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Posted by Fraggle on Dec-12-2002 16:32:

Posted by Fraggle on Dec-12-2002 16:32:

Posted by Fraggle on Dec-12-2002 16:33:

Posted by Fraggle on Dec-12-2002 16:34:

Posted by Fraggle on Dec-12-2002 16:40:

Hanging mistletoe over a doorway during the Christmas holidays is a tradition that most Americans and a lot of people around the world have grown up with. But have you ever stopped to think about the story behind it? Where did it come from? Why do we kiss just because we're standing underneath some shrubbery?



Mistletoe (Phoradendron flavescens or Viscum album) is a parasitic plant that grows on trees, particularly hardwood trees like oak and apple. A parasite is a plant or animal that needs another plant or animal to survive. As mistletoe grows on a tree, it sends out its roots right into the tree's bark and takes nutrients from the tree. Sometimes, mistletoe can harm a tree and cause deformities in a tree's branches, but usually it doesn't kill its host. If the host dies, the mistletoe dies.



Mistletoe produces its own food by photosynthesis, and is able to live on its own although it is mostly found in trees. It is common for a mistletoe plant to grow on top of another mistletoe plant. Mistletoe is easy to spot in winter because its leaves stay green all year long. In the United States, it grows in tropical and subtropical regions (from New Jersey to Florida).

Mistletoe has pointy, green, leathery leaves, with waxy berries that are either red or white. The plant's flowers can be a wide variety of colors, from bright red to yellow to green. Ingesting mistletoe can cause severe stomach cramps and diarrhea, and in some cases can be fatal. If you have mistletoe in your house this holiday season, be sure that it is in a place where children and pets won't be able to get to it.

The red and white berries that grow on mistletoe are eaten by birds that eventually leave their droppings at their favorite hang-out spot -- on a tree branch. The droppings contain seeds that sprout roots into the tree branch. The birds also help spread the seed by wiping their beaks on the tree bark to clean off the sticky seeds after they've eaten. The seeds are sticky because of the juice inside the berry. This stickiness helps the seeds stay in the tree rather than falling to the ground. Within six weeks, the mistletoe plant begins growing, although it takes five years to flower.



Mistletoe got its name in the second century, from the Anglo-Saxons. "Mistel" is the word for "dung," and "tan" is the word for "twig" -- misteltan is the Old English version of mistletoe, and this name tells us that mistletoe is named after bird droppings on a branch. One of the beliefs in the early centuries was that mistletoe grew from birds. People used to believe that, rather than just passing through birds in the form of seeds, the mistletoe plant was an inherent result of birds landing in the branches of trees.

There are a lot of myths surrounding mistletoe. Vikings dating back to the eighth century believed that mistletoe had the power to raise humans from the dead, relating to the resurrection of Balder, the god of the summer sun.

Balder had a dream that he was going to die. His mother, Frigga, the goddess of love and beauty, was frantic about his dream and said that if he died, everything on Earth would die. To ensure her son's safety, Frigga went to all of the elements -- air, fire, water and earth, as well as to all of the animals and plants -- and asked them not to kill Balder. In the same way a child would be heckled these days if his mother asked kids not to pick on her child, Balder was teased and had things thrown at him. It was thought that, because of his mother's power, he was immune to harm.

Balder's only enemy, Loki, found a loophole in Frigga's request for her son's safety -- mistletoe. Mistletoe grows on the tree it attaches itself to, and therefore has no roots of its own and could not be affected by Frigga's request. Loki made a poisoned dart with mistletoe, and tricked the blind brother of Balder, Hoder, into shooting the arrow that killed Balder.

For three days, all the elements tried their hardest to bring Balder back to life, but failed. Finally, the tears that Frigga cried for her dead son changed the red mistletoe berries to white, raising Balder from the dead. Frigga then reversed mistletoe's bad reputation, and kissed everyone who walked underneath it out of gratitude for getting her son back.

