively, that person is said to be dependent on the drug or addicted to it. In 2002, over 280,000 people entering drug treatment programs reported marijuana as their primary drug of abuse, showing they needed help to stop using.

Some heavy users of marijuana show signs of withdrawal when they do not use the drug. They develop symptoms such as restlessness, loss of appetite, trouble sleeping, weight loss, and shaky hands.

According to one study, marijuana use by teenagers who have prior serious antisocial problems can quickly lead to dependence on the drug. That study also found that, for troubled teenagers using tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana, progression from their first use of marijuana to regular use was about as rapid as their progression to regular tobacco use, and more rapid than the progression to regular use of alcohol.

What are the signs someone may need help?

Changes in behavior

Withdrawal from others, lose touch with family and friends

Depression

Fatigue

Carelessness of grooming

Hostility

Lost interest in sports or other enjoyed activities

Changes in eating and sleeping habits

Use of incense in bedrooms/bathrooms

What are the short term effects?

The short term effects of marijuana usually appear immediately after a single dose. Some common short-term effects include: problems with memory and learning, distorted sights, sounds, time, touch, trouble with thinking and problem solving, loss of motor coordination and increased heart rate.

What are long term effects?

The user may develop a tolerance to marijuana's high and may need to use more marijuana to experience the same level of pleasure. Long-term marijuana users may develop the same kinds of breathing problems that cigarette smokers have: coughing and wheezing. Marijuana users tend to have more chest colds than nonusers and are also at greater risk of getting lung infections like pneumonia. People who smoke marijuana regularly may develop many of the same breathing problems that tobacco smokers have, such as daily cough and phlegm production, more frequent chest colds, a heightened risk of lung infections, and a greater tendency toward obstructed airways. Cancer of the respiratory tract and lungs may also be promoted by marijuana smoke, since it contains irritants and carcinogens. Marijuana smokers usually inhale more deeply and hold their breath longer, which increases the lungs' exposure to carcinogenic smoke. Thus, puff for puff, smoking marijuana may increase the risk of cancer more than smoking tobacco does.

How long does marijuana stay in the body?

THC in marijuana is rapidly absorbed by fatty tissues in various organs Generally, traces of THC can be detected by standard urine testing methods several days after a smoking session. In chronic heavy users, traces can sometimes be detected for weeks after they have stopped using marijuana.

Call our toll free, 24 hour Utah Marijuana Rehab HELPLINE today at 1-888-576-HEAL (4325).

All calls are confidential. Source(s): National Conference on Marijuana Use, National Institute on Drug Abuse Research Report Series and National Institute of Health

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Marijuana Rehab & Information - Turning Point Center Utah

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Utah Marijuana Rehab / Information Marijuana is made from cannabis sativa, a plant that grows wild (and is also cultivated indoors and out) throughout many regions. Most of the marijuana used in the United States comes from sources in the U.S. , Mexico ("Mexican Red/Brown"), and Canada ("BC Bud").

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What is the percentage of teens that use weed and why? 

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What is the percentage of teens that use weed and why? 

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For 8th graders 15.6% and only 6.5 percent admitted they use marijuana, for 10th graders 33.7% and only 16.6 percent admitted they use marijuana , for 12th graders 44.4% and only 22.2 percent admitted that they use  marijuana.
Teenagers are most likely to use marijuana because they live in a neighborhood where they see drug activity going on and teens are less likely to express disapproval of drug use and become more likely to try drugs themselves.

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Its a cannabis plant

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As the weather warms up, so do most smokers. There is something about the spring and summer months that brings out the toker in all of us. And, sometimes, it brings out our green thumbs, too!

For the more enthusiastic cannabis lover, their attention often turns from rolling joints to another facet of the plant-cultivation. Around this time every year we get flooded with questions from the home hobbyist asking about growing "just one little pot plant" in their own home.

Well, that's music to our ears here at HIGH TIMES! After all, we've been doing this for 40 years, and now it is 2015 and marijuana is (mostly) legal in over half the country. And to be sure, no law enforcement is going to harass you over just one plant, even on their slowest day.
How to Begin
First, let's remove any fear you may have that this is going to be difficult. It is not.

