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Plainsman1963

Worse than poison
NDLEA dissects marijuana for school kids
07-04-06 | Sunnewsonline.com | JOE EFFIONG


Indian hemp became a specimen of study recently in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital. The study attracted hundreds of students, teachers, pharmacists, bureaucrats and who-is-who in Akwa Ibom State, during celebration of the United Nations International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

Probably relying on the theme of the celebration, Children and Drugs, and more so, on the attached slogan "Drugs are not Child’s Play", the state command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) had ensured that secondary school students and other youth organizations filled the governor’s office annex – venue of the celebrations, where Mrs. Dora Ebong, a pharmacist, brought a live Indian hemp plant not only to show to those who never saw the colour and shape of the leaves before, but also to tell everybody that the seemingly innocuous plant was more dangerous than poison.

Ebong said though marijuana, "a green, brown or gray moisture of dried, shredded leaves, stems, seed and flowers" might have been given more than 200 names, such as "pot, herb, weed, grass, boom, Mary Jane, ganja, all forms of it are mind-altering. In other words, they change how the brain works because they contain delta-9-tetralydorcannobinol, otherwise abbreviated as –THC - the main active chemical in marijuana".

Why young people use marijuana
The reasons are legion, according to Ebong. But some are peer pressure, imitating their parents or family members, imitating media characters, attempts to escape from problems at home, school or with friends. She warned, however: "No matter how many shirts and caps you see printed with marijuana leaf, or how many groups sing about it, remember this: ‘you don’t have to use marijuana just because you think everybody else is doing it.’ Most teenagers do not use marijuana".

Effects
Ebong listed some short-term effects of the drug as loss of memory, distorted perception and increased heart rate. "These effects are even greater when other drugs are mixed with the marijuana and users do not always know what drugs are given to them.” For the long-term effect, she said the THC might play a role in cancer and in respiratory and immune system problem.

"The drug can make you mess up in school, in sports or clubs, or with friends. If you’re high on marijuana, you are more likely to make mistake that could embarrass or even hurt you. If you use marijuana much, you could start to lose interest in how you look and how you’re getting along with schoolwork. Also, since marijuana can affect judgment and decision making, its use can lead to risky sexual behaviour, resulting in exposure to sexually transmitted diseases like HIV, the virus that causes AIDS"
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Knowing who takes marijuana
Ebong said, "If someone is high on marijuana, he or she might seem dizzy and have trouble walking, seem silly and giggly for no reason, have very red bloodshot eyes and have a hard time remembering things that just happened".

No cure
She said that marijuana addiction is like AIDS, without direct cure for those who may want to quit the drug. Rather, treatment programmes only focus on counselling and group support systems.
The state commander of the NDLEA, Mrs. Florence Dan-Archibong, in her welcome address, said, "Drug abuse is the problem for the youths globally nowadays. Many Nigerian adolescents are known by parents, teachers and neighbours to have problems with drugs.”

She attributed the decadence to parental failure, which might take the form of deprivation, neglect, overprotection or possessiveness, abuse, maltreatment or over-control.
"Children attracted to drugs are those who are bored, unhappy, cannot tolerate stress and frustration. The drug fits their emotional discontentment and removes the necessity to plan, to struggle and to endure. Parents have responsibilities which they cannot delegate to the school, the court or the psychotherapist".
Teachers should be role models

Dan- Archibong said, since teachers are the most influential people in students’ lives, they should try to play a drug-free role in moulding the students’ lives. "In many cases, teachers become the sounding board when the young people are having difficulties at home, with peers, or with life in general.

To bring in spirituality to the celebration, the NDLEA boss said children of God could not reconcile Christ with drugs since drug abuse is the most colossal and ruinous social sin that affects mankind. "Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray that this mighty scourge may speedily pass away?"

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"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards." - Claire Wolfe

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Buzzby

Apparently, Nigeria has lots of bongs but little knowledge of the truth about cannabis.

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Frojoe

Has it ever killed someone, no.
Not where I live, most aren't daily users but a good number still use, and most have at some point.
Um, What? that seems like one of the most streched comparisons I'v ever heard. Plus what are they trying to cure, I don't think marijuana is a disease, it seems like a plant.
Sometimes, but many are perfectly happy and just like the feeling.

Hall1bd

Wow is this whole thing laughable, i just read over this pamphlet online just for fun;

www.nida.nih.gov/MarijBroch/Marijteens.html

...and most of what this Ebong lady was saying was word for word straight from this pamphlet, check it out its kinda funny. So pretty much she is just barfing out the same old cliched information that everyone already knows, how groundbreaking, lol.

Like Africa has nothing better to be worried about (ahem.. AIDS)

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"Only Dead Fish Swim With The Stream"

king cola

Marijuana addiction isn't like aids, but marijuana is used by aids and cancer patients and other sick people for medical reasons.

"The drug can make you mess up in school, in sports or clubs, or with friends. If you’re high on marijuana, you are more likely to make mistake that could embarrass or even hurt you. If you use marijuana much, you could start to lose interest in how you look and how you’re getting along with schoolwork. Also, since marijuana can affect judgment and decision making, its use can lead to risky sexual behaviour, resulting in exposure to sexually transmitted diseases like HIV, the virus that causes AIDS"

That's funny, i thought alcohol did all these things, was i wrong? Back when i was in high school a few years ago, sometimes my friends would show up drunk. People get hurt all the time drunk, look at college campus injuries and deaths each year just from alcohol. People get drunk and have sex, they wake up the next day and don't even remember bein with that girl from the night before.

I don't think i need to tell anyone that the people who write this stuff about marijuana are getting their information from what they know about alcohol. I'm not sayin to ban alcohol, i'm just showing that everything they say about pot they are getting from what society knows about drinking.

When alcohol became illegal marijuana became legal, when pot became illegal, alcohol became legal.