Can marijuana cause health problems?

Question

What kinds of health problems can breathing the smoke cause?

Answer 1

Use of marijuana has adverse health, safety, social, academic, economic, and behavioral consequences; and children are the most vulnerable to its damaging effects. Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in America and is readily available to kids.
Compounding the problem is that the marijuana of today is not the marijuana of the baby boomers 30 years ago. Average THC levels rose from less than 1 percent in the mid-1970s to more than 8 percent in 2004. And the potency of B.C. Bud, a popular type of marijuana cultivated in British Columbia, Canada, is roughly twice the national average-ranging from 15 percent THC content to 20 percent or even higher.

Marijuana use can lead to dependence and abuse. Marijuana was the second most common illicit drug responsible for drug treatment admissions in 2002-outdistancing crack cocaine, the next most prevalent cause.

Shocking to many is that more teens are in treatment each year for marijuana dependence than for alcohol and all other illegal drugs combined. This is a trend that has been increasing for more than a decade: in 2002, 64 percent of adolescent treatment admissions reported marijuana as their primary substance of abuse, compared to 23 percent in 1992.


Gateway Drug
Marijuana is a gateway drug. In drug law enforcement, rarely do we meet heroin or cocaine addicts who did not start their drug use with marijuana. Scientific studies bear out our anecdotal findings.
For example, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported, based on a study of 300 sets of twins, that marijuana-using twins were four times more likely than their siblings to use cocaine and crack cocaine, and five times more likely to use hallucinogens such as LSD.

Furthermore, the younger a person is when he or she first uses marijuana, the more likely that person is to use cocaine and heroin and become drug-dependent as an adult. One study found that 62 percent of the adults who first tried marijuana before they were 15 were likely to go on to use cocaine. In contrast, only one percent or less of adults who never tried marijuana used heroin or cocaine.


Significant Health Problems
Smoking marijuana can cause significant health problems. Marijuana contains more than 400 chemicals, of which 60 are cannabinoids. Smoking a marijuana cigarette deposits about three to five times more tar into the lungs than one filtered tobacco cigarette.
Consequently, regular marijuana smokers suffer from many of the same health problems as tobacco smokers, such as chronic coughing and wheezing, chest colds, and chronic bronchitis. In fact, studies show that smoking three to four joints per day causes at least as much harm to the respiratory system as smoking a full pack of cigarettes every day.

Marijuana smoke also contains 50 to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than tobacco smoke and produces high levels of an enzyme that converts certain hydrocarbons into malignant cells.


Mental Health Problems
In addition, smoking marijuana can lead to increased anxiety, panic attacks, depression, social withdrawal, and other mental health problems, particularly for teens. Research shows that kids aged 12 to 17 who smoke marijuana weekly are three times more likely than nonusers to have suicidal thoughts.
Marijuana use also can cause cognitive impairment, to include such short-term effects as distorted perception, memory loss, and trouble with thinking and problem solving. Students with an average grade of D or below were found to be more than four times as likely to have used marijuana in the past year as youths who reported an average grade of A.

For young people, whose brains are still developing, these effects are particularly problematic and jeopardize their ability to achieve their full potential.

Answer 2

Daily smoking by chronic users have demonstrated some fibrosis in the liver. There was a big study last year that determined there was no increased risk of cancer caused by daily smokers. There's also an article I found that's cautious about these findings. (See sources.)

As for it being dangerous "except for medical use," that doesn't make sense. Doctors don't prescribe something that's going to cause you more harm than good. There's a reason why the medical marijuana laws have been passed.

If you do your research, you'll find that both alcohol and cigarette smoking result in way more harmful changes in your body than marijuana does, and those are legal drugs. I first found this out through a drug info fair they had at the local courthouse.

Most of the stigma having to do with marijuana is a direct result of propaganda. I used to be a big proponent against it. Now I know better. And I know people who have used it effectively to deal with symptoms relating to cancer, HIV, and Hepatitis C. And these are mothers, professionals, and college graduates with no previous experience in drug use.

All that having been said, it is generally unhealthy to inhale any kind of smoke. Many doctors recommend ingesting cannabis or vaporizing in order to avoid the risks associated with smoke.

Answer 3

Marijuana And Respiratory Problems

Answer 4

The sooner you stop the less chance of long term effects - you could be lucky and not get any problems if you stop now. Basically your brain is still developing until your early twenties so yeah, smoke weed or take drugs before then and you are risking affecting the way your brain develops and putting your mental health at risk. Marijuana specifically has also been linked to increased paranoia and depresion, and to exarcerbate mental health problems. If you are worried about your mental health, don;t do drugs - simples!

Answer 5

No, the only things that doctors would prescribe it for is, Patients with AIDS and cancer. When you have cancer the chemo makes you nausea and Marijuana cause the nausea to stop. And Also gives them an appetite

Answer 6

Yes, marijuana can cause many health problems. Problems: increased STIs, respiratory problems, distorted perception, memory/learning problems, increased lung cancer cells, etc. It's bad for you, just don't do it. It has long term and short term effects. Unless you're using it for medical purposes, don't use it.

Answer 7

Sure can.
If you smoke it, please remember that lung cancer is caused NOT by the nicotine in cigarettes, but by the SMOKE (any smoke will do)
(BTW- have you ever seen a marihuana cigarette with filter tips?)

Apart of lung cancer, please bear in mind Asthma, Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease and other such lovely illnesses. All smoke related and a real fun thing to die of.

Also, the tar in the smoke works wonders for the development of stomach and bladder cancer.

Marihuana specials- THC (the active drug) dissolves in fat (which means also the brain tissue). In the short run it damages short term memory (people become unable to learn new tings). Usually it is only temporary untill the body gets rid of the THC (via the kidneys usually)
In extreme cases (the user must be really, REALLY dumb) the brain damage can be permanent and lead to something called "amotivational syndrome". I've seen it, and the average turnip beats them in IQ tests.

Answer 8

Quit Smoking Cigarette With QuitSmokingMagic - http://Go.QuitSmokingMagics.com

Answer 9

It kills brain cells and inhibits short term memory. It also can cause emphysema.

Answer 10

yes yes yes!