Another myth in mistletoe's past comes from Britain. In the first century, the Druids in Britain believed that mistletoe could perform miracles, from providing fertility to humans and animals to healing diseases and protecting people from witchcraft.

The Druids would cut mistletoe off oak trees in a special ceremony five days after the new moon following the winter solstice. The Druids believed that the mistletoe would become contaminated if it touched the ground, so they used a special white cloth to catch it. The Druids then sacrificed two white bulls while prayers were said, and priests gave out the mistletoe sprigs to the people, who believed they would then be kept safe from evil spirits and storms.

Mistletoe is also said to be a sexual symbol, because of the consistency and color of the berry juice. The tradition of kissing under the mistletoe could have come from either the Viking association of the plant with Frigga, the goddess of love, or from the ancient belief that mistletoe was related to fertility.

The correct mistletoe etiquette is for the man to remove one berry when he kisses a woman. When all the berries are gone, there is no more kissing underneath that plant. It is believed that an unmarried woman not kissed under the mistletoe will remain single for another year.

Posted by Fraggle on Dec-12-2002 16:50:

If you live in an apartment, you probably don't give much thought to grass. It's just the green backdrop to your on-the-go life.



But as soon as you plop down a deposit on your own piece of suburbia, strange thoughts start running through your mind. In the suburban world, grass seems very important, and you're consumed by its mysteries. Why does your neighbor's lawn glow deep green, like a rolling golf course, while yours withers to a brown mess, overrun by weeds? What makes perfect grass perfect? What do you need to do to maintain a beautiful lawn, short of shelling out hundreds of dollars to a professional lawn care service?

Before we get into the peculiar world of lawn care, let's cover some basics. What exactly is grass?
Grass is the common name for the Gramineae family of plants. With more than 9,000 known species, this family is one of the largest on Earth.

Grass is extremely important to most people's lives, whether they know it or not. For one thing, grass is a major food source all over the world. Rice, corn and oats come from grass plants, for example, and most livestock animals feed primarily on grasses. In some parts of the world, people use grass plants in construction (bamboo is a grass, for example), and wherever it grows, grass plays a vital role in curbing erosion. Grass is also used to make sugar, liquor, bread and plastics, among many other things.

Grasses have a very simple structure, and a very simple way of life. You can better grasp what grass needs when you understand how it actually functions in the world.

At the base of the grass plant, roots grow down into the earth. Typically, grass roots are fibrous, or threadlike. They extend into the soil like fingers, collecting nutrients, soaking up water and securing the plant to the ground.



Grass stems, called culms, grow up from the base of the plant (the crown). In most grass species, the culms are hollow and rigid, except at the nodes -- joints that join stem segments together.

Narrow leaves extend out from the culms, above each node. The leaves alternate in direction. That is, if the first leaf on a culm grows to the right, the second leaf will grow to left and the third leaf will grow to the right.

The lower part of the leaf is called the sheath, and the upper part is called the blade. In most grasses, a ligule surrounds the connection between the sheath and the blade. A ligule can take the form of a thin membrane or a fringe of hair-like projections.

Like the leaves on a tree, grass leaves serve to collect energy from sunlight through photosynthesis. The photosynthesizing chlorophyll in the leaf gives grass its green color.

There are two major methods of reproduction in grasses. Some grasses have additional stems that grow sideways, either below ground or just above it. Stems that creep along the ground are called stolens, and stems that grow below ground are called rhizomes. Grasses use stolens and rhizomes to reach out and establish new grass culms. The stolen or rhizome nurtures the new plant until it is strong enough to survive on its own.

Grasses also have flowers. The small flowers in most grass species are known as florets. Florets grow together in small groups called spikelets, which collectively form inflorescences. Flowers produce the spores that pollinate other flowers, which produce seeds. With any luck, some of the seeds will grow new healthy grass plants. (This site explains grass reproduction in detail.)

