Your First Step to Change

Section 1: Facts About Marijuana

How does marijuana move through my body?

The active ingredient in marijuana, Δ-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is absorbed into the blood stream in the lungs, increasing heart rate and dilating blood vessels. Though THC is usually eliminated from the brain after a few hours, it can accumulate in organs such as the liver, kidneys, spleen, and testes. In pregnant women THC can pass from the mother’s blood to the placenta and reach the developing fetus.⁵

What effect does smoking marijuana have on my body?

Though it is nearly impossible for a human being to consume a lethal dose of marijuana, or THC, there are adverse consequences to using, especially smoking, marijuana. THC can impair concentration, coordination, and judgment. Its adverse effects include a weakened immune system, lung problems, and impaired coordination and cognition⁵ (See Figure below).

FACT

-One big joint (about .8 grams)¹⁴ contains amounts of tar and toxins similar to 4 filtered cigarettes.¹¹

-The amount of marijuana smoke inhaled per puff is two-thirds larger and held in the lungs four times longer than a typical puff of a tobacco cigarette.⁵ Marijuana smoke contains the same cancer-causing substances as tobacco smoke, usually in somewhat higher concentrations. Marijuana is also inhaled more deeply and held in the lungs longer, which increases the danger of lung damage.⁶

-One study showed that a marker for carbon monoxide in the blood measured five times higher after smoking a marijuana cigarette than it did after smoking a tobacco cigarette of comparable size. The amount of tar inhaled from the marijuana cigarettes was three times higher than in those who smoked tobacco; of that amount, one-third more was retained in the respiratory systems of the subjects who smoked marijuana.⁵