They say that it causes brain damage, this that and the next. Does it really just boil down to ‘lungs only supposed to breathe air’
In: Biology
Think of it like any other medication. It has its uses and potential side effects can show up depending on each person’s chemistry. But as compared to many medications (and especially compared to something like alcohol), it’s a safe way to treat anxiety and many other issues. And also like other medications, use it responsibly and do not operate heavy machinery.
yes. it’s unfiltered smoke in your lungs. if specifically the THC in it is bad for you is a different question.
It’s shown in studies that it alters brain development, so while your brain is still developing (which is a lot longer than people think) its use is bad for you – for this specific reason.
Not saying nothing else does that.
I smoked daily for 15 years. It definitely is bad for you but it creeps up on you over time. Memory loss, organisation skills, less outgoing, more procrastination, fuzzy thinking. That is what it did to me anyway. I enjoyed my time as a smoker but glad to have not smoked in 4 years now, I’m a lot more productive and clear-headed as a result.
There is a measurable correlation between having low IQ/scoring poorly on cognitive tests and smoking marijuana. However, this seems to be correlation and *not* causation. In studies of twins where one uses marijuana but the other doesn’t, the user and non-user almost always score virtually the same on cognitive tests and tests of executive function. ([Source](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376871619304892))
However, that evidence all comes from tests on adults. **There is strong evidence that marijuana *does* cause brain damage in people under 25.** Marijuana use by people with still-developing brains decreases cognitive ability across a wide range of measures — memory, test performance, executive function, attention, learning ability, etc. It also creates physical changes in the brain like decreased gray matter. ([Source 1](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3930618/), [Source 2](https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00859/full)) Some of these changes seem to reverse after several years of not using weed, others appear to be permanent.
I love weed. It’s terrific and should be legal. I would still *strongly* urge anyone under 25 not to touch the stuff. (For what it’s worth, I believe that’s the correct position to take for most drugs, including alcohol.)
Smoking anything is bad for your lungs.
Ingesting it in other forms it’s like most chemicals, when used in moderation it will probably not lead to any long term adverse effects, although there is some evidence it can worsen existing mental illnesses. Heavy use can lead to an impact on cognitive abilities, especially when you’re adolescent and your brain is still developing.
Anecdotally, I’ve seen multiple heavy cannabis users decline as they grew more dependent on it, similarly to heavy drinkers. It was like their IQ just dropped.
Marijuana changes your brain. We change our brain all the time with drugs like aspirin to not have headaches, antidepressants to be less sad, or alcohol…. To be less sad. All those things that change our brain/bodt don’t just change it in 1 way though. The other ways it changes it are called side effects. If the ways it changes us is more than the side effects most people count the drug as “good” and not “bad”. Some
Some people may get more side effects from marijuana and that might make it ” bad” for them while “good” for others. Some people may use it to ignore the real problems in life and if those real problems don’t go away or just get worse then it could also ultimately be “bad” for them. But if marijuana helps them cope with a difficult circumstance to work through the real issue or if it treats something where another drugs side effects would be worse (ie opiods for pain) then it could be comparatively good.
One group that the site effects are almost definitely worse than any benefit is for young people. Our brains don’t normally stop growing till we are 25 with heavy growth still past 21. But right now it looks like starting to use lots of marijuana early makes our brains stop growing so fast and we can’t just easily restart it if it’s past when it would normally stop growing. Considering that effect will last for all your life it’s reasonably “bad” to start using lots when young. However just like missing one day of water a plant won’t kill it someone smoking weed once as a teenager won’t kill their brain growth.
So ultimately whether weed is good or bad depends on what the person’s needs are, what the side effects they experience are and whether it’s preventing or helping them with other issues in their life.
There are several aspects to consider
1) ingestion method.
Smoking anything is bad for you. Vaping may have drawbacks, particularly considering the quality of the device.
Orally consuming is benign (according to current knowledge)
2) effect on the brain
Thc has been proven to be harmful in developing brains, correlating with youth. The younger, the more potential for harm. It may also exacerbate mental illness and cause psychosis. Users less than 25 face a myriad of cognitive impairment issues.
3) lifestyle
Psychologically, thc may be used as a self medicating tool, masking mental issues that may require either therapy or medicinal redress. Likewise, the avoidance of boredom can cause stagnation and complacency in pursuit of higher goals. Regular use may affect day to day life through cognitive impairment.
That being said, on the whole, thc has many beneficial applications. Used responsibly and in moderation, it can be additive to ones life. It can also serve to treat a myriad of health issues, such as nausea, insomnia, and pain.
There’s a lot more nuance to it than just good or bad, and the truth is that cannabis is still very much a scientific grey area, as the ability to research its effects have long been bound in legal red tape.
The bottom line is that inhaling any product of combustion has negative effects on your lungs and cardiovascular health, and that abuse of THC from any source can negatively impact certain areas of the brain, especially during development. Memory is where the effects are most pronounced, but it also fucks with your internal reward system, reduces the quality of your sleep, and habitual use has become a hallmark predictor for psychosis in emergency departments. It should be noted that most of these ill effects will eventually subside after the abuse is ceased.
There are legitimate medical applications for it, such as treating insomnia, digestive issues, and chronic pain, but for most people it is not a medicine, it just sits on the hierarchy of vices somewhere between alcohol and coffee.
It does not, however, “cause brain damage”. Anyone who tells you that is simply trying to scare you.
I do think that the emphasis placed on its untold effects is a holdover from the stigma around it being long considered illicit, because as with anything, we won’t know exactly how bad it is for a very long time (if ever, truly). There are additives in food, byproducts of burning fuel and forest fires in the air, microplastics in everything else, etcetera… and all of it is likely changing our chemistry in ways which we can’t yet understand. It’s up to you to assess the risk and decide if you stand to lose more than you gain from getting high. Just don’t let it consume your daily habits, because *that* is the most immediate threat it poses to anyone – when you can’t enjoy life without it.
From my experience smoking sucks for your lungs and mentally messes up your memory and makes everything unenjoyable unless your high ( my case when smoking all day everyday )
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