In some grasses, such as corn, the stem and the flowering part of the plant are obvious. But in lawn grasses, the long thin leaves overshadow the other elements of the plant. Unless you're up close, all you see is green stalks.

So, let's say you want a perfect lawn -- a lawn that looks like a golf course, a nice green carpet surrounding your house. Is this possible?
It's not only possible, it's really not that complicated, at least in most parts of the world. None of the advice that follows will help you grow a luscious lawn at the North Pole or in the middle of the Sahara desert, but it should do the trick in more temperate regions.

Like most plants, grass needs three things to thrive. It needs:



Additionally, it needs be largely free of destructive elements, namely:

If you have the right variety of grass for your area and you meet all these needs, a beautiful lawn should be a cinch. In the next few sections, we'll run down all the major elements involved in healthy grass and outline a course for proper lawn care.
No amount of water and sunlight will make your lawn luscious and green if you have poor soil, so this is a good place to start.
A grass plant's backbone is its root system. The roots soak up water, collect nutrients, anchor the plant and, in some species, spread out to grow new plants. A plant can only do these things effectively if the soil is right.

The soil needs to be loose enough that the grass roots can spread easily, absorbent enough that it will collect water and rich enough that it can provide the plant with nutrients. Roots also need a certain amount of circulating air, which means the soil can't be too compact.

Ideally, you want loam -- soil that has roughly equal amounts of silt, sand and clay (a "perfect" loam is about 40 percent silt, 40 percent sand and only 20 percent clay). Loam is fairly loose, but it has enough clay to absorb water effectively. Check out this page for a simple soil content test.

The soil's pH rating is also important. This rating tells you the relative acidity and alkalinity of the soil (this page explains the concept). The ideal pH level is around 6.5 or 7, but levels vary between different grass species and climate conditions. You can find out your soil's pH level with a home test or a professional test.

If you need to substantially increase the acid level, add sulfur. If you want to reduce the acid level, add lime (this page will give you the details).

To improve your soil, you can amend it with topsoil, compost or fertilizer.

Next to soil, the most important factor in lawn care is the grass species itself. In the next section, we'll see what's involved in picking the right grass.

To establish a beautiful lawn, you need to choose an appropriate type of grass. There are two major factors in this decision:

Cool-season grasses, such as Kentucky Bluegrass, hold up well to cold winters, but don't do well in very hot weather. Warm-season grasses, such as Bermuda grass, love heat and sunlight. Commercial grass seed is usually a mixture or a blend of species. Mixtures are combinations of different types of grass. The various species all have different strengths and weaknesses, so collectively they hold up to just about anything. Blends are combinations of different varieties of the same type of grass. Blends are not as adaptable as mixtures, but they are generally more attractive because of their uniformity.
Most grass species need direct sunlight several hours a day to thrive, but you can seed heartier grass that does well in the shade. If your lawn is completely covered in shade, consider another sort of ground cover.

It's also important to pick a species that does well with the amount of water in your area. "Water-loving" grass species will do terribly in drought-prone areas, and some grasses develop fungal disease in very wet areas.

Additionally, consider how you'll treat the grass. Some grasses hold up to heavy traffic and some don't. If you have kids and outdoor pets, you definitely need a resilient mixture.

Check out this site for a general guide to different grasses. For specific advice, check with nurseries and garden centers in your area -- they'll know which grasses do well in the local climate.

Once you've chosen a good grass, you need to decide how to plant it. In the next section, we'll look at the four major planting options.

If you're starting a new lawn from scratch or overhauling an ailing one, you'll need to add grass. There are three ways to go about this:

The most common method (and the cheapest) is seeding. When planting new seed, select a good species or mix for your area. Look for high-quality speed -- don't go for the cheapest option. Check with a local garden center to find out the best time to seed in your area.

