A common plant (Cannabis sativa), its chief 2 psychoactive ingrediant is delta 3 9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. The amount of 4 THC in the marijuana cigarette (joint) primarily 5 determines its psychoactive potencial. 6 Most users experience an increase in heart rate, 7 reddening of the eyes, and dryness in the mouth 8 and throat. Studies indicate the drug temporarily 9 impairs short-term memory, alters sense of time, 10 and reduces the ability to perform tasks requiring 11 concentration, swift reactions, and coordination. 12 Many feel that their hearing, vision, and skin 13 sensitivity are enhanced by the drug, but these 14 reports have not been objectively confirmed by 15 research. Feelings of euphoria, relaxation, altered 16 sense of body image, and bouts of exaggerated 17 laughter are also commonly reported. 18 Scientists believe marijuana can be particularly 19 harmful to lungs because users typically inhale the 20 filtered smoke deeply and hold it in their lungs for 21 prolonged periods of time. Marijuana smoke has 22 been found to have more cancer-causing agents 23 than are found in cigarette smoke. Because 24 marijuana use increases heart rate as much as 50% 25 and brings on chest pains in people who have a 26 poor blood supply to the heart (and more rapidly 27 than tobacco smoke does), doctors believe people 28 with heart conditions or who are at high risk for 29 heart ailments, should not use marijuana. Findings 30 also suggest that regular use may reduce fertility in 31 women and that men with marginal fertility or 32 endocrine functioning should avoid marijuana use 33 and that it is especially harmful during 34 adolescence, a period of rapid physical and sexual 35 development. 36 Research is limited, but scientists believe 37 marijuana which crosses the placential barrier, may 38 have a toxic effect on embryos and fetuses. 39 Tolerance to marijuana, the need to take more and 40 more of the drug over time to get the original 41 effect, has been proven in humans and animals. 42 Physical dependence has been demonstrated in 43 research subjects who ingested an amount equal to 44 smoking 10 to 20 joints a day. When the drug was 45 discontinued, subjects experienced withdrawal 46 symptoms- irritability, sleep disturbances, loss of 47 symptoms- irritability, sleep disturbances, loss of 48 Most commonly reported immediate adverse 49 reaction to marijuana use is the "acute panic 50 anxiety reaction," usually described as an 51 exaggeration of normal marijuana effects in which 52 intense fears of losing control and going crazy 53 accompany severe anxiety. The symptoms often 54 disappear in a few hours when the acute drug 55 effects have worn off. Although the United States in the 1800's didn't 2 seem like a good place to present Shakespearean 3 drama, it was. Americans weren't well-educated 4 and, compared to Europe, the U.S. was a wild 5 country with uncomfortable accomodations and 6 primitive transportation. But famous European 7 actors who crossed the Atlantic with their 8 productions found that in the cities, small towns, 9 and even mining camps of the United States, there 10 was plenty of money to be made on classical 11 drama. 12 In order to earn that money, however, actors had to 13 do much more than just memorize their lines and 14 look handsome on the stage. They had to be 15 managers of their own theater companies. Edwin 16 Booth, one of the greatest Shakespearean actors of 17 his day, chose the plays his group performed, 18 organized the players, and took charge of 19 rehearsals. He also took care of business, and that 20 usually meant making the complicated 21 arrangements for taking a company "on the road." 22 The road was any place outside New York City 23 that had enough residents to fill a theater. A theater 24 was any place that held a group of people 25 willing to pay to see a live performance. So plays 26 were put on just about anywhere, including the 27 general store. The audience, which was usually 28 starved for contact with the outside world, often 29 had a very dramatic reaction to the plays. More 30 than once the actor who was unfortunate enough 31 to be playing the villain was attacked while on 32 stage for his evil ways. But despite all the 33 problems, a good company could earn thousands 34 of dollars for each week on the road, and that was 35 reward enough for the difficulties of the job. 36 Perhaps the greatest American tour of all time was 37 Sarah Bernhardt's farewell tour in 1916. By then 38 she was successful and wealthy, and the most 39 famous actress alive. Although she was 71 years 40 old, she had more energy than people half her age. 41 She toured for eighteen months, giving 266 42 performances -some in town halls, some in broken43 down theaters, some in a borrowed tent, and even 44 once in a skating rink-. She won fans 45 wherever she went. The tour earned over a million 46 dollars, of which she received $305,000 in profit. 47 The great actress was also quite a moneymaker. Perhaps inevitably, the longing to prove that 2 mankind is not alone in the universe came to focus 3 most intensely upon a world that seemed 4 remarkably Earth like: Mars. Although its year is 5 nearly twice as long as Earth's, Mars's twenty-four6 and-a half-hour day seems to mimic its terrestrial 7 counterpart. Dark regions on the globe wax and 8 wane seasonally, evoking oceans, continents, and 9 vegetation; the Martian polar ice 10 caps advance and retreat before the Sun. 11 A century or so ago, the conviction that Mars 12 sustains life was fueled by such tantalizing views 13 through the telescope. At its most distant from 14 Earth, Mars is merely a featureless orange disk not 15 much larger than a star. But every 780 days, when 16 Mars and Earth line up together on the same side 17 of the Sun, the Red Planet can acquire a distinctive 18 personality. This is especially true on the rare 19 occasions, every fifteen to nineteen years, when 20 Mars reaches opposition at the same time that it 21 reaches perihelion, the point in its elliptical orbit 22 where it is closest to the Sun. During these 23 perihelic oppositions, Mars swings within 35 24 million miles of Earth, and astronomers rush to 25 their instruments for an observational feast. 26 The perihelic opposition of 1877 was just such a 27 banquet for Giovanni Schiaparelli, an 28 accomplished astronomer. Working at the eyepiece 29 of his telescope, Schiaparelli would focus 30 on one feature of the planet at a time, looking 31 away to make a meticulous drawing, then returning 32 to the eyepiece. Gradually, an astonishing pattern 33 emerged: Mars was covered by a planet-spanning 34 network of geometrically 35 ordered lines. He was not the first to see lines on 36 the Martian surface or to see the hand of 37 intelligence in their neat geometry. But 38 Schiaparelli's report staggered the imagination. He 39 called the lines canali, Italian for "channels," or 40 canals. In a time when the Suez Canal was still 41 cause for wonder, the public inevitably took canali 42 to mean canals and began to imagine beings 43 capable of digging them.