We call it "weed" for a reason-because it grows easily and anywhere, like a weed. That being said, there is one central aspect to growing a pot plant that everyone needs to understand, and that is that cannabis is a flowering plant, meaning that in nature it bears its fruits only once a year, during the fall season when the daylight hours grow shorter.

This is important for the home indoor grower because the light period, or photoperiod, of the plant must be controlled. What this simply means is that a pot plant must be placed in 12+ hours of light every day in order to keep the plant from flowering.

You might ask, "Why not just let the plant flower immediately and harvest some nice buds and get to the smoking?"

Well, in truth, you could do that. But if an immature plant flowers too early, there won't be much harvest to be had. Ideally, a pot plant need to grow, or "vegetate," for at least a few weeks before flowering. Otherwise, the harvesting of it's fruit will be extremely disappointing.

In order to keep a plant in vegetation and to garner a healthy, well-developed specimen, a young seedling should be grown for four to six weeks before flowering is induced. During this time, the plant should get a minimum of 16 hours of light, but 18-20 hours is a safer bet. To do this indoors-even near a window with good sunlight-a lamp will be needed to ensure the proper length of its photoperiod.
Horticultural Lighting
Your lamp is going to be the most expensive part of the process, but there are relatively inexpensive lamps available that will do the job. Serious growers use more specialized and expensive lamps, but to grow just one plant at home, many lights will work. A 250-watt HID (high-intensity discharge) bulb-either an HPS (high-pressure sodium) or MH (metal halide)-can be found in hardware stores such as Lowe's or Home Depot for as little as $25. However, these bulbs do require a specialized HID fixture and/or ballast, as they do not screw into any standard home fixture safely. (These fixtures may run as much as $200.)

Alternatively, if you do have a window with very good light and the power of the sun for a good portion of the day, you can also use fluorescent bulbs to supplement the sunlight after sunset. Fluorescent bulbs such as T5's, T8's or even CFL's can provide enough light to keep your plant in a vegetative state.

However, remember that the less intense the light, the less the plant will develop. The option of fluorescent bulbs should only be used as supplemental light for plants that receive strong sunlight during the day. If the light provided during the day is too weak, a plant will stretch wildly and not develop well enough for a harvest. If this is the case, consider using the 250-watt HID option for the full 12-hour photoperiod during flowering, away from a window in it's own enclosed location.
Triggering the Flowering Cycle
Once your plant has developed enough and reached a point that she can produce enough flowers for a decent harvest, it is time to bring her light cycle to an even 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark each day. This does not mean that you will no longer need your lamp though. During the 12-hour photoperiod of flowering, the plant will need the strongest light possible to help her produce energy for her fruit.

If your plant could be in direct sunlight for these 12 hours, you would not need strong supplemental lighting. However, even outdoors this is usually not possible. Your best option for flowering is to move your plant into an enclosed location such as a closet or cabinet where you can hang your lamp overhead and control the light cycle exactly as needed. To do this, use a standard outlet timer and set it to a 12-hour cycle.

During the dark cycle, it is extremely important that no light enters the plant space. Any light leaks can disrupt the plant's flowering and cause stress or confuse the plant, forcing her to hermaphrodite (creating seeded flowers) or severely weaken yield and quality.
Other Tips & Tricks
Aside from your light and the possible need for an enclosed space, other considerations for your plant include container types, mediums and nutrients. Because this discussion pertains to a single plant, there are many viable options for these aspects of cultivation.

The best options for plant containers are those that offer breathability, such as fabric pots. Other considerations for plant pots include drainage holes and saucers to catch run-off. Remember not to let your plants sit in stagnant water for long periods of time as the pH will change and eventually be redrawn by the medium and the plant. Siting water also attracts bugs and molds.

In terms of medium, a small bag of organic potting soil usually will do the trick just fine. Peat-, coco-, or sphagnum-based mediums are also excellent choices. Remember to choose an airy medium that will allow air to penetrate the root zone. Roots breath in oxygen, while the plant above ground breathes in CO2.

Some mediums, especially organic soils, may come with mild organic nutrients such as guano or sea kelp already mixed in. This will lessen the amount of nutrients you will need to give your plant and may not require any feedings at all until you begin flowering. Recommendations for nutrients also tend towards the organic side whenever possible. Steer clear of salt-heavy synthetics such as Miracle Gro and other artificial nutrients, as they will cause more problems than they are worth.