Sodding is much more expensive than seeding, but you get instant results. With sodding, you can go from an anemic, patchy lawn to a rich green lawn in a day, whereas it may take years for a seeded lawn to grow in completely.

Sod arrives in rolled-up rectangular chunks, about an inch thick. Before you have the sod delivered, you should prepare the soil in the same way you would for seeding. All you have to do when the sod arrives is lay it out over the soil in straight rows. Stagger the sod chunks like you would stagger bricks in a wall. Fill in any gaps between the sod pieces with soil, compact the sod with a lawn roller and you're done. Water the sod regularly until it is well established. It's a good idea not to walk on the sod at first.

Grass sprigs (individual grass plants) and plugs (small sections of soil and grass) are a huge mail-order business. You specify the area of your lawn, and the company sends you the right number of live grass plants. Planting sprigs and plugs gets faster results than seeding, but it is more expensive and takes more work.

To plant sprigs and plugs, prepare the soil just like you were seeding or sodding. Then dig regularly spaced holes (6 to 12 inches / 15 to 30 cm apart, depending on the grass species), fill them with water and insert the plants. Fill in loose soil around the plants and press them into the ground. You have to water regularly and keep weeds at bay while the plants' roots spread in the soil. In mail-order grass, such as Zoysia, the stolens branch out quickly to grow new grass plants.

Finally, we get to the meat of the matter. If you've got the right soil, and you've planted the right grass, how do you keep your lawn mean and green?
There are eight major components to lawn maintenance:

Watering is simple. The general rule is to water heavily, when the lawn really needs it, rather than watering lightly more frequently. If you water lightly, the water won't make it down into the soil so it won't do much good. You should water enough to soak 6 to 8 inches (15 to 20 cm) deep, encouraging the roots to grow deep into the ground. Watering recommendations vary between different soil types, but as a general rule, water until there is about an inch of water (2.5 cm) over the ground surface.

Water as soon as the grass starts to dry out. Its color will change from green to bluish grey, and it will lose some of its bounce. If the grass doesn't spring back a few seconds after you step on it, it needs water. The best time to water is in the early morning; the water won't evaporate as easily as in the afternoon, and it will cool the lawn down as temperatures start to climb.

Mowing reduces the workload on a grass plant's root system. A large culm above-ground requires more water and nutrients from underground. It's easier for the roots to provide for the plant if the culm is smaller. Mowing also encourages the grass plant to expand. When the blades cut down the leaves, the plant has to grow new leaves to absorb sunlight. This helps build a thicker, heavier lawn, which is more resistant to weeds and disease.

It's best to mow frequently during the growing season. The rule of thumb is to never cut off more than a third of the grass plant at once -- it's bad for the plant to lose a lot of its photosynthesizing ability suddenly. One common mowing mistake is cutting the grass too short. It's best to keep cool-season grasses at about 3 inches (7.5 cm) high or taller, and most warm-season grasses do well at about 2 or 2.5 inches (5 to 6.5 cm) high. You may want to vary the mowing height throughout the year. In fall, winter and spring, you can mow closer because temperatures are cool and water is more abundant. In the summer, let the grass grow longer. The shade will help cool the soil.

Lawn care experts recommend varying your mowing pattern. That is, push the mower north and south one week and east and west the next week. Sharpen your mower blades a couple of times a year to ensure a healthy, clean cut. If you have a mulching mower, you can leave the clippings on the lawn to help fertilize the grass.

In addition to mowing and watering regularly, you'll need to make time for several larger jobs throughout the year.

Fertilizing adds nutrients to the soil so that the soil can provide nutrients to the grass. If you mow regularly, your grass will grow very quickly, which means it needs more nutrients than an average plant. Your soil can provide nutrients for most native plants by itself, but it may need some help to feed your grass.

