Negative effects of marijuana?!
Question: I had a big arguement with my pothead friend Teddie today at lunch. I innocently said "I don't want to smoke. It will ruin my body." She got offended and threw a fit saying it wasn't bad because it's natural. Natural?? Tobacco is natural. Tell me that walking into a burning forest and breathing the smoke is not bad for you because hey, leaves are NATURAL right?
Everything you put in your body has a consequence. How can putting SMOKE IN YOUR LUNGS not have a negative effect?
Just because it's natural?
Poison berries are natural. Does that mean they won't kill us?
I want to hear your unbiased opinion.
UNBIASED.
Answers: I had a big arguement with my pothead friend Teddie today at lunch. I innocently said "I don't want to smoke. It will ruin my body." She got offended and threw a fit saying it wasn't bad because it's natural. Natural?? Tobacco is natural. Tell me that walking into a burning forest and breathing the smoke is not bad for you because hey, leaves are NATURAL right?
Everything you put in your body has a consequence. How can putting SMOKE IN YOUR LUNGS not have a negative effect?
Just because it's natural?
Poison berries are natural. Does that mean they won't kill us?
I want to hear your unbiased opinion.
UNBIASED.
of course she says it is natural.
just because some things are natural doesn't mean they are safe. like zinc....it's a natural mineral that everyone needs but if they get too much of it, they die.
any smoke you inhale is considered bad for your lungs.
but weed is more dangerous than cigarettes...wanna know why?
1 blunt=5 cigarettes. who knows what drug dealers mix in with their weed that they sell. weed is like alcohol, it is a depressant. so if you had a mental disorder, it would just make you more depressed and you can hallucinate a lot if mixed with alcohol. you CAN get addicted to weed. ive known probaly more than a dozen people who got addicted to it. i'm not sure if you can get physically addicted to it, but mentally you can. has she even wondered why it is ILLEGAL? it's illegal because it has a lot of dangerous side effects. of course stoners do not admit it does, they do not say it affects their intelligence, they say it helps because it is natural. tobacco causes cancer, even though it is "natural" yeah, poison berries are natural but obviously they are poison. drinking excessive amounts of water (even though it is a natural thing found everywhere) you can die from it. some lady died in a contest not too long ago from drinking way too much water. see what the pattern is? weed CAN cause cancer because it has some of the same substances that cigarettes have in it. does she not know smoking KILLS? i know you wanted an unbiased opinion, but come on. it's common sense. i feel like there is only 20% of the teen population, including myself, that knows smoking is harmful. weed is illegal. you can be charged with a crime and go to prison for years.
so yeah, the only people that says it is not harmful are the people who smoke it or have smoked it before.
MarijuanaMarijuana
Usually smoked as a cigarette or joint, or in a pipe or bong, marijuana has appeared in "blunts" in recent years. These are cigars that have been emptied of tobacco and re-filled with marijuana, sometimes in combination with another drug, such as crack. Some users also mix marijuana into foods or use it to brew tea.
The main active chemical in marijuana is THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol). Short-term effects of marijuana use include problems with memory and learning; distorted perception; difficulty in thinking and problem-solving; loss of coordination; and increased heart rate, anxiety, and panic attacks.
Health Hazards
Effects of Marijuana on the Brain. Researchers have found that THC changes the way in which sensory information gets into and is acted on by the hippocampus. This is a component of the brain's limbic system that is crucial for learning, memory, and the integration of sensory experiences with emotions and motivations. Investigations have shown that THC suppresses neurons in the information-processing system of the hippocampus. In addition, researchers have discovered that learned behaviors, which depend on the hippocampus, also deteriorate. Read More>>
Effects on the Lungs. Someone who smokes marijuana regularly may have many of the same respiratory problems that tobacco smokers have. These individuals may have daily cough and phlegm, symptoms of chronic bronchitis, and more frequent chest colds. Continuing to smoke marijuana can lead to abnormal functioning of lung tissue injured or destroyed by marijuana smoke.
Regardless of the THC content, the amount of tar inhaled by marijuana smokers and the level of carbon monoxide absorbed are three to five times greater than among tobacco smokers. This may be due to marijuana users inhaling more deeply and holding the smoke in the lungs.
Effects of Heavy Marijuana Use on Learning and Social Behavior. A study of college students has shown that critical skills related to attention, memory, and learning are impaired among people who use marijuana heavily, even after discontinuing its use for at least 24 hours. Researchers compared 65 "heavy users," who had smoked marijuana a median of 29 of the past 30 days, and 64 "light users," who had smoked a median of 1 of the past 30 days. After a closely monitored 19- to 24-hour period of abstinence from marijuana and other illegal drugs and alcohol, the undergraduates were given several standard tests measuring aspects of attention, memory, and learning. Compared to the light users, heavy marijuana users made more errors and had more difficulty sustaining attention, shifting attention to meet the demands of changes in the environment, and in registering, processing, and using information. The findings suggest that the greater impairment among heavy users is likely due to an alteration of brain activity produced by marijuana.
