The Downside of Weed

People who think that Donald Trump suffers from a neurological disorder want you to have a chemically induced neurological disorder. 

You understand that everyone is getting stoned, that weed is harmless fun and that anyone who tries to get between you and your weed is in for a serious reckoning. Didn’t CNN normalize weed by showing people smoking it out of a bong on New Year’s Eve? What more evidence do you need?

The pro-weed left has no use for the science and no use for facts. They want you to get stoned, because getting stoned is the meaning of life. If fact, getting stoned is the meaning of the good life. Forget about success and achievement. If you are stoned you won’t even notice.

If you are wending your way through this miasma of misinformation, you will be happy, as I am, to find a cogent summary of the science about weed. Excepting those for whom it serves a medical purpose, weed, Dr. David Samadi tells us (via Maggie’s Farm), is bad for you:

No matter how much fun using marijuana looks like on TV or in the movies, no matter what your friends say about it, no matter how many people tell you it’s harmless, and no matter what laws politicians pass to get votes or raise tax revenue, remember one thing: unless you have certain medical conditions where the drug may be beneficial, you are better off without it.

What are the risks? Dr. Samadi lists them:

But what is known is that the younger a person begins using pot, such as in the teen years, the greater the declines in general knowledge, impaired thinking, learning difficulties and lowered IQ.

Other health effects from marijuana usage both physically and mentally can include the following:

· Breathing problems – Marijuana smoke irritates the lungs, causing damage with an increased risk of both chronic bronchitis and lung infections.

· Increased heart rate – Pot can raise a person’s heart rate for up to three hours after smoking, increasing the risk for a heart attack, especially in anyone with a heart condition.

· Harm to unborn babies – Women using marijuana during pregnancy can have children with a lower birth weight and an increased risk of both brain and behavioral problems as infants. Children exposed to marijuana in the womb have problems of attention, memory, and problem-solving compared to unexposed children.

· Intense nausea and vomiting – Those who are long-term, regular users of marijuana may develop cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, where they experience cycles of severe nausea, vomiting and dehydration.

· Temporary hallucinations and paranoia.

· Other mental health and behavioral problems – People with schizophrenia can develop worsening symptoms. Marijuana users – particularly heavy users – can have lower satisfaction with life, relationship problems, and less academic and career success. For young adults it can lead to a greater likelihood of dropping out of school, along with more job absences, accidents, and injuries.

Anyone using marijuana products should not do so before driving or operating heavy or dangerous equipment. And any woman using it who is pregnant should do the right thing and stop. Individuals with heart or lung problems would be smart to avoid it and it should never be used in any form around children or teens.

And no matter what proponents of marijuana use will tell you, marijuana use can lead to the development of a substance use disorder. Between 9 and 30 percent of users may develop some degree of this disorder. Those who start using marijuana before the age of 18 are four to seven times more likely than adults to develop a marijuana use disorder.