Can someone explain/refer me to the safety of weed?

Yes it is. I started smoking at age 12 I'm now 18. It will be kinda rough when you first start. You'll get paranoid real easy and some anxiety. That's what the first 2 months entail. Well for me anyway. After you get past that point you will really start enjoying marijuana. As far as health concerns you might cough a bit and you lose some stamina. Oh and its hard to remeber certain things like peoples names or things like that. Other than that it has but positive effects.

 

Man the whole schizo/depression/mental health problems are really only to worry about with people that have predispositions to these problems, however you won't know if you have these predispositions but really, it's very very slim that you are this person.

Put it this way, cannabis is the most commonly used illict substance in the world - if it caused schizophrenia like the papers... tabloids.. propagandists say it did, then a noticable amount of psychos would be walkin the streets!

As far as drugs go, it's very safe. You can't overdose, you can't get addicted and most people have good experiences with it, the only real danger is that it is illegal so make sure you're alright and safe where you light up.

 

Yeah this is all good advice too.

 

No, thats just a bullshit someone made up, there are plenty of studys refuting this, but i wouldn't recommend smoking to anyone under 18 at all. And honestly the memory loss is just an effect that happens to me if ive smoke within the last couple of days, im 1 day away from ending my 1.5 week tbreakD) and ive noticed that my memories as good as it has ever been.

 

it is physically impossible to overdose on weed.

 

From the research I've gathered, the only proven long term negative side effects are the effects of the smoke on your lungs. It won't give you cancer like cigarettes but tar and stuff can still build up in your lungs overtime. Not as much as cigarettes because you smoke way less but it is still something. Vaping will solve this problem though. The other long term side effects are debated and may or may not be true. I'd like to believe that the propaganda that is spread isn't true but I haven't done any scientific research myself. It's all about whose word you believe. Most studies tend to have a bias to them, either to support prohibition or to counteract the people supporting prohibition. Go on google and read up on the various studies and then form your own opinion. I tend to believe the studies that support the safety of marijuana but I have no evidence of my own to discount some of the studies that highlight potential dangers. It sure as hell won't kill you but it may have some negative effects, although nothing compared to cigarettes and alcohol.

 

Does anybody have sources? Anyone? Without sources you are as reputable as the ones who bash mj use. And you yourself are not a reputable source.

There is relative lack of data on effects on young people. I wouldn't recommend someone under 18 using, just because there are so many body changes going on.

 

Watch all of this
[ame=http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9077214414651731007&ei=YzKwSpKzEoHzlQeM492-Ag&q=the+union&hl=en]The Union[/ame]

 

All anyone has to do to get sources is go to google and type in "effects of marijuana." This will give more than enough sources to defend whatever side you are on. The union gives out a lot of information but they are definitely biased. This is the problem with information surrounding marijuana. Most of it is biased. I'd like to believe everything that is said in the union but I have to be skeptical of it because they are clearly trying to make an argument and put a slant on everything. It is a great tool for public persuasion but I wouldn't write a scientific paper using the union as a source. I'm not saying the information is wrong, as I have no evidence to back that up. It's just that is seems most of the information out there is being used as a tool to convince people to agree with one side of the argument.

 

The research, by and large, suggests that weed is a pretty safe drug. The weed/schizophrenia link that some studies found is modest and the researchers who conducted them did not speculate if weed causes schizophrenia, or if people who are at risk for schizophrenia are more likely to engage in perceived "risky" behavior. And the weed/schizophrenia link has in fact been called into question by newer, more comprehensive research.

It's been linked to modest impact on lung function, unlike tobacco, and substances found in weed alongside THC have been demonstrated to have anti-cancer properties, such that people who smoke marijuana are actually less at-risk for certain cancers, including lung cancer.

EDIT: HOWEVER, other research has raised the possibility that it increases the risk of testicular cancer in men. The link is not well-established yet but in the interests of fairness I felt it should be mentioned.

Long-term, heavy use (heavy use meaning in the ballpark of five+ joints a day for decades at a time) has been associated with a moderate impairment of certain brain functions- I think the delta was that long-term heavy users did about 10% worse than non-stoners on spatial reasoning tests and tests of their learning abilities.

I can find links for those last two claims later, but I'm too tired right now. Here are a bunch of other links to recent research about marijuana's properties:

Doubt cast on cannabis, schizophrenia link :

Effects of cannabis on lung function: a population...[Eur Respir J. 2009] - PubMed Result :

A population-based case-control study of marijuana...[Cancer Prev Res (Phila Pa). 2009] - PubMed Result :

Neuroimaging in cannabis use: a systematic review ...[Psychol Med. 2009] - PubMed Result :

Although with that one it's good to note that it doesn't cover the impact on adolescent brain function.

BioMed Central | Full text | Alcohol and cannabis use as risk factors for injury - a case-crossover analysis in a Swiss hospital emergency department

 

Great stuff there. +rep

 

For marijuana to be illegal doesn't necessarily means it's bad...
And because of it's legal status the govt. must make up some propaganda about marijuana being bad or people WILL ask why it is not ILLEGAL?
And also. do you know that people take it (smoke marijuana) for medical treatment? People could actually get a medical card (if they have chronic pain, etc...) and smoke and BUY marijuana from dispensaries...
Is tobacco(or alcohol, not sure of this one though, but I know over drinking does kill brain cells) EVER been used for a medical condition?
You just need a human mind and some common sense to know if it is really DANGEROUS or not...

 

....like everyone else. I would not recommend it to anyone 18yrs or under. Other then that.
It reverses the effects of cancer [or slows it down...], is this really true? Nicee...

It's better then cigarettes cause it does not have all those chemicals, like cyanide and rat poison.

It's better then alcohol cause you don't barf so much, if you know what your doing. [one effect that happens sometimes is nausea when you smoke weed, i don't see it happen frequently but i know you do cause someone i know did and she barfed in my car.]

You shouldn't drive high, it's not recommended cause you're technically impaired. [some of my buds love driving when high, depends on if your the type of person who's a better driver or not when high. he drives when drunk too so...eh.. ]

Another effect is short term memory loss, though i don't see it since it's the same as when i don't smoke.


...i feel like i should make a documentary about cannabis now...
or attempt to, but i think someone in my class though about it as well. they mentioned cannabis in class while i was zoning out...

 

DO THIS NOW, AND FEAR NO MORE!
Great, very very well made documentary.
Just always make sure to eat and stay hydrated while/after smoking. Besides that it takes like 1500 pounds in 15 minutes to over-dose.

Check this out too http://forum.grasscity.com/legalization-activism/453633-marijuana-vs-aspirin.html

Bayer{as in Bayer brand aspirin) used to make heroin! HEROIN!! for gods sake, it was sold in stores! Cannabis is THE safest medicine on the face of the planet, every other pharm drug can kill you.

Aspirin and ceffeine are deadly, cannabis never hurt anybody.

 

Heroin is not bad in and of itself. It is a very safe drug if administered properly. Not as safe as MJ, but it was used like morphine (without the side effects of morphine). It is still prescribed in a lot of the world, including Europe (the UK i am sure of, other specific countries i am not).

 

I think with all the crap and anti weed BS we have to deal with with everyone saying how bad it is, some of us go too far the other way, in saying it is COMPLETELY harmless. Yes, it has alot of good anti cancer properties and can have some good things to improve health. But in any sense, you are never healthier by inhaling burning plant material. I just got a cold and its mild but was wondering if it was possible that we get more colds than people who dont smoke weed, like cig smokers do (which I also smoke).