Longitudinal research on marijuana use among young people below college age indicates those who used have lower achievement than the non-users, more acceptance of deviant behavior, more delinquent behavior and aggression, greater rebelliousness, poorer relationships with parents, and more associations with delinquent and drug-using friends.
Pot was the gateway drug for my son and he died at 21 from a heroin overdose because he needed more and more to get high as the body adapts. I think that is a pretty good reason not to even start. Your body doesn't require it to be healthy, you don't need it to make you successful, and the money you save from buying illicit drugs can be used in so many more productive ways. There used to be a commercial of a young woman and she would say, "My body, my life." Attend your child's funeral someday and watch all the mourning friends and family and feel the utter devastation that you NEVER get over and tell me it's just about you.
Marijuana is known to cause Schizophenia, depression, mood swings etc. Also as the first answer has already stated can lead the user onto other drugs.
the smoke is harmful, the THC is not. there are other ways to deliver THC such as pills or vaporizers
Interesting question, it caught my attention because 'nature is like my religion man'. MHO may be biased then maybe not. In a way the question answers itself.
Saying that though, the answer is neither right nor wrong but I feel it is a philosophical one. and there will be, not one answer but infinite answers. I mean there's a reason for everything and just because the negative side is the one you are seeing it doesn't make it so. Poison berries might have a good use.
Is putting smoke into your lungs natural? There is never a simple answer to anything natural, nature is complex beyond belief. Synthetic is 'man & woman' made and natural is 'god & goddess' made.
http://naturesnexus.org
Marj makes makes you feel really lazy the next day and incredibly irratible and angry. It also diminishes your short term memory, so it you're trying to study or learn something new, forget it. Literally, you'll forget it.
For a saturday night party with friends it has it's place but, any other time the short term benifit of feeling good is outweighed by the cr*ppy feeling the next day.
I agree with your logic that smoking is bad - even with a natural plant. Here are some points...
* Paper burns at about 400 degrees, so obviously not good for the lungs.
* Marijuana can be very resinous, which cannot be good for the lungs either. If she uses a pipe, she should take a good look at it after a few weeks of smoking... its full of stinky, black resin. What is the next step after that pipe? Her mouth, throat, and lungs. If she doesn't use a pipe, looking at the roach ("cigarette butt") will show similar results (just not as much accumulation).
* Any smoking can lead to cardiovascular problems. This is because the solid matter builds up on the inside of our blood vessels.
* Its psychologically addicting. I'm not going to act like it is super-addictive like heroine or cigarettes. But take it from me, 22 years after my first toke I am just now having success in going clean. Its been a huge struggle. Its a habit I wish I never had started in the first place.
* It causes "the munchies" which can lead to weight gain. While young, this doesn't seem to matter as the metabolism will probably keep up. But that could change if she keeps smoking.
* It truly does cause apathy... ya know, laziness. Sometimes it will give you motivation/interest in a given project, but overall the effect is that you get less done and the years will slip past without much to show for it.
* Oh yeah, and it is illegal (but it really shouldn't be).
I used to blaze out till i was catatonic.
than again i used to live in my moms basement
The modem of smoking ANYthing is going to be harmful to your body, simply because burning anything creates carcinogens that can harm your lungs and heart. HOWEVER, this does NOT mean that smoking is the ONLY modem for marijuana use; there is the option of ingestion and also of vaporization (do a yahoo search of the volcano vaporizer for more info), which pose no real health risk to the body in any way.
Marijuana is MUCH less harmful than tobacco cigarettes simply because it does not have the addictive chemical additives that cigarettes typically have.
While I try to be unbiased, I can't deny that I do greatly enjoy marijuana. BUT at the same time, being highly asmathic, I can't say that marijuana bothers me NEARLY as much as commerical tobacco products, as well as "natural" no-additive tobacco does.
Burning anything and inhaling is obviously not that great for you, but it doesn't mean that it's the ONLY modem or method for ingestion.
I would like to mention that while there are no official studies done on this (simply because the U.S. FDA refuses to do offical studies on marijuana), it is certainly believed that marijuana smoke is MUCH less harmful and addictive than commercial tobacco products. As a previous tobacco smoker, I found it MUCH, MUCH more difficult to quit tobacco/nicotine than I did marijuana (which I have only abstained from because I am just too poor to afford such products at the time).