The most effective way to fertilize is to spread slow-acting commercial granular fertilizer once or twice a year. Unlike water-soluble spray fertilizer, which acts on the leaves directly, granular fertilizer releases nutrients gradually over several months. If you spread the fertilizer in the fall, it will strengthen the plant's root structure, making it more resilient to drought and more resistant to weeds. You can also add natural fertilizer, such as compost and manure.

When soil gets compacted -- from foot traffic, mowing and the like -- oxygen can't reach the microbes that break down organic matter to enrich the soil. To keep your lawn healthy, it's a good idea to aerate it periodically -- to open up the compacted soil.

Manual and power core-aerators remove narrow sections of soil to form shallow holes. Air, water and organic material spread into the ground through the holes, revitalizing the soil. If heavy traffic compacts your lawn severely, it's best to aerate it every spring or fall.

In any lawn, thatch material collects around the base of the grass plants. Thatch is not made up of mowed grass clippings, as is commonly believed. Clippings usually break down in a week or so. Thatch is actually made up of culms and crowns that have died naturally.

A small amount of thatch helps conserve water in the soil by blocking evaporation, but heavy thatch build-up (more than a quarter-inch / 6 mm thick) keeps air and water from ever reaching the soil. If there's too much thatch on your lawn, rake it up or rent a power de-thatcher.

Weeding is an ongoing process, but it shouldn't take much time once you establish a healthy lawn. Grass, especially modern mixtures, is extremely competitive and will crowd out most weeds itself. If a lot of weeds do pop up, take it as a sign that your grass is weaker than it should be. This could mean your soil is deficient or water-logged, or it could mean you're cutting the grass too short.

Weeds will also pop up in a healthy lawn, of course. For the most part, this isn't anything to worry about. Almost all lawns have weeds, and they don't do much harm in small numbers. Simply pull up any weeds that detract from the lawn's appearance. If you have a larger weed problem, spray the individual weeds with a low-toxicity herbicide. Don't spray the entire lawn unless you have weeds throughout.

Pest control is similar to weed control. If you have a healthy, thriving lawn, you shouldn't have to worry about it. Bugs will make their home in your lawn, but they won't be able to damage the grass much.

From time to time, however, bugs may destroy some of your grass. You can treat infestations by spraying insecticide or certain bacteria (namely, Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt). Only use insecticides that kill harmful insects specifically. Ants and spiders prey on lawn pests, so you certainly want to keep them around. Check out this site for more information.

Diseased lawns are usually caused by fungi feeding on the grass plants. Healthy grass stands up to fungus very well, but it develops disease now and then. Fight persistent or widespread fungi with a fungicide, available at any garden center. This site explains how to identify and fight common lawn diseases.

Lawn care is as complex as you want to make it. If you must have your own personal golf course in the backyard, you might devote many hours a week to your yard. If you just want something covering the ground, you could plant native grasses that pretty much take care of themselves. The links in the next section will show you the available options and expand on these basic guidelines for proper maintenance.

Posted by Fraggle on Dec-12-2002 16:59:

Marijuana is the single most-used illicit drug in the United States. Despite being illegal, marijuana use rivals the popularity of browsing the Internet. In 1998, more than 76.5 million Americans logged onto the Internet, according to Computer Industry Almanac. In that same year, more than 71 million Americans over the age of 12 admitted that they have used marijuana at least once in their lifetime.



Marijuana is the dried buds and leaves of the Cannabis sativa plant. This plant contains more than 400 chemicals, including delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the plant's main psychoactive chemical. THC is known to affect our brain's short-term memory. Additionally, marijuana affects motor coordination, increases your heart rate and raises levels of anxiety. Studies also show that marijuana contains cancer-causing chemicals typically associated with cigarettes.

Although banned by the U.S. federal government in 1937, there were 11 million current users of the drug in 1999, according to the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration, "current" meaning that they had used the drug within 30 days of the survey. In this edition of HowStuffWorks, you will learn about marijuana, why this drug is so popular and what effects it has on your mind and body.

