|
Weed
I need a non biasis answer. Is pot actually bad for you? I do not smoke, and I do not believe that I will ever. Someone close to me does and seeing that person high botheres me. To hear them talk about, be around it, or etc. bothers me. I think its wrong.. maybe I think its wrong because its against the law buuut I know its legal in other parts of the world.. so they wouldn't make it legal if it harmed you, would they? I just need some good advice on this... Am i overreacting when bothered about pot?
[ ]
Want to answer more questions in the Health & Fitness category?
Maybe give some free advice about: Health?
ok, pot isnt as bad as some other drugs like heroin or meth or other things like that but its still harmful. Its an hallucinogen so it distorts your views on things and makes you act in a different way than you would normally. and it slowly kills braincells and if you continually use it over and over for a long time youll become closer and closer to basically just being a vegetable [but that takes a LONG time] plus its illegal, if your caught with it, you'll pay fines and if you get caught repeatedly, even jail tme. Plus, you can get hookep on pot, where if you dont have it, you'll feel like you NEED it or else you wont be able to function and thats never good because being addicted to anything can ruin a way of life. you shouldnt need a substance to feel healthy and normal. and if your cousin/friend becomes hookedshe wont feel normal unless shes smoked pot recently. so all in all, its bad, its illegal, and it can ruin your life, your friends views of you and break your families hearts. sooo hope that helped
-mari:D
]
This question has two answers. One is an answer to "Is pot, as a substance, dangerous to you" and the other is "Is pot, as a habit, dangerous to you"
::Edit::
Three answers, sorry. The third is "is pot, as an illegal substance, bad for you"
The answer to that is "probably"
Because pot is illegal (Im assuming that you are in the US) it can be very bad. Marijuana arrests, even a probation that does not leave you with a record can be expensive and will show up on some background checks.
Doing things that are illegal, for better or worse, is a generally bad idea. It can be done safely, and with pot especially MANY people do it. But the consequences if you are that one in a hundred or a thousand or even ten thousand who gets screwed can fuck your life up pretty badly.
You can lose support of family, or simply have your relationships with them damaged. It can hurt friendships, hurt you financially, and depending on the situation having an association with marijuana can have bad effects with schools or jobs in the future.
::/Edit::
The substance itself.
Marijuana has nearly 5 times the amount of carcinogens, however it is usually smoked in much smaller amounts even for a daily or "chronic" user and so it balances out to a pot habit is probably about as bad for you as smoking a few cigarettes to about half a pack a day. This is again, assuming daily use.
Other effects, marijuana impairs judgment somewhat, it impairs reflexes, it makes it difficult to convert short term (less than 30 seconds) memory into long term (retained for more than 30 seconds)
It does not cause brain damage. As far as we know it causes no major medical issues that cigarettes do not cause as well (and some of these can be eliminated though various methods such as vaporization of THC or consuming via THC laden foods/drinks)
Pot, as a habit -
Heres where the damage occurs. As with anything in life, too much pot can do terrible things to a persons life. If someone is an addictive personality, they can fixate upon something like marijuana to an extremely unhealthy degree so that pot becomes somewhat the center of their lives. Fortunately, pot is not chemically addictive (you dont go through withdrawls) but any habit can be addictive. Video games (espcially Online ones like Counter Strike or World of Warcraft), sex, gourmet food, drugs, alcohol, even work.
A comment on teenaged smoking. All of the side effects I have described are in healthy adults. Marijuana can have many more varying effects on youngsters, teens, and preteens that are difficult to prove medically.
Marijuana use among younger people can lead to lapses of judgment in trying other things that ARE more dangerous. Chronic use during the teen or preteen years could have unknown effects on physical development, but more importantly it can have serious impacts on mental, emotional, etc development. A child is meant to learn to handle adult motivations when they are younger.
The teen years, specifically, are a time when children learn adult judgment. They begin to experience adult emotions. This isnt just in reference to sexuality; when you hit puberty your emotional range increases. You can become more angry, more upset, more happy than you could before. Smoking pot in some ways eases emotional levels. You might have heard people describe pot as "mellow". This is because it suppresses some intensity of emotion. If you are sad, pot can make you less so. Fortunately as with many drugs pot synergizes with your own natural chemicals that cause happiness (endorphins, seratonin) and so its easier to be happy on pot than upset.
The problem comes in, that if people start using substances early, its very easy to fall into a habit of using those substances to help mange or cope with the intense emotions you begin experiencing when you are younger. Without learning to control them yourself, you are left without vital tools needed in the adult world outside the controlled conditions of middle/high school and your parents house.
