What health hazards can marijuana cause?

Answer 1

Marijuana is generally considered one of the least dangerous "drugs," but like everything in life anything that feels good it usually has some downsides. Just to get a few myths out of the way first, you cannot overdose or die from marijuana, it does not cause any long term affects to the brain (there have been NO studies that have conclusively shown marijuana has long term side effects to the brain, however it is possible that new side effects from very long term use may arise as the first "heavy users/stoners" grow into old age), marijuana is not physically addicting (your body will never grow a dependence for it), and finally marijuana by itself has never lead to one case of cancer.

While marijuana's long term side effects are not fully known, most of its short term side effects are. There is some loss of short term memory which is temporary and will usually only last a few days after smoking. Smoking it will impair motor skills and coordination a bit, in a similar fashion to taking nighttime cough medication will. Because of this, it is not recommended you drive or operate machinery until fully sober. While marijuana causes no physical dependence, it can become mentally addicting, similar to how Video Games or running can be mentally addicting. After consistent marijuana use, withdraw symptoms can occur. Quitting cold turkey can cause someone to become irritable and anxious, and most people notice a lack of appetite and trouble sleeping directly after quitting.

Most recently, studies are being done on the affects of marijuana with concern to mental disorders. Marijuana has been shown to increase the likely hood of some mental disorders, such as Bipolar disorder, to arise in patients who already have the illness but have not realized because the disorder was mild enough to lay dormant. However, this is a side effect that has just been discovered, so much is still unknown.