Cultivation of the Cannabis sativa plant dates back thousands of years. The first written account of cannabis cultivation is found in Chinese records dating from 28 B.C., according to the book "Buzzed: The Straight Facts About the Most Used and Abused Drugs from Alcohol to Ecstasy." However, the book's authors point out that the plant was likely cultivated long before then. They recount the discovery of a nearly 3,000-year-old Egyptian mummy containing traces of THC, the main psychoactive chemical in marijuana. It could be that cannabis was used as some type of medicinal herb during this time.



Cannabis sativa is perhaps the most recognizable plant in the world. Pictures of the ubiquitous green cannabis leaf show up in the news media, textbooks and drug-prevention literature, and the leaf's shape is made into jewelry, put on bumper stickers and clothing and spray-painted on walls. The leaves are arranged palmately, radiating from a common center like the fingers of a hand spreading apart. Although most people know what the cannabis plant looks like, they may know very little about its horticulture.


Cannabis sativa is believed to be a native plant of India, where it possibly originated in a region just north of the Himalayan mountains. It is a herbaceous annual that can grow to a height of between 13 and 18 feet (4 to 5.4 meters). The plant has flowers that bloom from late-summer to mid-fall. Cannabis plants usually have one of two types of flowers, male or female, and some plants have both. Male flowers grow in elongated clusters along the leaves and turn yellow and die after blossoming. Female flowers grow in spike-like clusters and remain dark green for a month after blossoming, until the seed ripens. Hashish, which is more powerful than marijuana, is made from the resin of the cannabis flowers.

Marijuana plants contain more than 400 chemicals, 60 of which fit into a category called cannabinoids, according to the National Institutes of Health. THC is just one of these cannabinoids, but it is the chemical most often associated with the effects that marijuana has on the brain. Cannabis plants also contain choline, eugenol, guaicacol and piperidine. The concentration of THC and other cannabinoids varies depending on growing conditions, plant genetics and processing after harvest. You'll learn more about the potency of THC and the toxicity of marijuana later.

Every time a user smokes a marijuana cigarette or ingests marijuana in some other form, THC and other chemicals enter the user's body. The chemicals make their way through the bloodstream to the brain and then to the rest of the body. The most powerful chemical in marijuana is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), which is primarily responsible for the "high" associated with the drug.

The most common way of using marijuana is smoking. Smoking is also the most expedient way to get the THC and other chemicals into the bloodstream. When the smoke from marijuana is inhaled, the THC goes directly to the lungs. Your lungs are lined with millions of alveoli, the tiny air sacs where gas exchange occurs. These alveoli have an enormous surface area -- 90 times greater than that of your skin -- so they make it easy for THC and other compounds to enter the body. The smoke is absorbed by the lungs just seconds after inhaling.



You can also eat marijuana. In this case, the marijuana enters the stomach and the blood absorbs it there. The blood then carries it to the liver and the rest of the body. The stomach absorbs THC more slowly than the lungs. When marijuana is eaten, the levels of THC in the body are lower, but the effects last longer.

THC is a very potent chemical compared to other psychoactive drugs. An intravenous (IV) dose of only one milligram (mg) can produce serious mental and psychological effects. Once in your bloodstream, THC typically reaches the brain within seconds after it is inhaled and begins to go to work.



Marijuana users often describe the experience of smoking marijuana as initially relaxing and mellow, creating a feeling of haziness and light-headedness. The user's eyes may dilate, causing colors to appear more intense, and other senses may be enhanced. Later, feelings of a paranoia and panic may be felt by the user. The interaction of the THC with the brain is what causes these feelings. To understand how THC acts on the brain, you need to know about the parts of the brain that are affected by the chemical. Here are the basics:


In your brain, there are groups of cannabinoid receptors concentrated in several different places. These cannabinoid receptors have an effect on several mental and physical activities, including:

Cannabinoid receptors are activated by a neurotransmitter called anandamide. Anandamide belongs to a group of chemicals called cannabinoids. THC is also a cannabinoid chemical. THC mimics the actions of anandamide, meaning that THC binds with cannabinoid receptors and activates neurons, which causes adverse effects on the mind and body.



