Cannabis and Addiction

Is cannabis addictive ?

As we were growing, we have always been warned to stay away from drugs, And we have also heard from the same source that cannabis is addictive and dangerous since it’s widely used by criminals to make them commit more crimes, along with making it’s Consumer aggressive and even bloodthirsty..

All that would encourage any sane person to never even think about using such substance..

But as Science evolves and with all the legalization mouvements in the world and in our country, It’s time to judge this plant rationally and search about the Science perspective regarding this topic.

Is cannabis safe ?

Short answer : Yes cannabis is safe for most people, You see ? The mention of “Most people” brings more and more Topics to the table to find a definitive answer for this question, But let’s start by giving some definitions.

Cannabis can be consumed by smoking it, Inhaling it’s vape or by Infusing it with food, but the result is mostly the same.

It’s one of the widely used “Drugs” in the world today -And it has been for quite a while-

But if it’s a drug then it surely is dangerous and addictive ?

It’s mostly safe for healthy adults to smoke such substance, atleast it’s safer than alcohol and tobacco which are widely used substances in our country

Useful link 1 : https://drugabuse.com/marijuana-vs-alcohol/

Useful link 2 : https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2012/01/98519/marijuana-shown-be-less-damaging-lungs-tobacco

But what’s safe for adults isn’t always a good idea for Children and Teenagers, As their brains are still developing, Consuming cannabis would Cause problems in the future

From Marijuana Use disorder which would make leaving the habit of consumption of cannabis harder than most people for them to other Mental health issues, Some studies suggest that the consumption of cannabis at a younger age could possibly be the cause of a mental health disorder such as bipolar disorder

It could also help Schizophrenia (or people whom have it in their genes) Manifest earlier and It could intensify it making the treatment harder..

source : https://www.webmd.com/schizophrenia/schizophrenia-marijuana-link

But that’s for teenagers, Why did we ban it’s use for healthy adults ? So many questions..

Marijuana use disorder and Addiction

Marijuana use disorder is a mental disorder where the users can’t easily quit using, Sometimes it even requires some form of medical assistance to help with the rehabilitation.

Starting the consumption at the early teenage years (12 and 13 years old, before 18 in general) would make the user 4-7 times more vulnerable and susceptible to have such a disorder.

This disorder isn’t really an addiction as much as it’s some sort of dependence and inability to quit smoking, it doesn’t cause the scary physical withdrawal symptoms..

Source : https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/marijuana/marijuana-addictive

So it’s more of a Mental addiction rather than physical addiction

But is that a good reason to ban such substance ?

Is that a valid crime to put people in jail for Holding and consumption of this substance ?

In my opinion, we are labeling people as criminals when they are actually innocent.

Cannabis and Overdose

A small research on the internet and you would conclude that marijuana or cannabis can’t cause an overdose unless you inhale 630Kg in less than 15 minutes which is quite impossible.

Someone would have to take 40,000 times the normal amount of cannabis to die. Other estimates say that a smoker “would theoretically have to consume nearly 1,500 pounds of marijuana within 15 minutes to induce a lethal response” or “smoke 20 to 40,000 joints with .9 grams of weed each before dying.”

source : https://potguide.com/blog/article/can-you-overdose-on-marijuana/

On the other hand Alcohol is responsible for 88,000 deaths a year in the U.S Only,

Tobacco kills 448,000 in the united states per year, Why are those substances legal in our country and cannabis isn’t ?

We will talk more about that in the future articles.