Is marijuana bad for you?

Question

How come every anti-marijuana information I have literally come across refuses to site sources or sites out dated ones? Yet whenever you go to a medical journal or a reputed source that has taken the time to conduct a study, their conclusion is that it is harmless or that their isn't enough evidence to deem it so? I refuse to think that the drug that I was forever taught to stay away from is harmless, can someone please show me a recent unbiased study that says it is harmful? I am tired of people I know making fun of me for not inhailing this "perfect" drug. I know that it can cause phlem, but they use a vaporizer and eat brownies, so is it true it is harmless?

Answer 1

Well,

It stands to reason that inhaling smoke is not a great thing. However, these days it only takes a couple puffs. (Not like the old days when all we had to smoke was Mexican dirt weed.)

I don't smoke the stuff these days myself, but that is only because I am subject to random testing. I know a lot of people who smoke the noble herb fairly frequently.

They are fine!

I can't say the same for the toothless tweakers (meth heads) running around acting like idiots.

There has always been a lot of silly propoganda, such as the "steppingstone to heroin" theory, but from my observations, criticism of the herb superb is nonsense.

So I am inclined to say that based on my observations, yes, it is harmless.

Answer 2

Well, the bottom lines is that it kills braincells (which, unlike most cells, do not grow back), go to www.abovetheinfluece.com (this URL may help you http://www.abovetheinfluence.com/facts/mythbusters.aspx# click on the first bird) and it gives you information on the matter, though some of it is biased.

While some people think that since it's natural, it's fine, but cocaine is natural too and that stuff kills you.

Quoted from a web site:
"Marijuana has a chemical in it called tetrahydrocannabinol, better known as THC. A lot of other chemicals are found in marijuana, too—about 400 of them, some of which are carcinogenic.

Pot affects a user’s judgment, motor coordination, and short-term memory. Weed can cause increased heart rate and make some users extremely anxious or paranoid. Smoking marijuana also causes some changes in the brain similar to those caused by long-term use of cocaine and heroin.

Research found that students with an average grade of “D” or below were more than four times as likely to have used marijuana in the past year as students who reported an average grade of “A.” Students who have smoked marijuana within the past year are more than twice as likely to have cut class than those who did not smoke, while health problems associated with using marijuana can keep students from attending school due to illness.

Regular marijuana users often have shortened attention spans, decreased energy and ambition, poor judgment, high distractibility, and impaired ability to communicate and relate to others. Young people who use marijuana weekly have double the risk of depression later in life."

Besides that, it is illegal and anything against the law has to be bad for you. It was originally made illegal because taking it caused distrutive behavior, later studies prooved that it is harmful to the human body as well. Drugs make you feel okay with being bored and it's when you are bored that you should be being productive. Also, if you are going to go to/are going to college, they do not take druggies and if they find out, you will not be accepted to the school. If you are caught with drugs you will be less likeyl to get jobs you want because it does go on your perminanent record.

You can't get addicted if you used it once, but long-term use makes you addicted to it because either you like the high or you feel using it makes you happier.

Here is a chart that may help you: http://www.drug-rehabilitation.com/images/inhalant-brains.gif

And this web site seems unbiased and simply factual: http://www.well.com/user/woa/fspot.htm

This site explains why it is bad to use: http://www.sonomacountyfreepress.com/archives/scrap/whats_so_bad_about_marijuana.html

This site actually answers your question: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_bad_is_Marijuana_for_you
and here's another similar to that: http://teengrowth.com/index.cfm?action=info_advice&ID_Advice=948&category=Danger&catdesc=Danger&subdesc=Drugs

Oh, here is a website in which both sides of the matter are in place: http://www.faqs.org/qa/qa-10637.html


Look, do what you want but you may as well know the consequences. Before you do something that is politically considered bad, you should think: What if everyone knew I did this? I really hope I helped.

Answer 3

I cannot show you an organized study done, only personal experience for about 35 years back. I was born in the 50's, so the late 60's and 70's was my time to party. We tried marijuana, along with a lot of drinking. For some of us, it was only a phase and we went on with our lives working and becoming responsible citizens, and family oriented. Others in our group stayed with the dope, lived in a fantasy world, and basically, didn't grow. When I talk to those middle aged people today, now in their late 40's and 50's, their brains are fried. They are not happy, successful, normal people, and a lot of them have health issues I believe are related to their drug use. Harmful....yes, looking at how they turned out, I would speculate a certain amount of brain damage.

