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Cannabis long-term effects

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jbonetwo

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Feb 5, 2009
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Ok, this is the second time someone's told me that smoking weed can have long term effects.
first was a social worker who assists a psychiatric nurse
second was i assume a doctor/counsellor

i know about paranoid schizophrenia in some cases.
but that aside i dont think there are ANY long term effects from weed.

i smoke about 1.6-2g skunk from morning to night for about a 2 years, and today, 3 years later, i have no memory problems watsoever, my iq's gone up if anything, and the only other 'different' thing i can think of is that i cant turn my dreams into orgies of big breasted blondes anymore like i used to. also my sleep paralysis has been cured.

correct me if im wrong here, but were these ppl full if $hit??
or are there long term effects from marijuana? specifically skunk.,,

thx
 
^^^^but of course so does sugar, fat, caffeine, oxygen.....

everything has long term effects. what you have to balance is the short (or long) term benefits against the effects

in weeds case, if you are smoking (or better yet vaping) high quality organic bud, the effects are going to be relatively small, and mostly physical, although if you were to quit there would be some short term withdrawal like symptoms, such as low energy and a hard time sleeping, these being very minor and likely to go away within a week or so.

on the other hand, if you are smoking pounds of schwag, thats where you run into problems. however, these problems are not usually caused by weed, but by the fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides that are used in the growing process.
 
In the somewhat recent past there have been a number of studies linking cannabis to depression, schizophrenia, or other psychosis. Although these studies clearly show a correllation between cannabis use and psychosis, correllation is NOT causation. It is clear people with metal illness or depression are more likely to use cannabis, this isn't the likely cause of their ailment.

Cannabis has also been linked to respiratory problems related to smoke inhalation, such as persistant cough. However, cannabis has now been shown to cause cancer, heart disease, or any of the other diseases caused by tobacco smoke inhalation. In fact, cannabis has been used to treat asthma.

It is important to remember that, while cannabis alone does not appear to cause long term mental or physical side effects, it can contribute to these problems. I wouldn't suggest heavy cannabis use to someone who had a history of psychosis or serious respiratory problems. Cannabis can also potentiate other drugs, so be careful when combining it with other recreational drugs, like alcohol, especially when driving.

I've heard many people say that smoking cannabis, especially before bedtime, makes it hard for them to dream, or at least remember their dreams. Having never been able to remember or control my dreams very well, I haven't missed 'em. My understanding is that it lengthens the sleep cycle or something. This can also make you want to sleep more, or seem tired when you wake up at your normal time because you haven't completed the sleep cycle. I find it interesting that you say it has cured your sleep paralysis. I used to suffer from periods of both late night, and early waking insomnia that I have been able to manage with my cannabis use. I wish there was more information on medical use of cannabis for sleep disorders, but the focus is mainly on cancer, AIDS, and pain management.

I smoke about the same amount as you and I have noticed a persistant, but not particularly harsh cough. I'm willing to put up with a bit of a cough for a pain-free spine and the ability to sleep at night. In general there is far more evidence in support of cannabis as a safe meducine than there is against it. In fact, there cannabis is safer than most over the counter drugs. Asprin kills around 7500 people a year in American alone. Cannabis kills 0.
 
Once you come down from being chronically high, I am quite certain that is it. No effects after that.
 
I smoked everyday (nearly) for twenty plus years. Besides mild depression from too much, I experienced no mental illness from the herb. I believe that those who develop mental/psychiatric problems with cannabis, will, more than likely develop these problems anyway. However, that being said I could be completely wrong!

I've pretty much quit the herb, except for special occasions. My reason for quitting was simply that it was fucking up my lungs. Smoking anything on a regular basis is not good for you and I don't care what anybody says to the opposite. I quit tobbacco at the same time and I'm feeling pretty good and not a little smug for doing so...Lol :p
 
