The risks of marijuana

[sarocket13]

Ok, so i started smoking pot about a year ago, and ive been doing it fairly regularly, like probably 2-3 times a week. Through the course of the year ive been getting so many mixed messages about the risks of the drugs. obviously most of my friends would say that it doesn't do much to your health, thats all myth, and that there is nothing to worry about. So far I haven't really seem to have been that affected either. Then, on the other hand, internet articles, parents, etc. tell u that its a bad things and that there are so many risks such as lung problems, infertility, paranoia, possible brain damage


whatre ur guys opinion on this matter, do u think it is risky but ur doing it anyways cause its fun, or is it actually relatively safe?

Any feedback would be appreciated

[13Lack]

Thats a tough one bro....but yes there are negative health risks that are related to marijuana. Lighting anything on fire and inhaling it isn't good for you. However it also helps medical conditions, emotional status and overall quality of life.

I smoke marijuana because it makes me relaxed, happy, and opens my mind to alot of new things. My attitude towards that as well as to drugs in general is that used in moderation drugs can have a powerful and positive impact on your life and if marijuana is doing that for you, i think having a happier life but shorter is more important than an extended but regular or depressing one. I want to LIVE life not just go through the motions of everyday life. Smoking marijuana isn't all good but it isn't all bad either. And in my case the positives outweigh the negatives (other than the illegality of it).

So its your decision on how you would like to live your life. If you maintain your health and exercise, monitor your marijuana use, and do what you can to prevent getting caught do what your heart desires. Live life man...dont go through the motions. Be yourself and be happy.


Happy Tokin' or whatever you decide to do.

[MeJCaLxZ]

dont worry tell all them misled people to find one actualy non biased document where cannabis is bad.
hell check this out,

FOXNews.com - Swiss Study Finds Marijuana Use Alone May Benefit Some Teens, U.S. Doctor Disagrees - Health News | Current Health News | Medical News (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,308258,00.html)

[ToDrunkToFish]

I played football every Sunday. And let me tell you I only smoke Bud, and for about the past 4 years now everyday. And boy do I get winded. Also after a long week of smoking my brain could take a rest. I forget alot of shit easy now. Thats kinda it.

[Storm Crow]

I am employed and I believe that most folks find me intelligent and friendly. So right there a lot of the myths are shot down. Now start reading!
Switzerland: Occasional Marijuana Use 'Does Not Harm Teens': - TreatingYourself.COM Online Community (http://www.treatingyourself.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=24846)

Switzerland: Positive Effects Found For Pot Users - TreatingYourself.COM Online Community (http://www.treatingyourself.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=24845)

Women's Guide to the UofC
Women's Guide to the UofC (http://wguide.uchicago.edu/9substance.html)

Cannabis Basics
Erowid Cannabis Vault: Basics (http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_basics.shtml)

10 Things Every Parent, Teenager & Teacher Should Know About Marijuana (4th Q)
Erowid Psychoactive Vaults (http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_flyer1.shtml)

Marijuana Myths
Erowid Cannabis Vault : Exposing Marijuana Myths (http://www.erowid.org/plants/cannabis/cannabis_myth9.shtml)

Debunking 'Amotivational Syndrome'
US: Web: Column: Debunking 'Amotivational Syndrome' (http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v06/n400/a06.html)

Marijuana Smoking Found Non-Carcinogenic
Medical News: ATS: Marijuana Smoking Found Non-Carcinogenic - in Hematology/Oncology, Lung Cancer from MedPage Today (http://www.medpagetoday.com/HematologyOncology/LungCancer/tb/3393)


Effects of chronic marijuana use on testosterone, luteinizing hormone, follicle stimulating â?¦
University of Iowa Anesthesia Publications (http://www.anesth.uiowa.edu/readabstract.asp?PMID=1935564)

Findings of a longitudinal study of effects on IQ
Current and former marijuana use: preliminary findings of a longitudinal study of effects on IQ in young adults -- Fried et al. 166 (7): 887 -- Canadian Medical Association Journal (http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/166/7/887)

Heavy cannabis use without long-term effect on global intelligence
IACM-Bulletin (http://www.cannabis-med.org/english/bulletin/ww_en_db_cannabis_artikel.php?id=115#2)

Marijuana use and mortality.
Marijuana use and mortality. (http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1380837)

Marijuana Smoking Doesn't Lead to Higher Death Rate
CCRMG (http://ccrmg.org/journal/03sum/kaiser.html)

How deadly is marijuana?
How deadly is marijuana? (http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/4426.php)



Now if you REALLY want an education- click the link in my sig! - Granny:hippy:

[THClord]

I feel that smoking has made me a much better person.

