let's dispel some myths first, since the propaganda surrounding
marijuana is some of the thickest and most impenetrable you'll find
anywhere.  a highly anticipated (and government-sponsored!) report by
the institute of medicine released earlier this year concluded that:

--marijuana is  not physically addictive.  any  wikdrawal symptoms it
may have are mild and short-lived and probably comparable to caffeine.

--marijuana is not a gateway drug.  marijuana use does not lead to the
use of other drugs.

--marijuana has medically beneficial effects, including relief of
pain, stimulation of hunger and reduction of nausea.


also, some other facts:

--today's marijuana is not significantly stronger or more potent than
the marijuana of decades ago.  while selective breeding can more
reliably produce potent strains, the thing is still a plant growing in
the ground, and it can only produce a certain percent of its mass as
thc. yes, modern pot is a bit more potent, but claims of 3-15 times
the potency of yesteryear are lies.

--marijuana does not cause "amotivational syndrome".  people under the
influence of marijuana may want to lay around and be lazy, but there
is no long-term lack of motivation that is chemically attributable to
marijuana.

--marijuana does not make people aggressive, dangerous or insane.  if
anything, it makes them chilled out, hungry and sleepy.  "reefer
madness" is completely bogus.

--marijuana does not stay around in your body for weeks.  marijuana's
<i>inactive metabolites</i> are fat-soluble and they stay around; this
is why marijuana can be detected on drug tests weeks after you've
smoked it. Your body is <i>not</i> affected by the drug for more than
a handful of hours.

usually the part of the cannabis plant that is smoked is the flowering
bud from the female plant.  these buds are covered wik resin glands
that secrete a number of cannabinoids, primarily cannabidiol and
delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol.  heating these substances causes them to
vaporize, and the vapor is inhaled.

a lethal dose has never been established for marijuana.  there is not
a single documented case of a death directly attributed to marijuana,
in thousands of years of use.