marijuana, also known as weed or pot, refersto the dried leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds from the hemp plant cannabis sativa, whichcontains 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 interestingfacts about the world’s most beloved plant. researchers find that 42% of people surveyed in the u.s. have tried marijuana at leastonce. in contrast, only 20% of people surveyed in the netherlands, where weed has been legalfor 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 ofmarijuana grown each year in the united states, nearly 80% comes from california, tennessee,kentucky, hawaii and washington. an estimated one-third of america’s weedis 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 electricityuse. 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 ofthe marijuana world. the city has more than 300 stores, called dispensaries, outnumberingpharmacies, liquor stores, public schools
and even starbucks. in colorado, recreationalpot has a hard time competing with medical marijuana, which has been legal since 2000and whose tax rate is 78% lower.â estimated pot sales are 55 tons of medical pot and 18.4tons of recreational pot. the use among teens has not increased with the legalization ofrecreational 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 bannedmarijuana a century ago. in the u.s., a sentence of life in prisonwithout 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 rapidlyoutpacing 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 marijuanause. smoking up could be a very different experiencefor 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' painkillingqualities, but they were also more likely to develop a tolerance for the drug, whichcould contribute to negative side effects
and dependence on marijuana. study after study finds that marijuana isless harmful than alcohol and tobacco. the beer and alcohol industries are two of thebiggest 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 potsmoke is chemically very similar to tobacco smoke, heavy pot smokers are at risk for someof 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. anotherhazard: car accidents caused by driving while
high, though the risk is lower than from drunkdriving. a smoker would theoretically have to consume nearly 1,500 pounds of marijuana within aboutfifteen minutes to induce a lethal response. subtitles by the amara.org community