[GrinS]

people who say it makes them forget stuff cause they have been smoking for so long, probley just dont relize they forgot shit and lost stuff all the time, long before they even heard of cannabis.

[papa roach]

no one should let yu do what they think is good for them

[LIP]

In my opinion weed is harmless, or as good as harmless when compared to almost everything else in this world. Anyone who says stright out its bad for you is a moron. Infact, anyone who says that is worse than a moron, i just cant explain it on here.

[chroniclesofchronic2]

Thats a tough one bro....but yes there are negative health risks that are related to marijuana. Lighting anything on fire and inhaling it isn't good for you. However it also helps medical conditions, emotional status and overall quality of life.

I smoke marijuana because it makes me relaxed, happy, and opens my mind to alot of new things. My attitude towards that as well as to drugs in general is that used in moderation drugs can have a powerful and positive impact on your life and if marijuana is doing that for you, i think having a happier life but shorter is more important than an extended but regular or depressing one. I want to LIVE life not just go through the motions of everyday life. Smoking marijuana isn't all good but it isn't all bad either. And in my case the positives outweigh the negatives (other than the illegality of it).

So its your decision on how you would like to live your life. If you maintain your health and exercise, monitor your marijuana use, and do what you can to prevent getting caught do what your heart desires. Live life man...dont go through the motions. Be yourself and be happy.


Happy Tokin' or whatever you decide to do.
that was perfectly stated. very well put

[Nailhead]

I remember back in the day when my mom tried informing me on the dangers of marijuana....now I inform her on it's medical benefits :D Much of the dangers you read about on the internet or hear from anti-pot people are just lies taken from outdated studies. I'd say the biggest danger is from smoking it, but that's what the recipe section is for ;)

[hreskofreight4]

i'm a relatively new toker, i first tired it around may 07. i used to think that weed was a bad thing, because in school and stuff every one tells you that its dangerous and it causes this and that. but after smoking it, i realized that what they say isnt true. i think the only bad thing about weed is smoking it, but hey people smoke cigarettes. i dont smoke too often, maybe a few times a month, and im the same person i was when i started, only i feel like i have some insight and a different perspective in life. i think the way "potheads" are portrayed in media is a little ridiculous. i dont really smoke to get "fucked up", it is kind of a spiritual thing. its easy for the big "important" people to say this and that about weed, but the first time i bought weed and looked at it, i realized it looked like a harmless little plant. its up to you man, if you think it has a negative impact on your life than dont do it, if not then keep tokin :smokin:

[blaze_it]

smoking anything is bad for your cardiovascular system like your lungs and heart. its a psychoactive drug and it DOES change you mentally and can cause anxiety attacks and paranoia. i would say keep smoking and if you run into any problems just quit. nothing lasts forever.

[burnable]

while it's not ideal to inhale any type of smoke into the lungs, there is a key difference between cannabis smoke and tobacco smoke. the nature of tobacco smoke causes the bronchial airways to constrict, making it difficult for the lungs to expunge the unhealthy matter (carcinogens). Whether MJ smoke has more or less carcinogens than tobacco is pretty irrelevant; MJ smoke causes the bronchial airways to DILATE, making it easier for the lungs to cleanse themselves. It expedites the process if you exercise a lot. I haven't perused the links provided by Storm Cow, but i bet there's something in there about how that specific property of cannabis smoke decreases cancer risk and curtails the process by which malignant cancer cells are nourished.

In short, be moderate, smoke only the best, exercise frequently, and let your body be its own gauge of whether what is being imbibed is healthy or not. Some people have a hard time using cannabis and functioning normally, but to others it can be monumentally helpful. :)

[aspasticbull]

how can you know that mj smoke does that? I would like it to be true, but how can you know?