Other than those points, remember that growing a pot plant-or any plant for that matter-is an exercise that connects you with nature. The goal is to enjoy the process, to learn and to have fun!

Thanks for reading everyone and remember: Grow... And help the world grow, too!
Got questions? Email 'em over to Nico at NicosNuggets@hightimes.com and be sure to put "Nico's Nuggets" in the subject line! For all out latest stories on grow culture, click here.

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Beginners: How to Grow Just One Pot Plant in Your Home · High Times

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As the weather warms up, so do most smokers. There is something about the spring and summer months that brings out the toker in all of us. And, sometimes, it brings out our green thumbs, too! For the more enthusiastic cannabis lover, their attention often turns from rolling joints to another facet of the plant-cultivation.

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The drug is consumed by many different ways. You could also smoke it which its called a "Joint"

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I choose weed because most teenagers do this drug.

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Image Source
At the end of the day, weed is always going to be one of the human being's favourite ways to get high. At least, my observation is that it doesn't matter where in the world you go, people love to smoke the herb. There are even some religions that have formed around the use of this plant! Ok - so we've established that human beings love it. Now is the opportunity to take some quality time to appreciate weed.

So what is the world consensus about it? Is it legal? Is it cheap? What's the deal with marijuana? In this article you might discover a few things about weed that you didn't know before - like where it got all of its names! If you want to learn more about the world's favourite recreational and medicinal substance, keep reading this article!
Where did weed get all of its names?

The Western world is quite familiar with the term "weed", and we Westerners have coined many other names for it, too. It is arguably called "weed" because in many parts of the world it grows in the same way that weeds do, is sturdy and hard to kill. "Herb" and "bud" are relatively newer terms for this plant. Perhaps they were created by the younger generation to conceal their marijuana use from their parents!

Cannabis is a more scientific name that has been given by the Western world. It refers to cannabis sativa as a species of plant, and within that obviously, fall the many strains of cannabis that we have come to know and love.

Marijuana? Well, this word has a very interesting story. In the moment where weed as beginning to make it's way across the Mexican border into the USA, the American government became very peeved. In the heat of wanting to prohibit the traffic of this plant, the US government banned Mexicans from travelling with all that "marihuana". However, they didn't know that the plant itself was not called "marihuana", but in fact this word referred to a whole different group of herbs that Mexicans used for other reasons. Now, in the modern world marijuana definitely refers to the herb we love to smoke, but it got that name from a political mistake!

You might think that the word "ganja" comes from Rastafarian culture, but in fact that name comes from the Himalayas of India, where it grows wild and abundantly. The word ganja is taken from the Ganges river, where it was common to find marijuana growing. The herbal material is still called that in India, while "charas" is the name given to their finger hash.

"Pot" is a term that almost everyone is familiar with, by why on Earth is a psychedelic plant named after a boring household cooking item? This word may not come from the English language, but from the Spanish word, "potiguaya". It is a beverage that comes from Mexico, consisting of cannabis that has been steeped in red wine. It is the beverage of removing worries and grief.

There are probably many more (like reefer madness!) ways to refer to weed. They are all terms of endearment for a plant that people have been so connected to throughout history. We can almost consider all the different terms as pet names for the herb!

Why do people use weed?

There is a big controversy surrounding the reasons that people use weed. For some, it is the best recreational substance. For others, it is completely medicinal. Thanks to modern research and the marijuana movement, there are so many different kinds of weed that it can be used for almost anything. There are even strains of weed that have no psychedelic properties, which means the products made from these strains can be used completely medicinally.

In general, the effects of THC can range anywhere from increased mental activity to euphoria, all the way to sleepiness and pain relief. There is a generally an association with relaxation overall when it comes to using weed, whether that is a physical or creative relaxation. One of the token qualities of weed is "the giggles" - it makes people feel really good - and that is probably one of the most fundamental reasons that people use weed.

For some people, that "feel good" comes from the relief of chronic pain, or from the ability to sleep after a long bout of insomnia. For others, that good feeling comes from the freedom to delve into creative endeavours such as music or art. The very unique thing about weed is that everybody uses it for a different reason and it has a different effect on everybody it comes into contact with. However, the general idea is that this effect is quite wonderful.

Where do you buy it and how much does it cost?

