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Marijuana and the Body

Slide 3 Notes: this is an opportunity to Warm-up demystify how drugs work in the body. Ultimately, when one uses a List all the ways a person can consume marijuana. substance he/she will find the fastest way to get that substance into the bloodstream and into the brain so it can modify brain functioning. In the case or heroin, that means injecting into the blood stream, in the case of alcohol, that means drinking it, in the case of marijuana, that means inhaling the smoke. In any drug (ab)use situation, the blood travels throughout the body and impacts all the organs that the blood feeds; which is every organ in the body.

Slide 4 Notes: putting a THC/CBD product on Here are a few ways that people consume marijuana: the skin is commonly used in medicinal situations as a pain relieving ● Smoking it using a bong, pipe, rolling papers, or dab device salve. ● Inhaling it using a vape pen ● Eating it ● Putting it on the skin

Slide 5 Notes: again, because blood travels Methods of Consumption throughout the body, the substances

● Different methods of consumption can affect the body in that are in the blood with impact the different ways ● Organs, glands, and our nervous system are all endocrine system (glands) and susceptible to the effects of marijuana use, regardless of the method of consumption. organs. ● To understand the different effects of consumption you must look again at the Endocannabinoid System.

Slide 6 Notes: for the purposes of this slide, it Cannabinoid Receptors is not important to distinguish between CB1 and CB2 receptors but CB1 Just as there are cannabinoid receptors in the brain, there are also receptors in the body. This receptors are most commonly the image shows where those body receptors are located. Because of ones that make a user feel high when this, marijuana affects more than just the brain. using marijuana.

Slide 7 Parts of the Body

We are going to discuss the parts of the body and how marijuana affects each system.

Slide 8 Notes: CPOD, bronchitis and airway Lungs constriction are both medical conditions that are caused by heavy When marijuana is smoked, vaped, or dabbed, it affects the lungs by increasing coughing, marijuana use. Incidentally, heavy wheezing, irritation, and lung butter (the stuff that a smoker marijuana users do not get lung hacks up when first waking up or exercising) and can cause long- cancer in rates as high as tobacco term chronic lung problems. users. This is thought to be because of the anti-tumoral effects of the CBD in the marijuana. https://www.webmd.com/lung- cancer/news/20060523/pot-smoking- not-linked-to-lung-cancer

Slide 9 Digestive Notes: some of your students may

When marijuana is smoked, vaped, dabbed, know someone or they themselves or eaten, it can initially decrease any feelings of nausea and vomiting. But long-term may be experiencing Cannabinoid chronic use can cause Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome. Characteristics of the syndrome include: Hyperemesis Syndrome. It is a ● Severe cyclic nausea and vomiting ● Abdominal pain ● Symptoms stopping when marijuana use relatively new diagnosis but one that is stops ● Symptom relief from hot shower or bath getting more and more attention with legalized recreational marijuana. It is important to note that Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome is not limited to edible products. This syndrome is linked to cannabis consumption in any form.

Slide 10 Notes: When marijuana goes through Liver the liver after being eaten, it is broken

When one eats foods with THC, the down into a smaller compound called liver metabolizes the THC, which means it breaks it down into usable 11-hydroxy-THC which can produce a parts and waste products. With marijuana ingestion, the liver is required to process additional more hallucinogenic effect when it chemicals. gets to the brain. https://herb.co/marijuana/news/happe ns-liver-eat-edibles

Slide 11 Notes: because marijuana impacts Heart blood vessels, the heart has to work ● When marijuana is smoked, vaped, dabbed, or eaten, it can increase the harder to push blood around the body. heart rate by 20 to 50 beats per minute, which may lead to an increased risk of heart attack for those with a heart related predisposition. An increase in heart rate can also lead to in increase in anxiety. ● Marijuana consumption can also reduce blood pressure, which could lead to fainting or feeling dizzy.

Slide 12 Salivary glands

There are cannabinoid receptors in the glands responsible for producing saliva. When marijuana is smoked, vaped, dabbed, or eaten, it reduces the functioning of these glands and one might experience a dry mouth.

Slide 13 Notes: marijuana can affect the Physical Appearance ● When marijuana is smoked, vaped, dabbed, or endocrine system and all glands in the eaten, it affects physical appearance: ○ Eyes can be bloodshot (THC causes blood body; thus impacting hormone vessels to expand) ○ Teeth may become yellow (from tar inhalation when smoking) production. ○ One might experience acne (THC can cause hormonal imbalances that can contribute to acne) ○ Marijuana can also inhibit testosterone and increase estrogen potentially causing a condition called Gynecomastia which can cause enlarged breast tissue in males.

Slide 14 Notes: this is a short, 50 second Watch how marijuana use can affect video. some of the physical systems we just discussed.

Slide 15 Edibles ● Eating something with marijuana can have a different effect than smoking it. ● It can take longer to feel the effects of the marijuana that has been eaten. ● Marijuana is metabolized differently in the liver and can potentially create a more hallucinogenic effect. ● Watch what happens in the body when a person EATS a product with marijuana in it?

