Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1694499886183.pdf (Antigua and Barbuda)
1.

Marijuana Use What is Marijuana?

How is it used?

• Smoked in hand-rolled cigarettes (joints) or in pipes or water pipes (bongs) • In vaporizers • Consumed in food (as edibles) or in tea • It consists of dried leaves, flowers, stems and sees originating from the Cannabis Sativa or Cannabis Indica plant.

• Contains the psychotropic chemical Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) What happens when you smoke marijuana?

• Has mined altering compounds that affect brain and body.
• When a person smokes marijuana, THC quickly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream.

The blood carries the chemical to the brain and other organs throughout the body.

• Marijuana over activates brain cell reports causing a “high”.
Short term effects Feeling high Impaired body movement • • • Altered sense • • • Hallucinations • Altered sense of time • Difficulty with thinking and problem Impaired memory Changes in mood solving Breathing problems Increased heart rate Temporary paranoia • • • Long term effects • Affects brain development • Use of drug as teenager may: o Impair thinking, memory and learning functions o Affect how the brain builds connections between area necessary for these functions Be cautious!
Reported benefits of medical marijuana • Relief of insomnia • Relief of anxiety • Relief of pain • Muscle relaxant • Manage nausea • Weight loss Decriminalization The Cannabis Act 2018 • In Antigua and Barbuda marijuana is decriminalized up to 15g.

• The head of the household is allowed to cultivate up to four plants.

• The drug is still illegal.

• The sale, transfer and trafficking of the drug are liable for a fine, imprisonment or both.
• Permits use of marijuana for certain religious practices by documented members of registered religious organizations.

• Permits use of marijuana for medicinal and scientific use.

ondcp@candw.ag Camp Blizzard, St. Georges, Antigua | 562-3255(6)