Marijuana has both short- and long-term effects on the body.
Within a few minutes of smoking marijuana, a person feels the effects of pot, as THC is rapidly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream, making its way to the brain and other organs.
What causes the “high” people experience is marijuana’s effect on over-activating parts of the brain containing specific brain cell receptors. This leads to feelings of an altered sense of time, other altered senses, changes in mood, impaired body movement, impaired memory and difficulty in thinking and problem-solving.
Researchers are still studying the long-term effects of marijuana. But what is known is that the younger a person begins using pot, such as in the teen years, the greater the declines in general knowledge, impaired thinking, learning difficulties and lowered IQ.
Other health effects from marijuana usage both physically and mentally can include the following:
· Breathing problems – Marijuana smoke irritates the lungs, causing damage with an increased risk of both chronic bronchitis and lung infections.
· Increased heart rate – Pot can raise a person’s heart rate for up to three hours after smoking, increasing the risk for a heart attack, especially in anyone with a heart condition.
· Harm to unborn babies – Women using marijuana during pregnancy can have children with a lower birth weight and an increased risk of both brain and behavioral problems as infants. Children exposed to marijuana in the womb have problems of attention, memory, and problem-solving compared to unexposed children.
· Intense nausea and vomiting – Those who are long-term, regular users of marijuana may develop cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, where they experience cycles of severe nausea, vomiting and dehydration.
· Temporary hallucinations and paranoia.
· Other mental health and behavioral problems – People with schizophrenia can develop worsening symptoms. Marijuana users – particularly heavy users – can have lower satisfaction with life, relationship problems, and less academic and career success. For young adults it can lead to a greater likelihood of dropping out of school, along with more job absences, accidents, and injuries.
Anyone using marijuana products should not do so before driving or operating heavy or dangerous equipment. And any woman using it who is pregnant should do the right thing and stop. Individuals with heart or lung problems would be smart to avoid it and it should never be used in any form around children or teens.
And no matter what proponents of marijuana use will tell you, marijuana use can lead to the development of a substance use disorder. Between 9 and 30 percent of users may develop some degree of this disorder. Those who start using marijuana before the age of 18 are four to seven times more likely than adults to develop a marijuana use disorder.
What about medical marijuana?
As controversial as it is, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved medications containing synthetic THC drugs dronabinol and nabilone, both man-made forms of cannabis. These are used as appetite stimulants in AIDS patients and for chemotherapy-related nausea and vomiting.
At this time, treating medical conditions using marijuana is still illegal on a federal level. There is still insufficient data from large, long-term, well-designed studies on the potential risks versus benefits of using marijuana to relieve symptoms of certain medical conditions.
There are however, ongoing studies on cannabidiol, a component of marijuana that does not have the mind-altering effects of THC. That may hold potential promise in helping conditions like drug-resistant epilepsy and some psychiatric disorders such as anxiety, substance use disorders, schizophrenia and psychosis.
Where do we go from here?
Here’s a better idea – how about encouraging people to get “high” on taking good care of themselves? It’s the little things, such as making every bite of food count, using physical activity every day to naturally release an endorphin high, relieving stress by watching a sunrise or sunset, or getting good feelings by helping others.
Those are the kinds of “highs” that are positive, life-affirming and with few risks to our health. Smoking marijuana and slipping into a THC-induced mind-altered state has been shown time and again to have more negatives associated with it than positives.
No matter how much fun using marijuana looks like on TV or in the movies, no matter what your friends say about it, no matter how many people tell you it’s harmless, and no matter what laws politicians pass to get votes or raise tax revenue, remember one thing: unless you have certain medical conditions where the drug may be beneficial, you are better off without it.
