“So how is weed so bad for you?”
I’m asking for a friend of course. A legally aged friend. Well, I took it upon myself to research the long term effects of marijuana, and in addition I’ll lay out the foundation for you to compare the effects of weed with the effects that come with some everyday addictions.
DISCLAIMER that this article is NOT about promoting the use or consumption of any substances. My goal here is to simply make a comparison, moderately biased I’m sure. Some food for thought.
Okay, now I’m not a total bonehead. According to Psychology Today, most drug awareness sites, and your parents, this herb is terrible. Yes it’s a drug, yes it’s addictive, yes it has some wicked long term effects on the psyche. However, I’m here to tell you that these people are no angels either. There are a multitude of nice and very legal drugs that humans use every single day.
Coffee
I work at a coffee shop. I tried going one day without coffee last week, and I ended up feeling groggy and I had a killer headache. In fact I’m drinking the sweet concentrated caffeine as we speak! And I’m not alone! According to Healthline.com, caffeine withdrawals can cause nausea, irritability, and even muscle pains! Also, when you’re all hyped up on it you can get disoriented and jittery.
Long term, it can increase one’s chances of grabbing some awful mental health problems like depression, anxiety, and insomnia even! Excessive use can also lead to spiked blood pressure and even addiction.
However let’s compare to the withdrawals that come from thc, the active chemical in marijuana. For example when one intakes THC, it can be extremely taxing on the person ingesting it. However, results are unclear. Unlike other habits, it’s solely depends on the user withdrawing. According to Marijuana Anonymous there have been reports of headaches and irritability, but others have experienced no discomfort at all.
Alcohol
Ah yes, the liquid courage. The intoxication of choice among many partying young students out there. We know it’s bad for us. We get disoriented, and dizzy, and driving is most certainly out of the picture. It’s known for its addictive qualities, and it’s known for the damage it can make on oneself, and one’s relationships with others. However, let’s dive in anyway. According to A Drug Free World, long term effects can include excessive liver damage, gastritis (inflammation of stomach walls), ulcers, sexual problems, and high blood pressure.
There’s an age limit for a reason, of course. Alcohol itself had to really fight to maintain legality too, for good reason. It can do some serious damage! Knowing about these risks before consumption is key to managing it in a safe way. So if people of age are able to rationalize their own use and determine whether it’s good for them or not, why wouldn’t they be able to choose a different intoxication? One that has caused significantly less fatality?
Deaths by Alcohol so far in 2016: Nearly 88,0009 people (approximately 62,000 men and 26,000 women) die from alcohol-related causes annually, making it the fourth leading preventable cause of death in the United States.
In 2014, alcohol-impaired driving fatalities accounted for 9,967 deaths (31 percent of overall driving fatalities). (Source)
Deaths by marijuana: There are no known countable deaths. You can’t smoke yourself to death. There is no such thing as a THC overdose.
However, also according to Family Council, “Saying marijuana…has never killed anyone is like saying tobacco has never killed anyone. Nobody dies from a tobacco overdose. You can’t smoke yourself to death. And yet nobody would dispute that tobacco causes death. … You die from lung cancer–you don’t die from smoking. You die from what smoking did to your lungs, which is a direct effect from smoking. And so in that same way marijuana does kill people in the form of mental illnesses and suicide, in the form of car crashes. … You can’t say marijuana doesn’t kill.”
This ties more so into drug addiction than it does damage to the body. Consume wisely, consider your options before choosing your intoxication of choice.
Nicotine
According to DrugAbuse.gov, “Research has shown how nicotine acts on the brain to produce a number of effects. Of primary importance to its addictive nature are findings that nicotine activates reward pathways—the brain circuitry that regulates feelings of pleasure. A key brain chemical involved in mediating the desire to consume drugs is the neurotransmitter dopamine, and research has shown that nicotine increases levels of dopamine in the reward circuits. This reaction is similar to that seen with other drugs of abuse and is thought to underlie the pleasurable sensations experienced by many smokers.”
So in a way, nicotine is pretty similar to marijuana in terms of short term effects. You feel that pleasant buzz, that lack of irritability like in a world of chaos things have finally settled.
However, as you’ve learned from all those truth ad’s depicting how terrible smoking is through slightly-and-uncomfortably-outdated millennial trends that make your ears bleed ad make your heart feel secondhand embarrassment. However it’s true. You know the obvious dangers of smoking, you know how many chemicals are in that cigarette. I don’t even feel the need to elaborate. It’s bad for you, your wallet, and great for those greedy corporations feeding off of vulnerable-youth money.
Sugar/Salt/Fats
Oh of course this is legal. How would America run if not on McDonald’s? A second disclaimer as there is limited research on salt and sugar specifically. Most of this part will be pure speculation. Rightfully so, though. Think about your daily routine. You wake up, go to Starbucks to get your white mocha and chonga bagel, grab some McDonald’s or Chipotle for a cheap and easy lunch, have some takeout for dinner? Think about how much excess sugar and salt and preservatives even are slipped into these meals throughout the day! Let’s add the caffiene coming from the espresso shots in your white mocha shall we? These things add up and then the public wonders why there are health problems in America. I’m not talking weight here. I’m talking what’s on the inside. I know plenty of friends that can just get away with eating trash all day long, unaware of what it does to your insides. According to Heart.org, excess sodium can lead to water retention (weight gain), heart disease, headaches, and even kidney stones. Excess sugar intake? Well according to Mercola.com, sugar is classified as an addictive substance. Too much of it can lead to weight gain, diabetes, and liver damage. Something so powerful, so loosely regulated. Hmm.
Again, this is not an article in which I encourage you to go pack a bowl, but it’s something I’ve been pondering for quite a while. Not the bowl packing, the reason why something just as damaging (if not LESS damaging) is still classified in the same tier as heroin according to the DEA.
Also, if us as humans are making similar choices every day then why is something as minute as marijuana still facing heat for being consumed? Take a long look at the list above, and carefully decide upon your intoxication of choice.