From what I've seen in others it does seem to have a bit of a dependence issue. However what drug doesn't? On the spectrum I would put it as worse than coffee, but not as bad as tobacco or alcohol.
Is marijuana bad for you?
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It depends on the quality used, how much is used, and the usage habits of the user.
Smoking it is still bad for you because you're inhaling burning hot gas and smoke particles. That's never going to be good for you.
There does seem to be a correlation between marijuana use with early death, obesity, heart disease, and chronically low motivation. Whether this is caused by marijuana or not remains uncertain, it could just as well be that marijuana is a common choice of underachievers, and poor school achievement is correlated to low career advancement, ultimately correlating with poorer health. And while I have no first-hand experience with the culture, anecdotally, most of the people I knew who were regular users weren't exactly shining stars, even before they started smoking frequently. It could also be due to the diets of people who use it a lot, since "the munchies" can cause cravings for fatty food.
Then there's always the chance that whatever person grew decided to take some liberties with what he used as fertilizer and pesticide, though that's probably going to be a smaller issue as marijuana becomes legal and, as a result, commercialized and therefore subject to the regulations imposed on other growers.
Even though marijuana doesn't form chemical dependency in the same manner as other drugs, it still has a psychological addiction factor. That can cause problems.
Smoking it is still bad for you because you're inhaling burning hot gas and smoke particles. That's never going to be good for you.
There does seem to be a correlation between marijuana use with early death, obesity, heart disease, and chronically low motivation. Whether this is caused by marijuana or not remains uncertain, it could just as well be that marijuana is a common choice of underachievers, and poor school achievement is correlated to low career advancement, ultimately correlating with poorer health. And while I have no first-hand experience with the culture, anecdotally, most of the people I knew who were regular users weren't exactly shining stars, even before they started smoking frequently. It could also be due to the diets of people who use it a lot, since "the munchies" can cause cravings for fatty food.
Then there's always the chance that whatever person grew decided to take some liberties with what he used as fertilizer and pesticide, though that's probably going to be a smaller issue as marijuana becomes legal and, as a result, commercialized and therefore subject to the regulations imposed on other growers.
Even though marijuana doesn't form chemical dependency in the same manner as other drugs, it still has a psychological addiction factor. That can cause problems.
I would consider merely getting high harmful enough of a short-term effect, but if we're talking permanent damage, how about schizophrenia?
http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/teens-who-smoke-pot-at-risk-for-later-schizophrenia-psychosis-201103071676
Legal concerns aside, my advice would be to say fuck drugs and do something productive.
"Strength of the mind rests in sobriety" -Pythagoras
http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/teens-who-smoke-pot-at-risk-for-later-schizophrenia-psychosis-201103071676
Legal concerns aside, my advice would be to say fuck drugs and do something productive.
"Strength of the mind rests in sobriety" -Pythagoras
A correction to what a lot of people are putting on here: marijuana is not going to give you lung cancer or emphysema in the same way that tobacco does. Those diseases are largely a result of nicotine, which is present in cigarettes but not (usually) in marijuana joints.
Likewise, someone who is a "smoker" usually smokes close to a pack of cigarettes a day (usually 20 cigarettes). Even the most die-hard pot head doesn't smoke 20 joints a day.
That doesn't mean inhaling smoke is good for you, but it's not just the inhalation of smoke that causes lung cancer and emphysema.
Likewise, someone who is a "smoker" usually smokes close to a pack of cigarettes a day (usually 20 cigarettes). Even the most die-hard pot head doesn't smoke 20 joints a day.
That doesn't mean inhaling smoke is good for you, but it's not just the inhalation of smoke that causes lung cancer and emphysema.
Smoking anything is naturally going to be more unhealthy than smoking nothing, but as for whether the drug itself is particularly awful... I dunno, probably not, I spend a lot of time around people who smoke it fairly frequently but the only ones who seem really badly mentally damaged were so beforehand.
That's inaccurate. What causes lung cancer is the TAR (acronym for Total Aerosol Residue, nothing to do with the tar used on roads) in the smoke.Ihateregistering1 said:
PS captcha: slow down! Good idea. You don't want to become addicted.
