What Are the Effects of Habitual Marijuana Use on the Human Body?
Source: The National Institute on Drug Abuse
Question by David: What are the effects of habitual marijuana use on the human body?
I have seen the study that was made in 1975 that concluded that it kills brain cells, but has since been seen as outdated. I have also seen a lot of speculation that it reduces sperm count to 0. Simply put, what are the effects of marijuana on the human body? Good and bad as I am sure there are pros and cons. Please dont let this turn into a “drugs iz bad, don’t doooo drugzzzzzz” because I just genuinely want to know as I have been smoking pot for about four years now. Any help would be great. Please also cite evidence if any is readily available. Thank you =]
Best answer:
Answer by Jillian Galloway
Humans have used marijuana for more than 5,000 years, if it caused any significant problems we’d know all about them by now. But it doesn’t.
Don’t take my word for it though:
DEA Chief Administrative Law Judge Francis L. Young – “In strict medical terms marijuana is far safer than many foods we commonly consume. It is physically impossible to eat enough marijuana to induce death. Marijuana in its natural form is one of the safest therapeutically active substances known to man. Marijuana does not meet the legal criteria of a Schedule I prohibited drug and should be reclassified”.
Governor Raymond P. Shafer, Commission chairman of the National Commission on Marijuana and Drug Abuse (“the Shafer Commission”) – “the actual and potential harm of use of marijuana is not great enough to justify intrusion by the criminal law into private behavior” and recommended that “the possession of marijuana for personal use no longer be an offense, and that the casual distribution of small amounts of marijuana for no remuneration, or insignificant remuneration no longer be an offense”.
Dr. Donald Tashkin, author of the largest study ever conducted into marijuana and cancer – “We hypothesized that there would be a positive association between marijuana use and lung cancer, and that the association would be more positive with heavier use. What we found instead was no association at all, and even a suggestion of some protective effect”.
The Lancet (British medical journal) – “the smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health”.
So that’s the health aspects of marijuana, now lets look at its prohibition:
John P. Walters, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy – “Marijuana, not heroin or cocaine, is the “bread and butter,” “the center of gravity” for Mexican drug cartels that every year smuggle tons of it through the porous U.S.-Mexico border. Of the $ 13.8 billion that Americans contributed to Mexican drug traffickers in 2004-05, about 62 percent, or $ 8.6 billion, comes from marijuana consumption”.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton – “The killings, beheadings and bombings in Mexico are due to “our insatiable demand for illegal drugs”.
So, taxpayers pay $ 40 BILLION a year for the prohibition which *doesn’t* stop people smoking (so whatever “harms” it causes are with us anyway) and which empowers the sadistic drug cartels, resulting in the death of thousands of good people every year. We need to STOP people buying from the cartels, and the ONLY way to achieve this is by allowing legitimate businesses to produce and sell marijuana to adults with after-tax prices set too low for the cartels to match. We have to legalize marijuana.
Answer by Heather
It doesn’t kill brain cells, and as far as I know it doesn’t affect sperm count. Those “studies” were largely propaganda.
The only definite negative affect you get is from actually smoking, which can harm your lungs. Vaporizing or ingesting marijuana is much better.
EDIT: The answer below me was right in all but one thing… it doesn’t “treat” cancer, or affect cancer cells in any way. Chemotherapy treats the cancer, and marijuana helps with the nasty side effects of Chemo.
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