How dangerous is marijuana?

Question

I'm going to try this again. People really didn't answer my question before so I'm asking again.
I'm doing some preliminary research to see what I want to write for my thesis this up coming semester.

I asked a question last night about whether marijuana should be legal or not. I got overwhelming "NO IT'S TOO DANGEROUS" answers. Now I'm wondering why everyone thinks it's so bad. What are some of the extreme dangers of marijuana?
I don't need you guys to show me websites about facts unless you personally believe everything on that site, I know enough about the subject from websites already. Telling me that 'I'm not writing a paper I just want to smoke pot" really doesn't help. I'd just like to know what you personally believe are the dangers of marijuana.

I don't want you to research then tell me, I just want a list of what comes to your head.

Thanks

It's not a medical paper trying to prove or disprove people's beliefs, It's a comparative sociology paper. Thanks.

Answer 1

I honestly do not believe that it is not detrimental in small doses, but like anything if it consumes your life, and it is all you do then obviously you will become the stereotype.

At this current time I no longer smoke it purely because I have a brand new child, a new apartment, a great job, and a amazing girlfriend, and all of these thing are not worth the risk of doing something illegal. If it was legal I don't see why I wouldn't have a joint on Saturday night.

I equivocate smoking pot to drinking alcohol to be honest. Both can be fun, and can help enhance a good night but should be done every once and a while. I like to have a good time and if pot was legal I believe I would probably smoke it once a month on a night out with my friends.

We waste so much money attempting to stop people from smoking it that has much better uses in some other facet of society.

I don't believe that it is a "Gateway Drug" many people smoke pot, and never move on to another drug. People who start on pot and move up to drugs that are terrible probably would have taken that path without pot. I smoked pot when I was younger, and I am a fully functioning member of society as well as the majority of my friends who did.

Then again that's just my opinion. Good luck with your paper.

Answer 2

Marijuana is not all that dangerous. A lot of the studies start out biased and with an agenda to prove that it is dangerous. I recently read a study in which they made monkeys smoke 63 Colombian strength joints in 5 minutes through a gas mask. They killed those monkeys to study their brains to see how many dead brain cells they had compared to those monkeys who did not have the joints. It was said that the monkeys that did smoke the joints did have higher levels of dead brain cells. But why you ask? It wasn't the weed, it was the lack of oxygen that killed their brain cells. If you want more info on this study it was lead by President Reagan and conducted by Dr. Heath.

Marijuana actually has many benefits. It helps cancer patients, and is the best medication for Epilepsy. It also calms those with anxiety and high levels of stress. Marijuana can also be used as other sources like making clothes, rope and seasoning food.

And the only reason it's not legal is because the GOVERNMENT cannot profit off it. Everyone and their mothers have access to seeds to grow their own therefore leaving the market with no buyers. Like tobacco, why is that legal? It is undoubtly dangerous, killing thousands each year. But it is legal because the government makes a **** load of money off it by taxing it. And nobody can grow it so it has a high selling rate. Have you ever met anyone with their own tobacco plant?

Answer 3

Back in the "good ole days" I smoked all day every day continuously for five years (give or take, I really don't remember).
In those days the anti-pot campaign consisted of U.S Government propaganda films showing murder and mayhem for pot users. Contrived and entertaining. We would watch those films while stoned, just for the entertainment value.
As one who has "been there, done that" and still has brain cells that work, I am still looking for the long term effects that I was warned about.
It is true that memories of that period of my life are generally vague. So are my memories of being 6-10 years old and of being 20-30 years old. I cannot with certainty confirm that I have suffered any ill effects from the many pounds of pot that I smoked. Nor can I state that pot has given me great insight and improved my artistic ability. Obviously, I cannot be both a prior user and not a prior user.
By the way, I am successful, educated, competent, moral and just. I consider myself to be primarily devoid of illusion, unlike many who never smoked at all.
Good luck with the thesis. I hope you can shed so light on all the misinformation and rumor.

Answer 4

I agree with your friend. Some tobacco smokers get through 2 packs a day or more. There's no other drug whose addicts need 40 fixes a day. It's true that dope smoke contains many of the same poisons as tobacco smoke, but a typical user inhales much, much less. And speaking of my own experience as an ex smoker and an occasional dope user, I had to make a real effort to quit smoking, but I go months or years between smoking joints.

Answer 5

In 1972, after reviewing the scientific evidence, the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse concluded that while marijuana was not entirely safe, its dangers had been grossly overstated. Since then, researchers have conducted thousands of studies of humans, animals, and cell cultures. None reveal any findings dramatically different from those described by the National Commission in 1972. In 1995, based on thirty years of scientific research editors of the British medical journal Lancet concluded that "the smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health."

Marijuana has been shown to be effective in reducing the nausea induced by cancer chemotherapy, stimulating appetite in AIDS patients, and reducing intraocular pressure in people with glaucoma. There is also appreciable evidence that marijuana reduces muscle spasticity in patients with neurological disorders. A synthetic capsule is available by prescription, but it is not as effective as smoked marijuana for many patients. Pure THC may also produce more unpleasant psychoactive side effects than smoked marijuana. Many people use marijuana as a medicine today, despite its illegality. In doing so, they risk arrest and imprisonment.

