双语新闻：大麻的危险性低于酒精与烟草？

2014-08-25 17:52:31来源：可可英语

　　The very heaviest users can experience symptoms of bronchitis, such as wheezing andcoughing, but moderate smoking poses little risk. A 2012 study found that smoking a joint aday for seven years was not associated with adverse effects on pulmonary function. Expertssay that marijuana increases the heart rate and the volume of blood pumped by the heart, butthat poses a risk mostly to older users who already have cardiac or other health problems.

　　最为频繁的大麻使用者会有支气管炎的症状，比如气喘和咳嗽，但一般用量的使用者风险很小。一项2012年的研究表明，连续七年每日吸一支大麻卷烟不会引起肺功能损害。专家说大麻会加快心率，以及心脏的供血量，但这主要是对已经患有心脏病和其他健康问题的老年使用者有风险。

　　How Addictive Is Marijuana?

　　大麻的成瘾性有多高?

　　Marijuana isn’t addictive in the same sense as heroin, from which withdrawal is an agonizing,physical ordeal. But it can interact with pleasure centers in the brain and can create a strongsense of psychological dependence that addiction experts say can be very difficult to break.Heavy users may find they need to take larger and larger doses to get the effects they want.When they try to stop, some get withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, sleepingdifficulties and anxiety that are usually described as relatively mild.

　　大麻的成瘾性与海洛因完全不能相提并论。戒除海洛因非常痛苦，是对身体的严峻考验。但是大麻可以与大脑中的快乐神经中枢互动，产生强烈的精神依赖，药物成瘾专家说这种联系很难消除。重度使用者可能会需要更大的剂量，才能达到自己想要的效果。想要停止使用时，会出现易怒、睡眠障碍和焦虑等戒断症状，这些症状通常被描述为相对轻微。

　　The American Society of Addiction Medicine, the largest association of physicians specializing inaddiction, issued a white paper in 2012 opposing legalization because "marijuana is not a safeand harmless substance" and marijuana addiction "is a significant health problem."

　　美国成瘾药物协会是最大的专攻成瘾药物的医生组织，2012年，它发表了一份白皮书，反对大麻合法化，因为“大麻不是一种安全无害的物品”，而且大麻成瘾“是严重的健康问题”。

　　Nonetheless, that health problem is far less significant than for other substances, legal andillegal. The Institute of Medicine, the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences, said in a1999 study that 32 percent of tobacco users become dependent, as do 23 percent of heroinusers, 17 percent of cocaine users, and 15 percent of alcohol drinkers. But only 9 percent ofmarijuana users develop a dependence.

　　不管怎样，这种健康问题远比其他合法或不合法物品所带来的健康问题要轻微得多。药学研究中心是国家科学院的健康分部，它在1999年的一份研究报告中说，32%的吸烟者会上瘾，23%的海洛因使用者会上瘾，17%的可卡因使用者会上瘾，15%的饮酒者会上瘾，但只有9%的大麻使用者会上瘾。

　　"Although few marijuana users develop dependence, some do," according to the study. "Butthey appear to be less likely to do so than users of other drugs (including alcohol andnicotine), and marijuana dependence appears to be less severe than dependence on otherdrugs."

　　“大麻上瘾者人数很少，但确实有人会上瘾，”这项研究说，“但是和使用其他药品(包括酒精与尼古丁)相比，大麻的成瘾率很低。”

　　There’s no need to ban a substance that has less than a third of the addictive potential ofcigarettes, but state governments can discourage heavy use through taxes and educationcampaigns and help provide treatment for those who wish to quit.

　　完全没有必要禁止一种成瘾率不到香烟1/3的东西，但各州政府可以通过征收重税和教育来防止人们大量使用大麻，并对需要戒断的人提供治疗。

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