Cannabis, sometimes known as marijuana, is an overarching name for the plant that produces cannabinoids. (Cannabis is a kind of plant that includes marijuana.) Cannabis, sometimes known as marijuana, is becoming more popular. Some individuals take it for fun, while others use it to cure pain, nausea, and sleep difficulties. It may be smoked, inhaled, made into tea, or eaten as food. Many individuals are beginning to modify their views about marijuana as it becomes legal in various states for medical and recreational uses. It’s important to remember that even legal drugs such as alcohol and nicotine may damage one’s health.
Marijuana can be harmful to the brain, body, and mind. Even though marijuana is derived from the hemp plant Cannabis sativa, it is crucial to remember that it is still a substance that may be harmful.
How Does Marijuana Affect our Body?
THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is a chemical compound found in cannabis that affects particular brain areas. THC stimulates the brain to produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter that induces feelings of pleasure and relaxation, whether it is consumed or smoked. It may, however, cause mood swings, sadness, suicidal thoughts, memory problems, and even learning difficulties.
THC enters the circulation and travels into the brain, activating the hippocampus and orbitofrontal cortex. It might be challenging to generate new memories and slow down your processing speed.
The following are some examples of instant effects:
- Bloodshot eyes
- Heart rate has increased.
- Their blood pressure has risen.
- Anxiety
- Memory problems
- Modifications in mood
- Time perception has been altered
- Problem-solving difficulties
- Hallucinations
THC concentrations in cannabis have risen in recent decades, leading to increased THC overdose occurrences. Overdosing may result in nausea, vomiting, palpitations, and behavioural changes such as psychosis.
Marijuana is a psychoactive cannabinoid that has both positive and negative effects. Mental stimulation, different viewpoint thinking, heightened senses, and anticonvulsive/relaxation and antiemetic (anti-nausea) qualities are among the positive results. While the positive benefits may outnumber the negative ones, surveying the negative consequences and being aware of them is a good idea to measure the good vs bad correctly.
Lungs
Toxic by-products are produced and inhaled when cannabis, just as when tobacco cigarettes are smoked. According to some research, vaping lessens the number of pollutants and carcinogens discharged into the lungs. When you combine cannabis and cigarettes, you increase your chances of getting lung issues. Cigarette-related lung diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and lung cancer may be increased if cannabis is smoked with tobacco.
Edibles have grown more popular than conventional methods of ingesting cannabis in regions where it has been legalized since they do not harm the lungs.
Psychotic
If you have a personal or family history of psychosis, schizophrenia, or bipolar illness, you should avoid using cannabis. Most cannabis users will not acquire schizophrenia. However, cannabis may raise the chance of people already at the likelihood of developing schizophrenia due to family history or other health conditions. This is particularly true if a person begins using cannabis while young or consumes cannabis often.
When cannabis is consumed daily or from a young age, chronic signs of psychosis may occur. These symptoms might last long after you’ve stopped using cannabis. This does not happen to every cannabis user, although taking cannabis for a long time considerably raises one’s risk. Cannabis increases the chance of mania or psychosis in disorders like bipolar disorder, when bouts of mania or psychosis may be induced.
Testicular Cancer
When it comes to lung cancer, the evidence is mixed, but recent research is beginning to point to a probable relationship between excessive marijuana usage and testicular cancer. In a 50-year study involving over 40,000 Swedish males, researchers discovered that those men who reported extensive marijuana usage were also more likely to report testicular cancer.
Scientists are baffled as to why this response occurs in the body. Some believe that the way THC and CBD connect to particular cells in the testes causes the body to engage in mechanisms that promote tumour cell proliferation. More study is needed to determine whether or not this relationship exists. However, when it comes to Marijuana use, moderation is advised.
Short Memory
Stoners get a bad rep for being forgetful. However, it turns out that this isn’t entirely true. According to Northwestern University research, former cannabis users acquired brain anomalies in areas connected with short-term memory and scored marginally worse on memory-related activities.
Even more disturbing, marijuana users’ brains were discovered to be improperly formed, like those harmed by schizophrenia. (This isn’t to suggest that using marijuana causes schizophrenia; clearly, further study is needed.)
Addictiveness
Drug addiction (or reliance) is a dangerous, relapsing chronic condition. “A problematic pattern of cannabis use leading to clinically substantial impairment or suffering,” according to the definition of cannabis use disorder. In contrast to alcoholism, which affects 23% of cannabis users, dependency affects roughly 9% of cannabis users. People with a cannabis use problem may have a hard time stopping or cutting down on their usage, and if they do, they may suffer withdrawal symptoms.
Conclusion
Marijuana usage has been linked to various negative consequences, some of which have been shown with great certainty. Marijuana, like other abused substances, has the potential to lead to addiction. Marijuana may impair cognitive (e.g., memory and sense of time) and motor (e.g., coordination) performance when intoxicated, and these side effects can be harmful (e.g., motor-vehicle accidents). Marijuana use in youth might cause long-term alterations in brain function, jeopardizing scholastic, career, and social goals. However, a drug’s (legal or illicit) impacts on individual health are influenced by its pharmacologic qualities and availability and social acceptance. Legal drugs (alcohol and tobacco) provide a dismal perspective, accounting for an enormous burden of drugs-related illness, not because they are more hazardous than illicit drugs but rather because their legality allows for more exposure. As policy turns toward marijuana legalization, it’s logical and probably safe to assume that its usage will rise and that, as a result, the number of people who will suffer adverse health repercussions will rise as well.
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