There are serious health risks from smoking cannabis. Many people who smoke cannabis also use tobacco, so the risks are in addition to the harm caused by smoking.
• None of the 7,000+ studies into cannabis have shown it to be safe.
• Cannabis contains more than 400 chemicals, including most toxins found in tobacco smoke but often in higher concentrations.
• People who smoke cannabis are likely to develop respiratory problems like tobacco smokers – cough, phlegm, chest colds and bronchitis.
• Half of regular users have pre-cancerous changes in the cells of the lungs.
• The risk of a heart attack is four times higher than usual in the hour after smoking cannabis.
• Cannabis is the most common illegal drug in the UK.
• Cannabis users are more likely to use other drugs, such as cocaine.
• Reaction times for skills such as driving are reduced by 41% after smoking one joint and by 63% after smoking two
Cannabis is a general term for several psychoactive preparations of the hemp plant, cannabis sativa. They include marijuana leaf (grass, pot, dope, weed or reefers), sinsemilla (skunk) made from buds and flowers of female plants, resin (bhang, ganja, hashish) from the flowering heads of the plant and hashish oil, a tar-like liquid distilled from hashish.
Cannabis contains over 60 cannabinoids.
The most active constituent is THC (delta-9- tetrahydrocannabinol).
THC can be detected in urine weeks after using cannabis. All forms of cannabis are mind - altering drugs.
Cannabis is mildly hallucinogenic; the effects of cannabis depends on the strength of the THC it contains. Most marijuana leaf has an average of 9% THC; sinsemilla has an average of 15%; hashish has an average of 5% and hashish oil has an average of 20%. Today’s cannabis is up to ten times stronger than cannabis used in the 1970s.
It is usually smoked as a cigarette or ‘joint’, in a pipe (or bong) or as ‘blunts’, which are marijuana ‘cigars’ sometimes combined with other drugs, such as crack. Cannabis is also added to food or brewed as a tea.
Nicotine is more addictive than cannabis. But a recent study found that when abstaining from cannabis for just three days, regular users had withdrawal symptoms such as cravings, decreased appetite, sleep difficulty, weight loss, anger, irritability and restlessness. Cannabis use is three times more likely to lead to dependency among young people than adults.
The younger someone starts using cannabis, the more likely that person is to experiment with other drugs. The effects of cannabis can interfere with learning by impairing thinking, reading, verbal and mathematical skills. Studies show that students do not remember what they learned when they were 'high'.
Smoking 3-5 cannabis cigarettes is as dangerous as smoking 20 tobacco cigarettes. People who smoke cannabis draw more smoke, inhale more deeply and hold it in the lungs for longer. Cannabis cigarettes have no filter and deliver four times more tar than tobacco cigarettes.
Short-term effects of smoking cannabis
• Dry mouth.
• Problems with memory and learning.
• Trouble thinking and problem-solving.
• Loss of motor coordination.
• Increased heart rate and anxiety.
• Distorted perceptions – sight, sound, time, touch.
Researchers studied the health of 450 people who smoke cannabis daily but did not use tobacco. They found that people who smoke cannabis have more sick days and more doctor visits for chest problems and other illnesses than a similar group who did not smoke.
The smoke from cannabis contains carbon monoxide that reduces the body’s ability to carry oxygen. Cannabis use increases the heart rate by up to 50%. It can cause chest pain in people with poor blood supply to the heart.
THC changes how sensory information gets into the hippocampus – the brain’s system for learning, memory and emotions. THC suppresses neurons in the information processing system of the hippocampus. Cannabis also contributes to mental health problems
Cannabis use can cause a temporary loss of fertility in men and women. It is particularly harmful to young people as, at this age, they are undergoing a period of rapid physical and sexual development.
Smoking cannabis during pregnancy can result in premature babies and low birth weights. Babies born to women who used cannabis during pregnancy show altered responses to visual stimulation, increased tremors, and a high-pitched cry. This signals problems with the development of the nervous system.
People who smoke cannabis have the same respiratory problems as tobacco smokers – coughs, chronic bronchitis & phlegm. Cannabis smoke deposits about 3 to 5 times more carbon monoxide and tar on the lungs than tobacco smoke. A study of 450 people who smoke cannabis regularly took lung biopsies and found that half had pre - cancerous cells abnormalities.