Answer 4

Go to a book called "Change Your Brain, Change Your Life" by Dr. Daniel G. Amen. He's a psychiatrist who uses SPECT imaging to show what happens in the brain while performing various tasks. One of the images in the book is of someone who uses that "harmless" substance. It's frightening to see what it does to the brain. It is most certainly NOT harmless at all. You can also check out the website www.amenclinics.com. (Sorry, I can't figure out how to insert an active link.) I think I remember seeing info there about what marajuana will do to the brain.

Answer 5

well this is all i no about marijuana:

Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States (cocaine is second). Usage is not as high as it was in the late 1970s. However, the National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that nearly 60 million Americans over the age of 12 -- about one in four -- have tried marijuana at least once.

Marijuana is a preparation of various parts (leaves, stems, flowers, seeds) of the hemp plant named Cannabis sativa. THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. Psychoactive means that it works on the nervous system.
Commonly known as pot, weed, reefer, herb, or grass; there are more than 200 slang terms for marijuana. Although the main psychoactive ingredient in it is THC, the plant also contains more than 400 other chemicals. It is the amount of THC -- (chemical name: delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol -- for all you chemistry lovers), that determines the potency of marijuana. Today's pot is often up to eight times stronger than the marijuana of the seventies, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. It can be mixed with other and more unpredictable drugs such as PCP. (If you do smoke it, buy it from someone you trust).
Most often loose marijuana dried buds and leaves are rolled into a cigarette called a joint. It may also be smoked in a pipe or a water pipe called a bong. Over the past several years, it has appeared in cigars called “blunts”. This makes it a popular form in some U.S. cities with college students as it appears that they are smoking a cigar and not marijuana. Blunts are made by slicing open cigars and replacing the tobacco with marijuana. Marijuana also is used to brew tea -- although many say it is less poten that way and is sometimes mixed into foods, like the notorious pot or hash brownies.

It is also smoked in the form of hashish or hash. Hash is made by extracting the resin from the leaves and flowers of the marijuana plant and pressing it into cakes. It is stronger than marijuana and may contain five to ten times as much THC. Marijuana does not have the immediate, dramatic effects on health that deter many teens from trying drugs like crack and heroin.

It does have long-lasting effects on the brain that can dramatically alter quality of life for daily smokers.

thats all i no about marijuana. hope it helped :D

Answer 6

there is one major problem with marijuana that people never seem to get. It is controlling. It changes you. It can make you do things that you may never do. It inhibits your judgment. If you have ever seen anyone try it you know the change either they become very quite and radical. Either way the problem is it is controlling you. You should never allow anything to control you. That is against man's nature to be controlled. That goes for a lot of other things in your life like drinking, smoking, drugs, sex etc..... People say "but I like it" of course you do because it makes you something your not. Be yourself and be proud of who you are. By the way look at someone who has been on if for a long time. Look into their eyes ask them questions like brain busters and see how they can handle it. I know I would not want to be like that

Answer 7

THC changes the way in which sensory information gets into and is processed by the hippocampus, a brain component that is crucial for learning, memory, and the integration of senses with emotions. Learned behaviors also deteriorate.

Long-term use of marijuana produces changes in the brain similar to those seen after long-term use of other major drugs.
Someone who smokes marijuana regularly may have many of the same respiratory problems as tobacco smokers.
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.

Marijuana affects many skills required for safe driving: alertness, the ability to concentrate, coordination, and reaction time. These effects can last up to 24 hours after smoking marijuana. Marijuana use can make it difficult to judge distances and react to signals and sounds on the road.
There are data showing that marijuana can play a role in crashes. When users combine marijuana with alcohol, as they often do, the hazards of driving can be more severe than with either drug alone.

And it's illegal.

Answer 8

I had a friend that smoked weed all his life.He past away a couple of months ago of an unrelated disease.He was over 60 and started smoking before he was a teenager.He smoked heavily everyday.I never knew a day he didn't. He never smoked tobacco.I don't know of a better study than that. If you want to listen to some so called professional then by all means that's your right.

Answer 9

"it kills brain cells i think that might be bad for u i mean if u kill enough ull DIE"

WOW! After reading that I'm convinced! A fine example of a non smokers opinion. I must really be doomed.

Answer 10

Marijuana is kinda bad for you, but not as bad as cigarettes are. You can't OD on Marijuana like you can alcohol or any other "legal" drug. So I guess it is......but the everyday stuff that we see people do "legally" is wayyy worse. I mean....look at me, I'm fine! I do well in college and everything lol!!