Weed and Wellness, Part 2

Part 2 of the "Weed and Wellness" series

Marijuana generally is a safe drug to use because of its inability to be overdosed on and its relatively minimal effects on the body when used properly. Marijuana is different from most drugs in that it is nearly impossible for one to overdose on. It would take 5,000 times more of the amount of THC required to get high for a person to overdose on THC. Many effects of cannabis use are confused between the long term and short term. Most effects cannabis has on the body are short term and in fact last only as long as the user is high. Do marijuana users get the munchies for the rest of their life? No, it lasts as long as the “high” or until their hunger is satisfied. The short term memory loss effect that many are aware of is true, but disappears after the person is no longer under cannabis’ influence.

Some who are worried about marijuana’s health effects may query, “Isn’t marijuana addictive? Also, what about its long term psychological effects?” The addictiveness of marijuana has been widely exaggerated and even invented. Within the past few months, I saw a report on CNN in which some unfortunate Californian who did not want her identity revealed claimed that marijuana ruined her life because it had caused an addiction. This is erroneous and asinine. Yes, marijuana can be habit forming but it has no chemicals to cause an addiction. When I say habit forming, I mean that people want to use marijuana repeatedly because it has pleasurable effects. As such, any reasonable person would want to get that pleasure gain, but not because they feel dependent on it. Anything pleasurable can be psychologically addictive. In 2004, a study was conducted in both Amsterdam and San Francisco. It asked marijuana users how they would describe their use of marijuana over their life. If marijuana were addictive, most would have selected ‘escalating’ use. However, most selected ‘increase/decrease,’ which means that since starting using cannabis, their consumption rose and then fell as a result of voluntary actions. “This is not the trend of a dangerous drug,” as Pete Geither writes. As for cannabis’ psychological effects, in Leslie Iversen’s report on the long term effects of marijuana, “Some individuals who have psychotic thought tendencies might risk precipitating psychotic illness.” In other words, marijuana cannot simply cause psychotic illness in a normal person, but a person who has psychological tendencies should steer away from the drug.

Are there any concerns that were left unnoticed? Ask your question in the comments!