Marijuana does not cause physical dependence.


Marijuana does not cause people to use hard drugs. What the gateway theory presents as a causal explanation is a statistic association between common and uncommon drugs, an association that changes over time as different drugs increase and decrease in prevalence. Marijuana is the most popular illegal drug in the United States today. Therefore, people who have used less popular drugs such as heroin, cocaine, and LSD, are likely to have also used marijuana. Most marijuana users never use any other illegal drug. Indeed, for the large majority of people, marijuana is a terminus rather than a gateway drug.


None of the medical tests currently used to detect brain damage in humans have found harm from marijuana, even from long term high-dose use. An early study reported brain damage in rhesus monkeys after six months exposure to high concentrations of marijuana smoke. In a recent, more carefully conducted study, researchers found no evidence of brain abnormality in monkeys that were forced to inhale the equivalent of four to five marijuana cigarettes every day for a year. The claim that marijuana kills brain cells is based on a speculative report dating back a quarter of a century that has never been supported by any scientific study.

LEGALIZE IT!

Answer 6

it really isnt dangerous, there is no direct connection between any type of cancer and marijuana, when you hear about pot in school, its all propoganda, information on only one side, it doesnt say how pot cuts luncer cancers growth in half, doesnt say that it helps chemo patients when theyre starving and smoke to get hungry.

it doesnt make you dangerous, doesnt impair driving like alcohol, alcohol impairs you physically, only pot mentally,

they say dont use pot to medicate , but say take these pills.

too much pot is bad for you, in the sense it costs money and makes you kinda stupid, but then again, too much of anything is bad for you
too much drinking: alc poisening, too many vitamins, vitamin over dose, too much water, overhydration.

if you actualy look into the history why its illegal, youll find racism, corruption lies and propoganda. it was never considered dangerous until the government decided to get rid of the mexicans in the 20's is to find what they do and send them out. pot.
they only told people one side of marijuana, with statements such as
if you smoke a joint your likely to kill your brother
marijuana makes blackies look at white women twice.
say it was legal now and they said those things today, there would be a big issue.

and the scare tactics such as marijuana is equal to five cigarettes, but they dont say theres no connection between disease and marijuana,
and its 20x more powerful today than it was in the 70's.
so if it takes one joint to get someone high today, it must of took 20 joints back then to get someone high, and if the thc level has increased, wouldnt it require less smoking thus less damage?

the dangers of ganja, is you can go to jail for having some, look at the news, youll only find arrests about pot, no death or violence news related to pot.

Answer 7

This was just announced today: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-08/aafc-mco080107.php

Marijuana allows cells to more readily accep the Kaposi's Sarcoma virus.

Marijuana slows down the mitochondrial metabolism (the "energy" machinery) of the lungs when smoked (the THC does it).

There are carcinogens in marijuana smoke. Oddly, there are also ANTI-carcinogens in marijuana smoke, and some components are legitimate medicines.

Marijuana can PERMANENTLY affect the the spatial reasoning skills of a teenager (German study).

However, alcohol is the #1 drug problem in the U.S. It should be regulated, there should be warnings, but I think it should probably be legalized. A tax on it would pay off the national debt in about 4 years. Smoking tobacco is still legal, and it is VERY bad for you.

Answer 8

Are you serious, who were the people telling you it was to dangerous. Do they even have a clue? The only extreme danger is it gives you the munchies and could make you chubby and a little lazy...
I think the benifits extremely out wiegh the dangers.
Anyone who tells you differnet is ignorant!!

Answer 9

Personally, I think the dangers of marijuana are minimal. Far less than alcohol, how many stoned driving accidents do you hear about?

From my personal experience, I haven't encountered any problems from it. It makes me more relaxed, it helps relieve stress, it helps me sleep, it helps the spasms in my back. I think the benefits of marijuana are far greater than any supposed dangers.

Answer 10

"Given a cigarette of comparable weight, as much as four times the amount of tar can be deposited in the lungs of marijuana smokers as in the lungs of tobacco smokers." [p. 111]

"However, a marijuana cigarette smoked recreationally typically is not packed as tightly as a tobacco cigarette, and the smokable substance is about half that in a tobacco cigarette. In addition, tobacco smokers generally smoke considerably more cigarettes per day than do marijuana smokers." [Pp. 111, 112]

"There is no conclusive evidence that marijuana causes cancer in humans, including cancers usually related to tobacco use. … More definitive evidence that habitual marijuana smoking leads or does not lead to respiratory cancer awaits the results of well-designed case control epidemiological studies." [p. 119]

"Public support for patient access to marijuana for medical use appears substantial; public opinion polls taken during 1997 and 1998 generally report 60-70 percent of respondents in favor of allowing medical uses of marijuana." [p. 18]