ublic and private schools across America. [3] The most commonly reported negative reaction to marijuana use is the "acute panic anxiety reaction." This is an exaggeration of normal marijuana effects in which intense fears of losing control couple with severe anxiety. The symptoms disappear after a few hours when the acute drug effects have worn off. [3] [1] Focus On Marijuana [2] Academic American Encyclopedia [3] World Almanac and Book of Facts: 1992 DANGERS: Because it can increase heart rate by as much as 50%, marijuana can prove to be very dangerous for anyone with heart ailments. Smoked in excess, it could potentially bring on a heart attack in such individuals. Also, laboratory studies performed in 1973 indicated that three out of every four smokers studied had some lymphocytes with a lower rate of cell division than typical non-users would have. Lymphocytes of marijuana smokers which were cultured for three days showed abnormally high numbers of chromosome breaks. Chromosomes carry the hereditary characteristics of our cells; they are strands of DNA. When strands are broken, one of three things can occur: the cell can repair itself; the cell can die; or the cell can continue on with the abnormality, which it transmits to other cells. Moreover, it was found that when normal lymphocytes of healthy volunteers who did not smoke marijuana were exposed to very small amounts of THC (a few millionths of a gram), they didn't divide normally and their growth was markedly decreased. [1] THC is attracted to fat cells within the body. It ends up in the brain, liver, lungs, kidneys and glands, and it remains there for up to a month from the smoking of just one joint. And, as delineated in the above paragraph, cells don't like pot. Even in small quantities, marijuana prevents the proper formation of DNA, RNA, and proteins - which are the building blocks of cells. Other studies indicate, however, no chromosomal damage, even when THC was added to...
