What is the most commonly abused illicit drug in the United States?
According to the 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 3.1 million Americans reported daily use of marijuana.
In 2004, about 6,000 people a day used marijuana for the first time, equaling 2.1 million Americans. Of these, 63.8% were under age 18.
The 2005 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that, an estimated 97.5 million Americans ages 12 and older had had used marijuana at least once in their lifetimes, representing 40.1% of the U.S. population in that age group.
One study has indicated that an abuser’s risk of heart attack more than quadruples in the first hour after smoking marijuana. The researchers suggest that this might occur from marijuana’s effects on blood pressure and heart rate and the reduced oxygen-carrying capacity of blood.
The short-term effects of marijuana can include problems with memory and learning; distorted perception; difficulty in thinking and problem solving; loss of coordination; and increased heart rate.
The statistics are incredible, the effects are unbelievable, and still, marijuana is the most commonly abused drug in the United States.
Article by Eric
marijuana
AHS Views Feed
Sorry, but the heart attack study doesn’t mean jack. It was never even published in any scientific journals - and for a reason. Stop demonizing marijuana and put your efforts towards dangerous drugs like meth, cocaine, heroine, and even legal pharmaceuticals. You’re only wasting your time and hurting your cause.
“The study reported that 3.2% of the 3,882 heart attack patients had used marijuana in the past year. The study neglected to mention that — according to a federal government-sponsored survey — 8.6% of the general population had used marijuana in the previous year.”
“The study found that exactly nine of the heart-attack victims had their heart attacks within an hour after using marijuana. That is 0.2% (two-tenths of one percent) of the heart-attack population examined — hardly a large enough sample to draw a newsworthy conclusion. Perhaps that’s why the study hasn’t been published in a scientific journal.”
- http://oldsite.mpp.org/releases/nr030100.html
“In 1997, Kaiser Permanente did a large-scale study which included more than 65,000 admitted marijuana users, and they could not demonstrate any impact of marijuana use on mortality. If marijuana use really was a significant risk factor for heart attack, it is hard to believe that it didn’t turn up there. Again, I’m not saying that there is absolutely no risk demonstrated here. But given the history of the research since 1967, I’d be surprised if these findings don’t go down the same chute as all of the other front-page scare stories.”
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle-old/129/marijuanarisk.shtml
Marijuana is a waste of your efforts. It has no impact on mortality. Alcohol and tobacco kill hundreds and thousands of people per year, yet no one has died from smoking marijuana. People are dying and yet you’re caught up on marijuana? That’s disgusting.
Comment by Kip Summers — February 16, 2007 @ 12:50 pm
Your argument over the validity of relating marijuana use to an increased risk of heart attack is noted and appreciated.
While there are some people and groups that are pro-marijuana or are at least trying to decriminalize it, we feel that all types of substance abuse have a negative impact on our society, regardless of whether one drug is ‘worse’ than another.
Comment by Romie — February 19, 2007 @ 12:26 pm