The positive and negative effects of marijuana have always been debatable, while there are research studies and claims of the advantages, there are several other findings which showed both short term and long term side effects of taking it on the human body system.
Taking the politics and the marketers out of this, the form of taking weed should be clearly emphasized whenever the dangers and benefits are highlighted.
While there are some benefits when cannabis is taken raw, the risks in smoking weed outweigh any proposed advantage and here today, we tell you the reasons marijuana is bad for you.
Smoking Marijuana (weed) has Psychological Risks
Marijuana can have strong effects on your brain and thinking. Studies have shown that it heightens anxiety and make victims express unnecessary fear.
Mental performance can be impaired after a long time of taking weed.
In fact, some studies revealed that the ability to shift thinking and perform in work optimally is greatly reduced as those who’re on cannabis easily get disturbed and frustrated when they’re multitasked.
Although there are ‘mixed’ reactions as to whether marijuana can really cause damage to the brain, the question is not whether cannabis actually harms the brain or not but how much it interferes with the CNS.
It may also have a significant negative effect in the long run. Many proposed it can cause insanity and this belief is common in African societies.
Weed and psychosis
The long term effects of smoking cannabis are another area of concern and there’s no doubt that smoking weed can increase the risk of suffering from psychosis.
No study has been able to claim psychosis as a result of smoking but many who smoke it later become dependent
The risk of lung cancer
Marijuana contains tar and carcinogenic substances and thereby increases the chance of weed smokers from developing the cancer of the lungs.
It causes damage to the brain
Smoking pot at an early age when the brain’s cognitive domain has not really developed to maturity level can cause permanent damage to the brain compared to adults who can come back to normal after some time after quitting smoking.
Frequent smoking of cannabis exposes the brain to Tetrahydrocannabinol and impairs cognitive performance even after the victim now abstains from it as reported by Nadia Solowij when he studied young marijuana smokers between age 16 and 20.
It affects intelligence
It also has consequences on cognitive flexibility as victims as the victims would not be able to think fast to solve a problem with new methods.
In the study conducted by Ann Gruber in the US, using the Wisconsin card sorting test. There were four cards having different symbols on them
The cards have different patterns on them and assignments were given to the testees (both weed smokers and abstinent) and were asked to assign the gift card.
After several runs, the rules were changed without given notice to the subjects of the study to discover how quickly they notice the changes in the rules.
The result showed that teenagers who smoke marijuana were very poor in detecting these changes when compared to their mates that abstain.
A safer alternative to smoking
Despite the huge campaign against smoking weed, tobacco, and other substances that interfere with the central nervous system, addictive smoking is still very popular.
Like I do tell people, it’s difficult to help a smoker withdrawing from the act without providing an alternative that gives a similar feeling to smoking.
With smoking having great ill effects on the lungs in the long run, snus, with a similar amount of nicotine is safer since you just have to put it under your lips.
Snus is a smokeless tobacco product native to Sweden. It’s a pouch filled with steam pasteurized tobacco.
You take it in your mouth and get the nicotine buzz rather than smoke.
Snus can help you quit smoking while you feel the same ‘highness’ with tobacco or hemp.
However, the dosage is very important. five to eight pouch daily should be ok since it can have side effects on your gum and teeth.