Slide 16 Notes: this video of how marijuana Edibles affects the hypothalamus is one

● Why do people get hungrier when they use marijuana? example of how marijuana impacts ● How might this side effect of using marijuana impact one’s physical health? parts of the brain with a heavy ● Watch this short video on how marijuana affects the hypothalamus. concentration of cannabinoid receptors.

Slide 17 Notes: When plant material is burned Diving deeper into marijuana’s impact on the lungs it goes through a combustion process. This combustion process releases When one smokes or vapes marijuana, the respiratory system is one of the most affected systems in the body. ● Your lungs are the filters for your body. They take in air that you breathe gasses and particulate into the air along with everything in it and filter out the bad stuff to make oxygen available for your blood. regardless of what plant material ● If you inhale smoke from tobacco, marijuana, or other substances, your lungs must filter out the extra stuff that you have breathed in. ● Cannabis smoke is similar to tobacco smoke in that it contains very small (pine, tobacco, marijuana, etc.…) is particles mixed into gas (vapor). Toxic gases such as carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, and nitrosamines are present in similar concentrations in burned. both tobacco smoke and marijuana smoke.

Slide 18 Notes: often people think that Diving deeper into marijuana’s impact because marijuana does not have on the lungs pesticides or added chemicals in it that

● Any time one burns and smokes plant material (marijuana, tobacco, etc.), the combustion process releases several harmful chemical gases, regardless of it is better to smoke. This doesn’t how “natural” the plant is. When inhaled, these chemicals enter the lungs and are absorbed by the blood stream. typically matter because when ● Have you ever wondered exactly what chemicals are inhaled with tobacco or marijuana smoke? Following is a list of a few of the chemicals in each. anything is burned, it will let off a bunch of gas simply by the combustion process as seen on the next slide.

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Slide 20 Notes: we use pine tar because you Glove Activity can’t get “marijuana tar”. Pine tar is has the same sticky feel as tobacco ● What goes into the lungs when smoke is inhaled? Let’s see! tar and marijuana tar. Directions for ● We are going to do an activity using Pine Tar and Acetone (two of the chemicals produced by smoking this activity are in the print outs in the marijuana) “teacher training and resources” section of the course.

Slide 21 Notes: ask kids to think about a wood Tar burning fireplace. Typically, on the

When one smokes tobacco or inside of the fire place, there is a marijuana, in addition to inhaling gases, tar particles are also bunch of black tar that dirties up the inhaled. Any time plant matter is burned, it leaves behind a tar residue that coats the smoking glass. This is the same thing smoking device and the lungs. does to the lungs.

Slide 22 Notes: ask kids if they think that the Tar tar stops at the end of the smoking ● The inside of the lungs become coated with tar when marijuana is smoked, devise or if it continues to go into the similar to the glass in this bong. ● In fact, because most smoking devices lack a filter and it is common to hold mouth, airway and lungs. Of course it the smoke in the lungs for extended lengths of time, smoking marijuana hits does! the lungs with about four times the amount of tar than smoking a cigarette does.

Slide 23 Notes: this section can include any What About Vaping? form of vaping including using a ● Isn’t vaping safer? Not so fast… hookah pipe, vaping flavored oil, using ● Using a vaporizer to inhale THC (or, in the case of e- cigarettes, nicotine) also introduces chemicals into the an ecig, or a vaporizer with THC. lungs. ● Typically, no combustion process happens when one uses a vaporizer, but the heating of the marijuana and the propylene glycol releases chemicals into the inhaled air.

Slide 24 Notes: some vaporizer products use What About Vaping? vegetable glycerin rather than

● The substances that are heated in a vaporizer are the marijuana propylene glycerol. Either way, that is substance along propylene glycol. ● Propylene glycol is a chemical that the substance that gets the oil to the is used to create artificial smoke or fog for fire-fighting training and in lungs and then allows the user to theatrical productions. Inhaling propylene glycol may affect the exhale a substance that looks like health of the airways and lungs. smoke but is actually the chemical vapor.

Slide 25 Volatile Organic Compounds Notes: research does not know the VOCs health impacts of inhaling VOCs or oils ● Propylene Glycol belongs to a class of chemicals known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs are considered to be likely cancer into the lungs. Anytime one causing compounds. ● VOCs are released when the liquid in a vape pen is heated to the point that it becomes vapor. introduces a chemical into the lungs, ● This is also true of the fruit flavored additives and vegetable glycerin often found in vaping products, including non-nicotine products such as Juul Pods. there is going to be an impact on the health of the lungs. See the following article for information on “popcorn lung” https://www.webmd.com/lung/popcorn -lung#1

Slide 26 Volatile Organic Compounds VOCs ● When one uses an e-cig or a vape pen to inhale nicotine, THC or fruit flavors, he or she is inhaling VOCs into the body. ● A 2018 study released by the American Academy of Pediatrics determined that urine tests of teens who vaped showed elevated levels of FIVE different toxins in their bodies when compared to the urine tests of teens who did not vape.

Slide 27 Exit Ticket

How is inhaling marijuana similar to inhaling tobacco?

Slide 28 Exit Ticket

In both cases, you are inhaling combusted plant material that contains several harmful chemicals such as acetone, ammonia, and tar.