Depending on where you are in the world, you can have extremely easy access to weed. In many states of the USA, it has become legal to buy medical marijuana, if not recreational marijuana, too. That means that there are licensed vendors of marijuana all over the place. The same is even true in some parts of Europe, and even in South America. For those parts of the world that haven't yet legalized our favourite herb, people are forced to grow illegally or to wander into dark alleyways in search of drug dealers.

Unfortunately, the fact that there is still such a thing as a black market for weed means that the price varies dramatically from place to place. Even in places where weed is legal, street weed may have a lower price, which naturally draws people to the black market option. Having said that, there are still people who prefer quality over a bargain, and will opt for well grown, legal weed.

In general, you can pay anywhere from $10-$20 per gram of weed in the USA. It will all depend on the quality, the strain and of course, where you bought it. The price can drop when you start to buy in larger quantities, such as eighths (3 grams) or quarters (7 grams) or ounces (28 grams). This is the general price for herbal weed, but it changes again when it comes to the myriad of products that we now make out of weed.

In Europe, you can average anywhere from 5-15 Euros for a gram of weed, once again depending on where you are. In countries like Spain, where weed can be purchased legally from coffee shops, it is only 5 euros for a gram of decent weed or hash. The same is true in Holland, although there is a huge variety of legal weed there, meaning the price varies a lot. It is extremely economic compared to the street option of buying weed in Europe. Things can get way more expensive in France or Italy, for example, where marijuana is still extremely illegal.

Weed affects both the body and brain

The effects of weed can reach the physical part of the user and even the subtle part, such as thoughts and emotions. The system with which weed interacts in the human body is called the endocannabinoid system, which has its branches all throughout the brain, body and nervous system. The cannabinoids inside of weed bind to perfectly fitting receptors in the brain and body, which causes a plethora of things to happen afterwards.

Some kinds of weed are designed to target the more subtle parts, and are effectively more psychedelic in their nature and properties. Some other kinds of weed are designed to deal with physical symptoms such as pain or seizures, in which case they may lack some of the psychedelic properties of other varieties.

The ability of weed to reach so many different parts of the human experience is also what makes it so special. It is considered a "whole plant medicine", which makes the experience itself holistic. The healing properties can reach further than just healing the physical body, delving into worlds of creativity and exploration.

Different strains of weed

Within the framework of weed, there are so many different varieties and strains. What differs between them can be very subtle in much the same way that wine connoisseurs note the differences in wine. Although all of these strains belong to the same plant, the variations in their genes essentially produce slightly different phenotypes. The way we experience this as humans is differences in smell, taste and even the psychoactive effects.

In general, weed is split into two types - indica and sativa. All strains that we smoke or use medicinally are a pure breed of indica or sativa, or are a hybrid of the two. Marijuana genetics have been a point of interest for so long, and the breeding process to create a strain of marijuana with specific properties is deep and involved. The more we experiment with different strains, the harder it is becoming to find pure strains of marijuana. There are some that have remained popular such as Pure Kush (pure indica) and Haze (pure sativa). They are extremely sought after by both consumers and growers.

Cheese is a hybrid strain that is extremely famous for its smell, and is clearly named appropriately. Blueberry Kush is another hybrid example, where the phenotype ended in a very fruity taste and smell. There are so many different kinds of weed that basically anybody's needs can be met with this plant. There are even such strains that have very low THC levels and very high CBD levels, meaning that the effect is not so psychedelic, but has effects in other parts of the body.

The variety of genetics within what we call "marijuana" is what makes it so versatile and accessible to so many people. It also creates a huge variety of experience even within the community of cannabis users who use purely recreationally. In any case, for a single plant, humans have been able to inspire many different kinds.

Weed is so many different things, but most of all it is something that we love. The human body is responsive in such a positive way to the use of weed, and for that reason we have used it throughout so many different ages. When weed is compared to other forms of recreational substance or even prescription medicine, it is the better choice for so many people. It may not be true for everybody, but there are many who prefer weed over many of the options presented in the Western world.

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Ultimate Guide To Learn About Weed - Hail Mary Jane

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Image Source At the end of the day, weed is always going to be one of the human being's favourite ways to get high. At least, my observation is that it doesn't matter where in the world you go, people love to smoke the herb. There are even some religions that have formed ...