[burnable]

who me? just from reading different articles. I'm sure the links from storm cow include something about it. scientific consesus isn't necessarily fact, but it's somewhat legit

[Agressor1]

There's negative impacts for doing just about anything in our life,
do you think milk is all good for your body?
hah, Marijuana is as common as groceries to me. Dietary needs or not. It's therapeutical, medicinal, spiritual, and i've seen it cure my friend's depression.

There's a risk in everything, it's all about what if you're willing to risk it. And Marijuana seems to give me way more than it takes.

[I Justburn 247]

Some people have a hard time using cannabis and functioning normally, but to others it can be monumentally helpful. :)

yeah I definitely feel like I'm a better person having started smoking

[trainwreck530]

to be 100% honest without exagerating, i smoke everyday ar various times. my lungs are in really good shape and i def dont have any problems with low sperm.

i hike and workout as well but as long as you are active you shouldnt have ANY health problems. yeah smoking anything is bad but marijuana can open up your lungs. i also believe a good ammount of tokers larf around eating crap food they call 'munchies'
:twocents:

[LIP]

how can you know that mj smoke does that? I would like it to be true, but how can you know?

hahahahahahahahahaha! Why dont you try using google. It's not difficult to find out.

[birdgirl73]

Risks depend on the person using the cannabis, Sarocket. And for every link that touts the wonders and absence of dangers from cannabis, there are an equal number of links that advise caution for good reason. You'll notice that the folks here, as you'd expect them to be, are mostly on the advocacy side, but thinking it's all good and completely harmless is just as much of a disservice to cannabis and its users as thinking it's all bad. People with certain medical conditions aren't ideal candidates for cannabis use. These include people with heart, lung, and circulatory system diseases and people who seem to be particularly vulnerable to the effects of THC on delusional/schizophrenic disorders. It triggers more depression than it cures in some people. In longtime male smokers, it's not great for erectile function, but, then, neither are lots of things, including simply aging. To me, the biggest risk is that in far too many places, cannabis can still get folks arrested and incarcerated.

I think it's a substance to be used judiciously and cautiously, but you'd expect me to say that since I study traditional medicine and since I am one of those whose asthma and heart rhythm trouble are made far worse by smoking.


while it's not ideal to inhale any type of smoke into the lungs, there is a key difference between cannabis smoke and tobacco smoke. the nature of tobacco smoke causes the bronchial airways to constrict, making it difficult for the lungs to expunge the unhealthy matter (carcinogens). Whether MJ smoke has more or less carcinogens than tobacco is pretty irrelevant; MJ smoke causes the bronchial airways to DILATE, making it easier for the lungs to cleanse themselves. It expedites the process if you exercise a lot. I haven't perused the links provided by Storm Cow, but i bet there's something in there about how that specific property of cannabis smoke decreases cancer risk and curtails the process by which malignant cancer cells are nourished.

In short, be moderate, smoke only the best, exercise frequently, and let your body be its own gauge of whether what is being imbibed is healthy or not. Some people have a hard time using cannabis and functioning normally, but to others it can be monumentally helpful. :)
Burnable, I bolded the part of your claims above that people often get mixed up on. It's not marijuana smoke that dilates the bronchial tubes, it's actually only THC. While plenty of people are lucky and have healthy, clear lungs that aren't troubled by cannabis smoke, an equal or greater number have a fairly nasty inflammatory response to the whole smoke which aggravates asthma, inflammation, and irritation, making them more vulnerable to infections. THC alone would probably be great for asthma or emphysema or chronic bronchitis, but the particulate crap in combination with the chemical byproducts of combustion make whole smoke a fairly nasty proposition. This is why real medical-cannabis purists and prescribing physicians advocate eating or vaporizing it instead of smoking it. This is also why, if you sit and talk for long to people who've used cannabis heavily for a period of decades or sometimes just years, they'll often have the same gravelly voice, wheezy breathing, and smoker's cough that longtime cigarette smokers do. They won't be as likely to have lung cancer--again the beneficial wonders of the THC work to keep that risk much lower--but lots of them'll get the other effects of longtime smoking.

[burnable]

^awesome. it's good to have a legitimate presence from the medical community to make corrections on what people have read but sometimes misconstrued:)