What do you think of Marijuana?

[Euphoria14]

Good read for all those who think it is SOOOO harmful.

What are the effects of cannabis?
Cannabis is not like alcohol. It's not like LSD. It's not like heroin. Every drug acts differently.

In many ways the effects of marijuana are much more subtle than those of alcohol. Even in high doses the sense of balance is not affected and speech is not slurred. Often there is remarkably little external evidence of use of the drug as users behave fairly normally. Marijuana may reduce anxiety and relax the user while at the same time intensifying experiences of the senses, such as sound, taste or touch. This often leads to the "munchies", a suddenly stimulated appetite. Cannabis tends to make people laugh more and often they like to engage in long conversations. People don't tend to feel bored as easily and their feeling of self-worth improves. It may reduce inhibitions without being associated with increased aggression as alcohol is.

Experience of time is slightly distorted, for example leading people who drive under its influence (something that we do not encourage!) to drive more slowly as they over-estimate their own speed (see an Australian study for a comparison of the traffic accidents risks of alcohol and cannabis).

Cannabis temporarily affects short term memory so users might be a little forgetful while the drug is effective. They don't always remember what they talked about in those conversations. Memory function returns to normal within a few hours.

As normally used it does not cause what are commonly called hallucinations. You don't see or hear things that aren't there. You don't forget who you are or where you are. You still know that you are under the influence of the drug.

With smoked marijuana the effects start within seconds and last one to four hours while with orally ingested marijuana the effects start after about an hour and can last from two hours to a whole day. The effects generally wear off more quickly than with alcohol, but they last longer than with tobacco, which is why marijuana smokers smoke far less than tobacco smokers. After the effects wear off there is no hangover and there are no withdrawal symptoms.

Marijuana is not effective for all people. Many who try it don't experience any effects at all. For others the effects are experienced as unpleasant and they never try it again. With novice users, excessive doses and in unpleasant surroundings there can be panic reactions, but all effects safely wear off within a few hours.

Though there is some concern about long term effects of smoke in general, marijuana as such is non-toxic and it does not harm the brain, liver or other organs. None of the risks associated with smoking (primarily bronchitis) apply to marijuana consumed in food (e.g. cookies, tea).

There is no known case of a single person ever dying from an overdose of marijuana. It is safer to take too much marijuana than too much aspirin, a common over-the-counter medicine. 50 doses of aspirin are lethal, but it takes an estimated 40,000 doses of marijuana.