Is Marijuana bad for you? Well, yes, of course it is. The human body wasn't designed to consume smoke.
Is the ingredient bad for you, or any worse for you than other things that we regularly consume as humans? No idea, the jury's still out. I don't believe it to be the case, however.
Is the ingredient bad for you, or any worse for you than other things that we regularly consume as humans? No idea, the jury's still out. I don't believe it to be the case, however.
To anyone who is interested about learning more about the War on Drugs in America, I highly recommend reading "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander. Or, if you prefer audio-visual media, maybe watch "The House I Live In" (it was on Netflix last time I checked.)
My answer to your question is this: if you look at almost ANYTHING there can be some adverse effects with continued practice. CAN the continued use of marijuana result in some form of injury or disease? Sure. So can running, or driving a car, or a huge list of other things that people do.
My answer to your question is this: if you look at almost ANYTHING there can be some adverse effects with continued practice. CAN the continued use of marijuana result in some form of injury or disease? Sure. So can running, or driving a car, or a huge list of other things that people do.
THC on its own? Well, it is addictive, which along with its actual effects comes with some medical concerns of its own. Overdosing on the stuff can also cause some damage, but nothing near what you see with other drugs (even bloody aspirin can kill you if you take a few dozen pills, THC? damn near impossible to kill yourself with). I'd say it is reasonably safe, purely from a medical perspective, so long as one doesn't go crazy.
As smoked? You get much the same issues as with cigarettes, although to a significantly lesser degree. They contain much of the same crap that kills off tobacco lovers by the truckload. But marijuana users tend to end up being exposed to far less of it. Both because of different smoking habits and due to the fact that there simply is less poisonous material in there to start off with. The net effect is that only the heaviest marijuana smokers are at particular risk, and even then the impact is likely to be minor unless there are other complicating factors.
Frankly, I'm much more concerned about the social impact widespread use of marijuana can have, but no one seems to care about that these days.
As smoked? You get much the same issues as with cigarettes, although to a significantly lesser degree. They contain much of the same crap that kills off tobacco lovers by the truckload. But marijuana users tend to end up being exposed to far less of it. Both because of different smoking habits and due to the fact that there simply is less poisonous material in there to start off with. The net effect is that only the heaviest marijuana smokers are at particular risk, and even then the impact is likely to be minor unless there are other complicating factors.
Frankly, I'm much more concerned about the social impact widespread use of marijuana can have, but no one seems to care about that these days.
"Marijuana smoking can lead to many respiratory symptoms including cough, increased sputum production, and wheeze in a variable proportion of cannabis smokers. It is also linked with pharyngitis, hoarseness,
breathlessness, and exacerbation of bronchial asthma"
"Cannabis concentrates have been shown to cause more cytotoxicity, mutagenicity, and chromosomal damage as
compared to tobacco concentrates. Surprisingly, even though these findings suggest otherwise, cannabis has
not been shown to be associated with lung cancer when adjusted for tobacco smoking as the main confounding factor."
"Many randomized controlled trials have supported that daily oral THC dosing can reduce pain and perceived spasticity in MS patients."
Surender Kashyap, Kartikeya Kashyap, Medical marijuana: A panacea or scourge, Lung India, Vol.1, Issue 2, 2014
So yeah it's not exactly healthy but as a pain killer there are worse side effects.
breathlessness, and exacerbation of bronchial asthma"
"Cannabis concentrates have been shown to cause more cytotoxicity, mutagenicity, and chromosomal damage as
compared to tobacco concentrates. Surprisingly, even though these findings suggest otherwise, cannabis has
not been shown to be associated with lung cancer when adjusted for tobacco smoking as the main confounding factor."
"Many randomized controlled trials have supported that daily oral THC dosing can reduce pain and perceived spasticity in MS patients."
Surender Kashyap, Kartikeya Kashyap, Medical marijuana: A panacea or scourge, Lung India, Vol.1, Issue 2, 2014
So yeah it's not exactly healthy but as a pain killer there are worse side effects.
