1. How Marijuana changes lives
Fighting the ignorance of college students everywhere
By: Bakari Shaw

2. changing lives for the better

3. Medical Conditions
There are eight medical conditions for which patients can use cannabis.
Cancer
Glaucoma
HIV/AIDS
Muscle spasms
Seizures
Severe pain
Severe nausea and cachexia or dramatic weight loss
Muscle atrophy

4. epilepsy
6 yr old Charlotte Figi has a rare form of intractable epilepsy called Dravet Syndrome.
She was having 300 grand mal seizures a week and had lost the ability to walk, talk, and eat.
With two doses of cannabis oil a day in her food, her seizures only happen two to three times per month.
She is also talking, walking(riding her bike), and feeding herself.

5. Cancer
Marijuana has been found to be helpful in treating nausea and vomiting from cancer chemotherapy.
Scientists reported that THC and other cannabinoids such as CBD slow growth and/or cause death in certain types of cancer cells.
Marijuana has shown promise for helping people with cancer related pain.

6. HIV/aids
Marijuana helps stimulate the appetite that is sometimes lost with HIV patients.
Marijuana can relive the pain caused by certain HIV medications.
Marijuana is beneficial for HIV patients experiencing nausea from their HIV medications.
A small dose of marijuana before bed often helps HIV patients get a good nights sleep.

7. Changing lives for the worse

8. Short-Term Effects Sensory distortion Panic Anxiety
Poor coordination of movement
Lowered reaction time
Increased heartbeat

9. Long-Term effects Drowsiness and lack of motivation
Suppression of the immune system
Growth disorders
Reduction of male sex hormones
Rapid destruction of lung fibers and lesions to the brain.
Study difficulties
Increase of abnormally structured cells in the body

10. Marijuana’s effect on Lungs
Marijuana smokers tend to inhale more deeply and hold their breath longer than cigarette smokers, which leads to a greater exposure per breath to tar.
Research shows that smoking marijuana causes chronic bronchitis and marijuana smoke has been shown to injure the cell linings of the large airways.
Marijuana smoke contains 50% to 70% more cancer-causing substances than tobacco smoke.

11. Marijuana’s effect on the brain
Studies show that the mental functions of people who have smoked a lot of marijuana tend to be diminished.
The THC in cannabis disrupts nerve cells in the brain affecting memory.
Marijuana over activates parts of the brain that contain the highest number of these receptors.

12. Marijuana use during pregnancy
A pregnant woman who regularly smokes marijuana or may give birth prematurely to an undersized, underweight baby.
Studies also suggest that prenatal use of the drug may result in birth defects, mental abnormalities and increased risk of leukemia in children.

13. Marijuana the GateWay Drug

14. Marijuana is just the beginning
Because a tolerance builds up, marijuana can lead users to consume stronger drugs to achieve the same high.
The vast majority of cocaine users (99.9%) began by first using a “gateway drug” like marijuana, cigarettes or alcohol.
Marijuana is sometimes combined with harder drugs.

15. Treatments for Marijuana abuse
Cognitive-behavioral therapy
Contingency management
Motivational enhancement therapy

16. Cognitive-behavioral therapy
A form of psychotherapy that teaches people strategies to identify and correct problematic behaviors in order to enhance self-control, stop drug use, and address a range of other problems that often co-occur with them.

17. Contingency management
A therapeutic management approach based on frequent monitoring of the target behavior and the provision (or removal) of tangible, positive rewards when the target behavior occurs (or does not).

18. Motivational enhancement therapy
A systematic form of intervention designed to produce rapid, internally motivated change; the therapy does not attempt to treat the person, but rather mobilize their own internal resources for change and engagement in treatment.

19. Works cited