It makes your heart beat faster and your blood pressure goes up.
Smoking marijuana reduces the amount of oxygen in your body. This means every part of
your body has to work harder just to do its job.
Smoking marijuana irritates the mouth, throat, and lungs. If you have asthma, a cold, the
flu, allergies or other respiratory problems, marijuana can make them worse.
Some people become dependent on marijuana. Long-term users report withdrawal
symptoms, such as, irritability, sleeplessness and anxiety.
Using marijuana can have legal consequences. Marijuana is illegal in Florida and FGCU
has rules about use. Know the rules and laws before you make a choice with marijuana.
A positive drug test can result for quite a while (even weeks) after use because the body is
slow to break down and eliminate THC. If you have to take drug tests as a part of your job
or because you are an athlete, this is important to understand.
Marijuana smoke, like tobacco smoke, reduces lung capacity. Tar levels are higher than
tobacco. If you play sports or do physically demanding work, marijuana can impair your
performance.
Sensory distortion
Panic
Anxiety
Poor coordination of movement
Lowered reaction time
After an initial “up,” the user feels sleepy or depressed.
Increased heartbeat (and risk of heart attack)
http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/marijuana/short-and-long-term-effects.html
Reduced resistance to common illnesses (colds, bronchitis, etc.)
Suppression of the immune system
Growth disorders
Increase of abnormally structured cells in the body
Reduction of male sex hormones
Rapid destruction of lung fibers and lesions to the brain could be permanent
Reduced sexual capacity
Study difficulties: reduced ability to learn and retain information
Apathy, drowsiness, lack of motivation
Personality and mood changes
Inability to understand things clearly
http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/marijuana/short-and-long-term-effects.html
You decide. Here are the facts:
Alcohol consists of one substance only: ethanol. Marijuana contains more than 400
known chemicals, including the same cancer-causing substances found in tobacco
smoke. Unlike cigarette smokers, pot smokers tend to inhale deeply and hold the smoke
as long as possible to increase the effect of the drug, worsening the damage to the lungs.
Alcohol is eliminated from the body in a few hours, but THC stays in the body for weeks,
possibly months, depending on the length and intensity of usage.
THC damages the immune system. Alcohol does not.
There is no intention here to minimize the dangers of alcohol abuse, which can be
equally harmful. Users, however, need to be aware that the chemicals in marijuana,
some of them cancer-causing, remain in the body long after the drug is taken.
One marijuana joint is as damaging as seven cigarettes, according to one
British Lung Foundation study.
Like tobacco, marijuana is genotoxic (e.g., capable of damaging genetic
material, thus creating errors in DNA replication that can eventually lead
to tumor growth).
The tar (condensable residue in smoke) from marijuana has 50% more
carcinogens than tobacco tar.
Regular cannabis smokers can develop lung problems as much as 20 years
earlier than their tobacco smoking counterparts, according to a study in
the journal Respirology. On average, pot smokers developed lung disease
by 41 years of age, vs. 65 years of age for tobacco smokers.
http://www.dole.com/NutritionInstituteLanding/NI_Articles/NI_DoleDiet/NI_DoleDiet_Detail/tabid/1058/Default.aspx?contentid=9767
Ever consider the effects of marijuana on your relationship?
Or on your sex life, if you’re sexually active?
For some, sex is an anxiety-producing proposition, so they
use pot to relax. Others use weed to heighten sensitivity.
But, heavy, long-term marijuana use can either cause or
contribute to low motivation and sex drive.
Long-term use of marijuana can also affect sexual health.
Marijuana has an effect on the production of testosterone
and other hormones, which in turn can cause decreased
sperm count, erectile dysfunction, and problems with
menstruation.
http://factsontap.org/factsontap/marijuana/myth.htm
Marijuana is widely thought to be less harmful than other drugs, mostly because
people incorrectly believe that it is not addictive. But guess what – more than
100,000 Americans a year seek out drug treatment specifically because of their
dependence on marijuana.
“Jonesing”: Craving for marijuana doesn’t look like craving for other drugs. But
just because a user doesn’t resort to violence doesn’t make it any less real. It is
more subtle, but no less destructive.
Withdrawal: Members of Marijuana Anonymous say that by far, their most
common experience when stopping use was insomnia, sometimes lasting as long
as a few months. Other common symptoms included depression, nightmares,
and vivid dreams. Anger is also common for people who are cutting marijuana
out of their life. For some, this plays out as a slow-burning rage. Others report
feeling constantly irritable or prone to sudden bursts of anger.
http://factsontap.org/factsontap/marijuana/addictive.htm
Physical vs. psychological addiction: Use of any drug can lead to dependence — marijuana
too! People always seem relieved to hear that a substance "just" leads to psychological
dependence, or has only minimal physical withdrawal symptoms.
But the fact is, addiction experts today no longer distinguish between psychological and
physical dependence. What matters is whether or not a drug causes un-controllable,
compulsive drug seeking and use, even in the face of negative health and social
con-sequences. This "drug hunger" at the core of all addiction is much more difficult to
control than physical symptoms, many of which can be medically managed.
Effects of addiction: At first, it can be hard to detect the effects of marijuana use on a
person’s life. But with continued use, the drug starts to take on a special importance. Many
long-time users report that after a while, their use of marijuana started to undermine their
emotional and psychological growth. It became harder for them to handle
stress, and they lagged behind their peers in terms of emotional maturity.
http://factsontap.org/factsontap/marijuana/addictive.htm
www.factsontap.org
www.goaskalice.columbia.edu
www.marijuana-anonymous.org
www.na.org/index.htm
www.acde.org
www.drughelp.org
www.drugabuse.gov/drugpages/marijuana.html
www.collegedrinkingprevention.gov/students
www.freevibe.com
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