Depends entierly on how you approach it I'd say. It's not as bad as many people would say, but it's not harmless either.
Some anecdotal "evidence" on how it's bad. My friends brother took his recreational pot smoking and made it into addiction. Within two years my friend noticed a personallity shift that was, frankly, unbearable. His short term memory was effected, he became more "hippie" (preaching about love being more important than money and such, he started using this as an excuse not to work for an income or to do chores) and he started stealing from his parents to afford his addiction. In the end he became such a twat that no one could stand being around him. In short, his addiction made him an asshole even his family rejected.
Some anecdotal "evidence" on how it's not bad. I know plenty of people who smoked pot responsibly and never suffered for it. That's it, and it's all there needs to be.
And of course, there's medical maruijana as well, wich is proven to be good. I'd like to point out though that it is in regulated doses, much more like a nessecity than recreation when it's "real" medical maruijana.
In case I'm too unclear with my point: it's not the drug as much as it is the addiction that is bad. If you can drink responsibly, eat moderatly, shop responsibly, tan moderatly and do all the other addictive things without harming yourself then I think you could be responsible with pot. If you can't... well then there's a reason not to do it right there.
Some anecdotal "evidence" on how it's bad. My friends brother took his recreational pot smoking and made it into addiction. Within two years my friend noticed a personallity shift that was, frankly, unbearable. His short term memory was effected, he became more "hippie" (preaching about love being more important than money and such, he started using this as an excuse not to work for an income or to do chores) and he started stealing from his parents to afford his addiction. In the end he became such a twat that no one could stand being around him. In short, his addiction made him an asshole even his family rejected.
Some anecdotal "evidence" on how it's not bad. I know plenty of people who smoked pot responsibly and never suffered for it. That's it, and it's all there needs to be.
And of course, there's medical maruijana as well, wich is proven to be good. I'd like to point out though that it is in regulated doses, much more like a nessecity than recreation when it's "real" medical maruijana.
In case I'm too unclear with my point: it's not the drug as much as it is the addiction that is bad. If you can drink responsibly, eat moderatly, shop responsibly, tan moderatly and do all the other addictive things without harming yourself then I think you could be responsible with pot. If you can't... well then there's a reason not to do it right there.
ah, wonderful times. It was still worth experimenting, and unlike other (gutless and/or sensible) countries, USA was willing to do so.Kopikatsu said:
At least now we KNOW what the consequences are.
Oh. back to topic. My brother said the mood change depends on person. For his case, it made him depressed or something.
Chemically speaking, as long as you get it from government approved sources, it shouldn't have much pesticides...
I don't like smoking, so I actually don't know what it is like.
NOTE: Evidence anecdotal. Different people experience different effects.
Not "is it bad", but can it be. I've been smoking it ocassionaly[footnote]Once a week at most.[/footnote] for less than a year. I don't get cravings or an urge to keep smoking. Longest I've gone without it since starting is 6 or 7 weeks. I use it around friends or as an absolute last resort to sleep (which I've had problems with for years).
One of my friends, though, has been smoking it for 2 years or so. He doesn't go more than 2 days without having a joint and gets a little annoyed on that day if he runs dry. He's usually over it in 4 or so days.
So, I'd say it can cause dependence, but it's low compared to alcohol and tobacco. It's not as dangerous as those drugs, especially in the short term. Can't say for sure about the long term. The feeling you get from it is great. My favorite thing to do when smoking is to order a pizza and wait 5 or 10 minutes, then smoke. By the time the pizza comes, you'll be high enough for it to taste really good (plus you'll be a bit hungry).
Not "is it bad", but can it be. I've been smoking it ocassionaly[footnote]Once a week at most.[/footnote] for less than a year. I don't get cravings or an urge to keep smoking. Longest I've gone without it since starting is 6 or 7 weeks. I use it around friends or as an absolute last resort to sleep (which I've had problems with for years).