Pot can also inhibit learning. Both the desire for and the abilty to. Some things in life and school require an intense concentration that someone who is always high probably cant achieve. Learning isnt as fun as playing halo, so why do your chemistry? Why learn calculus? Why improve your writing skills with that enlish paper?
Overall, I would say that pot before 18-20 is a very bad idea. Before then you are in an area of your life where you are still learning to be an adult, still growing in mind and body. It is supremely important for a person's growth that this development occur independent of crutches. Someone who learns to cope with loss, happiness, sadness, anger, etc on their own or with the help of friends will be IMMENSELY better off than someone who learns to use pot, alcohol, or even other things like antidepressants to do the same.
But that gets into my theories into how America (both our adults and children) are severely overmedicated for every day problems. Using substances to cope is not a unique feature of teens and personally I think all the pharmaceutical drugs and things proscribed for conditions are just as bad as substances as far as addiction and dependency go. I was a child raised partly on Ritalin and I remember comments from my parents about how I was not a happy child, and actually quite morose and generally not in a great mood for the years I was taking that shit. But then, I was a child who was diagnosed with ADD before it was all the rage and everyone and their mother was being diagnosed with it and medicated for it, so my parents didnt have other's experiences to go on when they decided to put me on it.
Basically, being dependent on anything other than yourself and at times the people in your life is a very bad thing. At least in my personal opinion.
]
Smoking pot from time to time will not ‘kill’ you the same way sliting your wrists or driving drunk could ‘kill’ you. It does not ‘kill brain cells’. Short-term use decreases the ability to learn and remember things and those effects can last for several weeks after smoking. As with smoking pretty much anything, there is a risk of emphysema and lung cancer.
Addiction is the real problem and that is where the serious trouble begins. Some people will claim marijuana is not addictive, and that is plainly false. Biologically speaking, most people do not become addicted to it as quickly as ‘harder drugs’ but addiction can happen, and when it does it’s just as destructive. The drug can become the most important part of a person’s life. Chronic marijuana smokers are more likely to develop psychosis and personality disorders and due to their decreased ability to learn new skills and problem solve they are less able to deal with those mental health issues. Jobs are lost, relationships suffer and marijuana ‘burn outs’ are dull, listless and basically incapable of living life. They have no interest in it.
I live in a part of the world where marijuana use is legal in many ways. I don’t believe it is a good idea, although I do maintain close friendships with many smokers. I’m not uncomfortable in choosing not to be around them when they are smoking, or telling them that I don’t want to hear about it.
I have seen what chronic smoking does to otherwise exciting and motivated people and I wouldn’t choose to be around those people. It steals their lives, they end up in the same jobs at 35 that they had when they were 25. They just seem stuck and they are plainly no fun to talk too. At the same time, I know some very successful and apparently happy people who indulge one or twice a month, or less. I think it’s a stupid idea on their part, but people are allowed to be stupid.
My best advice to you would be to shift your thinking like this: Pot is not a ‘bad, bad thing’ anymore then alcohol is a ‘bad, bad thing’. However, people’s behavior with these substances can be horrible! They can be abusive, destructive and they can be killing themselves or ruining their lives. So forget about the pot for a second and think about the rest of your friend’s behavior. Are they otherwise a loving friend? Do they have interests outside of pot and hobbies? Are they active and happy and enjoy learning new things?
Or are they dull? Obsessed? Is the drug more important then people they care about?
Judge each pot smoker, just like you would judge each person you know who enjoys a beer from time to time and if there is a problem with thier behavoir besides the smoking itself, speak up.
]
pot kills brain cells. and brain cells dont re-grow or come back. there are also a lot of other stuff that goes wrong. i just dont remember it XD
]
Pot is less bad for you than a lot of perscription drugs that are legal. Its less bad than alcohol or cigarettes. The main bad thing it does is get you thrown in jail.
]
well its good and bad...I don't smoke pot either...but it has medical advantages and disadvantages...it really helps people with glaucoma...it opens up the eyes so people see clearer...it has also been said to make the mind more alert...pot is one of the few drugs that wont kill you...the worst it will do is put you in a coma...but it can cause heart and lung disease as well as kidney or liver failure and several other things...for me personally the goods out weigh the bads...if your friend is just doing pot let them know about the risks but I wouldn't show too much concern...doctors give it to their patients..it must do something good...but if it really bothers you step in and tell them how you feel about it.
]
More Questions: |