High concentrations of cannabinoid receptors exist in the hippocampus, cerebellum and basal ganglia. The hippocampus is located within the temporal lobe and is important for short-term memory. When the THC binds with the cannabinoid receptors inside the hippocampus, it interferes with the recollection of recent events. THC also affects coordination, which is controlled by the cerebellum. The basal ganglia controls unconscious muscle movements, which is another reason why motor coordination is impaired when under the influence of marijuana.

In addition to the brain, marijuana affects many other parts of the body. Marijuana is filled with hundreds of chemicals, and when it is burned, hundreds of additional compounds are produced. When marijuana is inhaled or ingested in some other form, several short-term effects occur. Some of these effects are:

The initial effects created by the THC wear off within an hour or two after using marijuana, but the chemicals stay in your body for much longer. The terminal half-life of THC is from about 20 hours to 10 days, depending on the amount and potency of the marijuana used. This means that if you take one milligram of THC that has a half-life of 20 hours, you will still have 0.031 mg of THC in your body more than four days later. The longer the half-life, the longer the THC lingers in your body.

Research shows that marijuana is not physically addictive, but it can be psychologically addictive. It's not considered physically addictive because users show few or no withdrawal symptoms during cessation. Users build up a tolerance to marijuana, meaning that they need larger and larger doses of it to get "high." Psychological dependence usually develops because a person's mind craves the high that it gets when using the drug.

Beyond the psychological effects that marijuana has, marijuana smokers are susceptible to the same health problems as tobacco smokers, such as bronchitis, emphysema and bronchial asthma. Other effects include dry-mouth, red eyes, impaired motor skills and impaired concentration. Long-term use of the drug can increase the risk of damaging the lungs and reproductive system, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). It has also been linked to heart attacks.

Although marijuana is known to have negative effects on the human body, there is a raging debate over the use of marijuana as a medical treatment. Some say that marijuana should be legalized for medical use because it has been known to suppress nausea, relieve eye pressure in glaucoma patients, decrease muscle spasms, stimulate appetite, stop convulsions and eliminate menstrual pain. Others claim that marijuana's negative effects outweigh its benefits. There are currently nine U.S. states that allow for the use of marijuana for medical purposes: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

Whether marijuana is more potent today than it was in 30 or 40 years ago is at the center of much debate. The U.S. federal government has released information saying that the levels of potency have risen anywhere from 10 to 25 times since the 1960s. Is this a myth or reality?

"There's no question that marijuana, today, is more potent than the marijuana in the 1960s. However, if you were to look at the average marijuana potency which is about 3.5 percent, it's been relatively stable for the last 20 years. Having said that, it's very important that what we have now is a wider range of potencies available than we had in the 1970s, in particular," Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse Alan Leshner said in 1999 while testifying in front of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Crime.

Those who support the legalization of marijuana say that the data is skewed because testing was only performed on marijuana of specific geographic origins in the 1960s and 1970s, and therefore is not representative of marijuana potency overall. Officials obtained the samples from a type of Mexican marijuana that is known to contain low levels of THC -- 0.4 to 1 percent. When these levels are compared to other types of marijuana, it looks as if potency levels have risen in the last 30 years.

Typical THC levels, which determines potency, range from 0.3 to 4 percent. However, some specially grown plants can contain THC levels as high as 15 percent. Several factors are involved in determining the potency of a marijuana plant, including:

The time at which the plant is harvested affects the level of THC. Additionally, female varieties have higher levels of THC than male varieties. As a cannabis plant matures, its chemical composition changes. During early development, cannabidiolic acid is the most prevalent chemical. Later, cannabidiolic acid is converted to cannabidiol, which is later converted to THC when the plant reaches its floral maturation.

