What negative effects would smoking marajuana have that getting drunk and chain smoking wouldn't?

Answer 1

In only a decade the number of admissions to psychiatric hospital caused by the drug soared by 85 per cent due to the fact that those who smoke the drug regularly are more than twice as likely to suffer illnesses such as schizophrenia, hallucinations and delusions later in life.

As well as psychotic illness cannabis can cause affective disorders such as depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. Even worse it is linked to cancers.

It can also effect physical health. Three to four cannabis cigarettes a day cause the same amount of damage to the lungs as 20 or more tobacco cigarettes a day. Thus there are rising levels of lung diseases such as emphysema.
It can also effect the unborn child. Scientists have identified that endogenous cannabinoids, molecules naturally produced by our brains are functionally similar to THC from cannabis and play significant roles in establishing how certain nerve cells connect to each other. Maternal cannabis use allows THC to travel through the placenta and impair fetal brain development and impose life-long cognitive, social, and motor deficits in affected offspring.

Low doses of Ä-9 tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), equivalent to that in the bloodstream of an average marijuana smoker facilitate infection of skin cells and can cause these cells to turn into malignant sarcoma.

Answer 2

The only negative thing I could think of that wouldn't happen with drinking or chain smoking is that you would fail a drug test if it was administered and you could lose your job for that in a drug-free workplace. Also, it's always possible that you'd get busted for possession. As for physical side effects, I personally think drinking has way worse side effects, but that's just me.

Answer 3

A fine and/or imprisonment?

Besides that, there *are* negative effects that, while different from alcohol and smoking, are still something to think about.

"The drug has many physical and psychological effects including loss of short-term memory and respiratory related illnesses.

The drugs when smoked increases the chances of lung cancer and other smoking related illnesses. Tobacco is usually smoked with marijuana, and this too is a carcinogenic substance. The smoke produced by burning cannabis is less carcinogenic than tobacco, so smoking the substance pure isnt nearly as damaging compared to smoking with tobacco.

Habitual use of the drug leads to loss of motivation in all areas. It is easy to get stuck in a cycle of smoking, although the substance itself hasnt been proven to be addictive. It is the feelings the drug produces which becomes second nature to many people too quickly. Loss of motivation in life can prove hugely detrimental to careers and other important life areas.

Loss of short-term memory is common, with heavy habitual users often forgetting to do things on daily basis.

The loss of motivation is perhaps the most serious negative effect of using cannabis. It is extremely easy to become affected by the drug in this way from even mild habitual use. The long term health issues revolve mainly around smoking related illnesses, but there have been reported instances of people becoming psychologicaly addicted to the effects of cannabis. These people can experience drug pyschosis, which in extreme and rare circumstances can result in death, although there hasnt been a single case of death from cannabis usage alone.

It has been suggested that cannabis can cause mental problems in users, however studies have shown that the drug enhances the effects of these illnesses rather than causes them:

In the case of delinquency, schizophrenia and mental illnesses, the balance of the evidence points to the second explanation. Marijuana doesn't cause the problems, although it may make them worse. Some schizophrenics, for example, are drawn to the drug because it eases their sense of alienation. And most researchers now accept that the evidence linking marijuana to abnormal brain waves vanishes when people with psychiatric problems, illnesses or a history of general drug abuse are excluded from studies.

The verdict from research into the impact of marijuana on road safety skills is less clear. In Britain as many as 1 in 10 motorists involved in serious accidents test positive for cannabis. And figures as high as 37 per cent have emerged from studies in urban areas of the US. However, many of these drivers also test positive for alcohol, and even the cases involving just cannabis cannot be equated with people driving under the influence because the drug lingers so long in the body.

In driving simulators, marijuana does impair visual skills and mental dexterity. But studies of actual driving show that even high doses of marijuana have less impact than alcohol, perhaps because smoking it doesn't usually make people become vastly overconfident. In one study, low doses of marijuana made drivers more cautious."

From New Scientist, 21 February 1998

Answer 4

let me explain this simply:

marijuana = psychiatric disorder
alcohol = liver/stomach/intestine disorders
cigarette/tobacco smoking = cancers of the lungs, tongue, esophagus, pharynx, etc; also dyspepsia to ulcers, hypertension to heart problems

your choice....