One of my friends, though, has been smoking it for 2 years or so. He doesn't go more than 2 days without having a joint and gets a little annoyed on that day if he runs dry. He's usually over it in 4 or so days.
So, I'd say it can cause dependence, but it's low compared to alcohol and tobacco. It's not as dangerous as those drugs, especially in the short term. Can't say for sure about the long term. The feeling you get from it is great. My favorite thing to do when smoking is to order a pizza and wait 5 or 10 minutes, then smoke. By the time the pizza comes, you'll be high enough for it to taste really good (plus you'll be a bit hungry).
Of course, you're putting smoke and mind altering chemicals into your body. Plus, have you seen a hardcore weed smoker? You know they are a hardcore weed smoker before they tell you, eyes half open, general lethargy etc.
The only thing they have passion for is weed, it's like vegan-ism or religion ... they all try and give you the hard sell about how great it is.
Science is doing the work and will say for certain but I'm pretty much convinced it fucks with you, I'm open to be proved wrong (as I always try to be) but I'm of the opinion you either love weed or you don't give a fuck about it ... unless you're one of those holier than thou types that has to control everybody, you can't do this, gay people can't marry etc.
The only thing they have passion for is weed, it's like vegan-ism or religion ... they all try and give you the hard sell about how great it is.
Science is doing the work and will say for certain but I'm pretty much convinced it fucks with you, I'm open to be proved wrong (as I always try to be) but I'm of the opinion you either love weed or you don't give a fuck about it ... unless you're one of those holier than thou types that has to control everybody, you can't do this, gay people can't marry etc.
I wouldn't know, I've never smoked it. I'm not saying "never say never" but so far the people who've smoked around me haven't made a very strong case for smoking in the first place.
SonCamKu said:
Fucks your Lungs up(it burns at a higher temperature than Tobacco which can literally burn the Lungs - when I stopped smoking it 7 years ago I spent about 3 months literally coughing up little black pieces of Lung/Throat tissue), messes with Short term and Long term memory, and if you smoke it with tobacco (as we tend to do in the UK) then obviously it carries all the same risks as smoking Tobacco does.
That's about it really...
Studies have been done that suggest it can cause Psychosis in people in later life which are often quoted by the anti-marijuana brigade, but IIRC those Studies were done in America in the 90s and early 2000s on people who had smoked in the 60s and 70s - including a large number of Vietnam War Veterans who may have had OTHER reasons for their poor mental state.
Too much of it will lead to addiction. Better not to be drug user. It will ruin and make your life miserable.
I made a post about this before but I did it from my phone and couldn't elaborate so I'll just post my full response now.
I have read heaps of research about marijuana and have come to the conclusion that it can have negative effects on thinking and cognition, reproduction in men and motivation when taken excessively. Let me put emphasis on "excessively" because there are few harms associated with occasional use of the unsullied product. There is some evidence that people who are already predisposed to suffering from psychiatric disorders may have them catalysed or exacerbated but this is a very rare occurrence. Most of the harms with marijuana come from that it is unregulated and peddled by unscrupulous people and often consumed by people who aren't educated how to use it safely.
I believe it is mostly safe if you are older than about 22, using unsullied product and only using it occasionally. I would never use marijuana that is sold by a drug dealer because the people who produce it are often evil and you don't know what is in it.
I hope I'm making sense. I'm sort of out of practice with speaking English
I have read heaps of research about marijuana and have come to the conclusion that it can have negative effects on thinking and cognition, reproduction in men and motivation when taken excessively. Let me put emphasis on "excessively" because there are few harms associated with occasional use of the unsullied product. There is some evidence that people who are already predisposed to suffering from psychiatric disorders may have them catalysed or exacerbated but this is a very rare occurrence. Most of the harms with marijuana come from that it is unregulated and peddled by unscrupulous people and often consumed by people who aren't educated how to use it safely.
I believe it is mostly safe if you are older than about 22, using unsullied product and only using it occasionally. I would never use marijuana that is sold by a drug dealer because the people who produce it are often evil and you don't know what is in it.
I hope I'm making sense. I'm sort of out of practice with speaking English