The Surgeon General of the Public Health Service has issued the
following warning on marijuana:
Marijuana use is a major public health problem in the United
States. In the past 20 years, its' use has increased 30-fold; it
is
estimated that more than a quarter of the American population has
used
it. The age at which persons first use marijuana has decreased
gradually to the junior high school years. Until recently, nearly
11%
of high school seniors used it, and although that figure has
declined
to 7%, its daily use still exceeds that of alcohol; more high
school
seniors use marijuana than smoke cigarettes. In a recent study,
32%
of those surveyed had used marijuana during the previous 30 days,
while 25% had smoked tobacco.
On March 24, 1982, the Department of Health and Human Services
submitted to Congress a report reviewing the consequences of
marijuana
use. Marijuana and Health, 1982, ninth in a series, is primarily
based on two recently conducted, comprehensive, scientific reviews
by
the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the
Canadian Addiction Research Foundation, and the World Health
Organization (WHO). Both independent reviews corroborate the
Public
Health Service's findings of health hazards associated with
marijuana
use: Acute intoxication with marijuana interferes with many aspects
of
mental functioning and has serious, acute effects on perception and
skilled performance, such as driving and other complex tasks
involving
judgement or fine motor skills.
Among the known or suspected chronic effects of marijuana are:
short-term memory impairment and slowness of learning.
impaired lung function similar to that found in cigarette
smokers. Indications are that more serious effects, such
as
cancer and other lung disease, follow extended use.
decreased sperm count and sperm motility.
interference with ovulation and pre-natal development.
impaired immune response.
possible adverse effects on heart function.
by-products of marijuana remaining in body fat for several
weeks, with unknown consequences. The storage of these
by-products increases the possiblilties for chronic, as
well
as residual, effects on performance, even after the acute
reaction to the drug has worn off.
Of special concern are the long-term developmental effects in
children and adolescents, who are particularly vulnerable to the
drug's behavioral and psychological effects. The "amotivational
syndrome," characterized by a pattern of energy loss, diminished
school performance, harmed parental relationships, and other
behavorial disruptions, has been associated with prolonged
marijuana
use by young persons. Although more research is required, recent
national surveys report that 40% of heavy users experience some or
all
of those symptoms.
The Public Health Service concludes that marijuana has a broad
range of psychological and biological effects, many of which are
dangerous and harmful to health, and it supports the major
conclusion
of the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine.
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