Dave's not here, man

So what better way to start this off than talking about the drug I have the most experience with: Marijuana (aka: Cannabis).
Now I'm gonna try and keep this as simple as possible, but there are gonna be times I'm gonna throw some big words at you. I'll try to explain said words as best as possible, but no promises.

Now first: What is Marijuana?
Marijuana is the herbal form of the Cannabis plant. Cannabis is a naturally occurring plant that contains the psychoactive compound  delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC for short.

a little digression:
What does Psychoactive mean? A psychoactive drug is any substance that crosses the "blood-brain barrier." This means that the substance acts on the central nervous system to change your perception, mood, cognition, behavior, and consciousness. Sound like a lot? Don't worry, the effects of marijuana are pretty mild compared to other substances.

So What happens when you smoke weed? Well, at a biological level...a lot. I could explain it all to you, but then we would be here for a good long time. Plus, all of this information is available on wikipedia, so I'm going to try and keep this on a very basic level.
The first thing you would notice is a strange sensation in your head, comparable to the way you feel after you take an opiate pain killer such as oxycodone. This is the THC attaching to the Cannabinoid  receptors in your brain. This is usually accompanied by feelings of relaxation, a sense of well-being, and a greater sense of humor. Yes, this is why stoners are almost always laughing. It's a wonderful feeling that is just great for when you need to de-stress from a long, hard day of living.
Some other feelings you may notice is a greater appreciation for music and art. If I had a quarter for every new artist or band I got into when I was high, I could quite literally go into retirement. Even music I never thought I would listen to, I found myself jamming to it and downloading it the next day.

So what about your thought process? Does smoking weed impair your ability to problem solve and think rationally? Absolutely not! When you're high, your brain feels almost hard-wired to over-analyze whatever you're focused on. You'll start to think in abstract ways and maybe even philosophize a bit. Your critical thinking ability goes through the roof, in fact, it really helped me when I was a Computer Science major at Rowan.

Now all of these positive effects can have their downside. One of the most common problems someone smoking weed will face is anxiety, known colloquially as "Sketching". The tendency to over-analyze everything can lead a person to panic and be filled with fear. For instance, if its your first time trying weed, some common thoughts would be:
"oh man what if  my parents find out?" "It's gonna make my clothes smell" "what If I get pulled over? I'm gonna go to jail" etc. These, however, are all affected by what environment a person is in. If a person is in a familiar place, with a guarantee that nothing will go wrong, chances are they will not have any kind of thoughts such as these. Conversely, if a person is in a really sketchy neighborhood, then odds are they might get a bit paranoid.

Along with these psychoactive effects, a person will also experience some body effects of the high. These include muscle relaxation, dry mouth (aka: Cotton Mouth), hunger ("The Munchies"), red eyes, an increased heart rate, and a sensation of hot or cold.

Now all of these effects are dependent on what type of weed a person is smoking. Much of the weed people buy off the street are cross-strains of the Cannabis Sativa plant, and the Cannabis Indica plant.
The sativa plant is commonly associated with whats called a "Head High." That means a person will exhibit more of the psychoactive effects of Marijuana. To put it simply, you would feel very active and very loopy. This is my personal favorite of the two, I'll explain why after this.

A person smoking weed containing a large portion of the indica plant would experience a "body high." This means that you would feel very lethargic and lazy. I usually don't enjoy this simply because I, more often than never, fall asleep after. It's great if you have been working out and you're body is aching, but if you're smoking socially, its not the best way to go.

jeez...did I type all that? this is a lot longer than I had anticipated...I'm gonna try and wrap this up with some Fact vs Myth action. Now keep in mind, I'm not re-feeding you some information I got off of a website. Everything in here can be attributed to the lengthy experience I have with weed. However for this section, I'm gonna pull some stats out of the internet simply to back up my claims.
So:
Is marijuana addictive?
The short answer: No.
The long answer: No, but some people will mistake a general love of getting high with addiction. I smoke almost every day, not because if I don't get my fix I start to freak out. But because I love getting high. There have been periods where I have kicked the habit completely and not had any kind of withdraw effects. Don't let anyone tell you that BS "You're addicted after one hit" or something like that.

Is Marijuana dangerous?
No. In fact, Marijuana is one of the least harmful drugs you can put in your body, being outranked by things such as alcohol and tobacco. (fancy chart to show you)

Is Marijuana a gateway drug?
Well...It really depends on who you are, who you're friends with and what they do in there free time. Now, if you're friends with people who only smoke weed, chances are you won't run around trying every kind of drug there is. However, it will make you more open to the drugs that are out there. In the end, it all comes down to the kind of person you are. If you really don't  want to try anything different, then you wont! It's all about willpower.

Can I drive while high?
Believe it or not, I get asked this question a lot. And to be completely honest; Yes, you can drive pretty well while high. I'm not saying you SHOULD, I'm just saying you CAN. Being high is a lot different than being drunk. In fact, driving high is one of the easiest things to do. It makes the trip go by faster, and its just really relaxing. But again, if you can avoid driving high, do it. (that's my disclaimer for this post)

That's all I can really think of for now. Like I said in the last post, if you have ANY questions, feel free to post and I'll answer them as best as I can.