Marijuana, also known as weed or pot, refers
to the dried leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds

from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa, which
contains the psychoactive and mind-altering

chemical, delta-9-tetra-hydro-cannabinol,
or THC, as well as other related compounds.

Let’s take a fun look at some interesting
facts about the world’s most beloved plant.

Researchers find that 42% of people surveyed

in the U.S. have tried marijuana at least
once. In contrast, only 20% of people surveyed

in the Netherlands, where weed has been legal
for 38 years, reported having tried pot; in

Asian countries, such as Japan and China,
marijuana use is virtually “non-existent,”

the study finds.

Out of the estimated 22 million pounds of
marijuana grown each year in the United States,

nearly 80% comes from California, Tennessee,
Kentucky, Hawaii and Washington.

An estimated one-third of America’s weed
is grown indoors. An indoor grow module accommodating

4 plants sucks as much electricity as 29 refrigerators.
In California, indoor marijuana grow modules

account for about 9 percent of household electricity
use.

In Colorado, where the recreational use of

marijuana was recently legalized, only 9%
of residents are regular pot smokers. Denver

has surpassed Amsterdam as the capital of
the marijuana world. The city has more than

300 stores, called dispensaries, outnumbering
pharmacies, liquor stores, public schools

and even Starbucks. In Colorado, recreational
pot has a hard time competing with medical

marijuana, which has been legal since 2000
and whose tax rate is 78% lower.  Estimated

pot sales are 55 tons of medical pot and 18.4
tons of recreational pot. The use among teens

has not increased with the legalization of
recreational weed.

Legalizing marijuana federally would generate
$8.7 billion in federal and state tax revenue

per year.

California was the first U.S. State that banned
marijuana a century ago.

In the U.S., a sentence of life in prison
without parole was given for trying to sell

$10 of marijuana to an undercover officer.
Over 800,000 people are arrested for marijuana

in the US each year.

Support for marijuana legalization is rapidly
outpacing opposition. A slim majority (52%)

of Americans say the drug should be made legal,
compared with 45% who want it to be illegal.

Opinions have changed drastically since 1969,
when Gallup first asked the question and found

that just 12% favored legalizing marijuana
use.

Smoking up could be a very different experience
for men and women, according to a 2014 study

in the journal, Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
In research on rats, it was discovered that

females were more sensitive to cannabis’ painkilling
qualities, but they were also more likely

to develop a tolerance for the drug, which
could contribute to negative side effects

and dependence on marijuana.

Study after study finds that marijuana is
less harmful than alcohol and tobacco. The

beer and alcohol industries are two of the
biggest anti-marijuana advocates. Obviously,

marijuana is a serious threat to alcohol sales.
Due to its safer nature, marijuana is often

suggested as an alternative to alcohol.

However, heavy use can be harmful. Since pot
smoke is chemically very similar to tobacco

smoke, heavy pot smokers are at risk for some
of the same health effects as cigarette smokers,

like bronchitis and other respiratory illnesses.
Though, the risks are from smoking, which

isn’t the only way to use marijuana. Another
hazard: car accidents caused by driving while

high, though the risk is lower than from drunk
driving.

A smoker would theoretically have to consume

nearly 1,500 pounds of marijuana within about
fifteen minutes to induce a lethal response.

Subtitles by the Amara.org community

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