i agree that correlation is not causation. i started using cannabis when my ssri's had NO impact on curing my depression/anxiety disorder. it might have been a combination of the high amounts of skunk and the citaloparm that resulted in both a curing of the sleep paralysis, and the inability to control or manipulate dreams.
after going through cannabis and citalopram withdrawal, i found my iq increased significantly from 124 to 162(cma scale).
ive smoked about 3 times in the last 5 years and considering the relatively high amounts (1/8th every 2 days), and the fact that i was taking it alongside 40mg citalopram (which by the way the nhs direct website says is acceptible as long as the marijuana is not the cause of the depression), and i still dont see any long term impairment of cognitive functions.
of course my depression/anxiety disorder is still an ongoing problem - been prescribed sertraline upto 150mg with NO positive effects. about the only thing that works is 10mg diazepam twice a day, but of course my gp refuses to prescribe such a high dose for more than 5 days (he's worried ill get physically addicted to it).
to be completely honest, the nhs is completely useless, my gp took me off 20mg diazepam a day and said itd be safe to drink the next day, and i had disastrous results, and from the information i gathered from this forum, it was highly unprofessional advice as the half life of diazepam can be upto 100 hours. and since i had only 20 hourse before i started drinking again, i entered a state of psychosis/neurosis/mania/suicidality.
took 30mg diazepam along with incredible amounts of alcohol (at least 16-20 units) and to be honest im glad im still alive today.
my ecg showed an average heart rate of 126bpm,which for some reason doesnt concern my gp at all.
anyway....so far wat ive gathered from the responses so far is that there an NO long term effects from prolonged use of high doses of skunk, and that the people who told me otherwise were full of it.
anyone else with a contradictory opinion?
 
you have to look at the percent of people who smoke bud and acquire a mental illness. Then compare it to the overall population. if it is drastically higher, then their might be an actual correlation. Depression for example effects 25 to 30 percent of college undergraduates at some point in their college career. Now if the percentage was lets say 50-70 percent for college undergraduates who smoke herb then yes this might be a plausible explanation. I really do not believe this is the case though so I call bullshit.

But remember what every psych professor says, correlation does not equal causation.
 
if there is one useful thing that my psych teacher taught me its that you can't trust anything at face value, even intelligent doctors lack common sense or will let their personal feelings for the drugs get in the way of good medicine
 
im well aware of the correlation does not equal causation fact. doing a degree in psychology...
but this person told me 'there are MANY long term effects from smoking marijuana'
to which i enquired 'can you name some of these, besides paranoid schizophrenia?'
'there's so many that i can't go into details about it now. also i cant talk for long since this number would be engaged for too long and others might need to talk to us'

sounded like complete and utter bullshit to me...

i need to see a proper psychiatrist....someone with a lot more experience with mental disorders and psychopharmacology.
 
I don't understand how it could not have effected your memory?

It is well known that it does effect your memory quite a bit.

I've been smoking everyday for 1.2 years and my memory is shot as fvck.
 
jbonetwo said:
im well aware of the correlation does not equal causation fact. doing a degree in psychology...
but this person told me 'there are MANY long term effects from smoking marijuana'
to which i enquired 'can you name some of these, besides paranoid schizophrenia?'
'there's so many that i can't go into details about it now. also i cant talk for long since this number would be engaged for too long and others might need to talk to us'

sounded like complete and utter bullshit to me...

i need to see a proper psychiatrist....someone with a lot more experience with mental disorders and psychopharmacology.
Click to expand...

there are many long term effects from smoking marijuana but they are complex, sometimes subtle and you're never going to get everyone to agree on them. much more research is needed. however, if you're interested, i suggest starting by reading these two reviews:


http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/health-pubs-drug-cannab2-home.htm

http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geu.mdu...quence+cannabis&d=CQEvyQ-YSLZw&icp=1&.intl=us
 
I used to abuse cannabis heavily in my teenage years. Binge toking. Now, I cannot handle one hit. It sends me into a horrible panic attack every time.

Too bad, since I love the plant and its asthetic properties.
 
I know a few people around the ages of 28-30 and they have smoked nearly every day the past 10 years... and they are slow as fuck.. Critical thinking has gone out the window.

I smoke weed ocasionally.. moderation 4tmfw
 
I don't believe that cannabis is directly the reason your friends are "slow as fuck". The problem with being stoned all the time is not that it is likely to cause brain damage, but that it accommodates intellectual laziness. When I'm stoned, I find I'm much more content with being bored, watching TV, and thinking a lot about stupid things; things that don't really matter. If you smoke once or twice a week on weekends, any potential consequences are going to be minimal at worst, but there's no question that being permastoned for ten years is going to retard mental development.
 
most pot heads that smoke everyday for an extended period have lost so much touch with reality that even their closest friends won't tell them how mental they are. It starts out with you telling tales about the crazy potheads you meet along the way that you laugh about and say you'll never become one but most of the time you either become one and are so deep in deniel that you don't realise it or you quit or dramtically cut down your usage.

Decisions decisions
 
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