To determine the average potency levels of marijuana, researchers need to examine a cross section of cannabis plants, which wasn't done in the 1960s and 1970s. This makes it difficult to make accurate comparisons between the THC levels of that time period and the THC levels of today.

Marijuana is readily available in almost every corner of the United States, according to the Department of Justice. It's found growing in homes, on farms, in the suburbs and in the city. Cannabis is frequently found growing on public land, often in remote locations to prevent observation and identification of the growers. In 1999, the U.S. Forest Service seized almost 1 million pounds (453,592 kg) of cannabis plants and processed marijuana in 35 states. Marijuana is also smuggled into the United States from Mexico, Cambodia and Thailand, among other countries.
There is a growing trend toward indoor cultivation of marijuana in the United States because of the DEA's efforts to curtail outdoor cultivation. Indoor growers cultivate cannabis in closets, fish tanks and elaborate greenhouses. Some growers have even built structures that look like real homes but lack interior walls, all to hide their marijuana-growing operations. In 1998, drug law enforcement authorities seized 2,616 indoor marijuana-growing operations.



More than 71 million Americans over the age of 12 had tried marijuana as of 1998, which is more than 25 percent of the national population. Frequent usage is lower than it was in 1979, when 13.2 percent of the U.S. population over the age of 12 was using marijuana on a monthly basis. In 1999, it had declined to 5.1 percent.

There are several ways in which people use marijuana, and the way in which it is used determines the amount of chemicals transferred into the body, according to the authors of "Buzzed." Here are the most common methods of use:

With millions of users, marijuana use is not limited to one demographic group. It cuts across all racial and economic boundaries. However, marijuana use is highest among younger people. The prevalence of marijuana use in teenagers doubled from 1992 to 1999: One out of every 13 kids aged 12 to 17 were current users of marijuana in 1999. The 1998 National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse indicates that marijuana is very easy to obtain. Half of all 13-year-olds said that they can find and purchase marijuana, according to the study. Of teens surveyed, 49 percent said that they had first tried marijuana at age 13 or younger.

Buying, selling, using or growing marijuana is illegal in every part of the United States. Penalties vary from place to place, but usually consist of jail time, a fine or both. In some states, you can be arrested for just being in a place where you know drug activity is taking place. The severity of the penalty varies on several factors:

Jail sentences and fines have done little to suppress the use of marijuana in the United States. Despite the health and legal risks that come with using marijuana (or any illicit drug), it continues to be the illegal drug of choice for many Americans, as it has for decades.

Posted by Fraggle on Dec-12-2002 17:05:

Posted by Fraggle on Dec-12-2002 17:06:

Posted by Fraggle on Dec-12-2002 17:08:

Posted by Fraggle on Dec-12-2002 17:12:

Posted by Fraggle on Dec-12-2002 17:14:

Posted by Fraggle on Dec-12-2002 17:18:

Posted by Fraggle on Dec-12-2002 17:20:

Posted by Fraggle on Dec-12-2002 17:27:

Posted by Fraggle on Dec-12-2002 17:28:

Posted by ascension on Dec-12-2002 17:29:

quote:
Originally posted by Fraggle


oh my i think im in love

Posted by Fraggle on Dec-12-2002 17:29:

gah!

someone awake!!!

morning ascension

Posted by Fraggle on Dec-12-2002 17:32:

grrr...damn westies

4:30am here, think i'll get some zzz

Posted by ascension on Dec-12-2002 17:33:

well hullo there my good friend

and how are we this fine and lovely day?

Posted by Fraggle on Dec-12-2002 17:34:

Posted by ascension on Dec-12-2002 17:34:

tired it would seem

Posted by ascension on Dec-12-2002 17:34:

my what a big sock you have

Posted by Fraggle on Dec-12-2002 17:36:

it jingles too

Posted by ascension on Dec-12-2002 17:37:


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