WHAT ARE WEED RISKS?

Because of its Schedule 1 classification, research on marijuana in the U.S. is highly restricted. Long-term clinical trials are complicated and costly. Since 1968 only the University of Mississippi has been allowed to grow weed for research.

In 2016 the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine conducted a in-depth review of existing evidence on the health effects of cannabis and cannabinoids use. In 2017 they issued a report which found:

Long-term smoking is bad for your lungs.
Driving while high increases your risk of getting in an accident.
Very little is known about the efficacy, dose, routes of administration, or side effects of commonly used and commercial cannabis.
Heavy users are more likely to report thoughts of suicide than non-users, and in individuals with bipolar disorder, near-daily cannabis users show increased symptoms of the disorder than non-users.
Smoking cannabis during pregnancy is linked to lower birth weight but the relationship with other pregnancy and childhood outcomes is unclear.
In states where cannabis use is legal, there is increased risk of unintentional cannabis overdose injuries among children.
Unlike alcohol or tobacco, no accepted standards exist to help people decide how to use cannabis safely and effectively.
Recent cannabis use impairs learning, memory, and attention.
Cannabis use during adolescence impairs academic achievement and education, employment and income, and social relationships and social roles.
For individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorders, near daily cannabis use may be linked to greater symptoms of bipolar disorder than non-users.
Heavy cannabis users are more likely to report thoughts of suicide than non- users.
Regular cannabis use is likely to increase the risk for developing social anxiety disorder.
There is substantial evidence of a statistical association between cannabis use and the development of schizophrenia or other psychoses, with the highest risk among the most frequent users.
In individuals with schizophrenia and other psychoses, a history of cannabis use may be linked to better performance on learning and memory tasks.
Greater frequency of cannabis use increases the likelihood of developing problem cannabis use.
Initiating cannabis use at a younger age increases the likelihood of developing problem cannabis use.

So there’s that.

And while you’ll often heard it said no one has ever diedof a cannabis overdose there are short and long-term effects and it’s important you know them.

On the bright side, the reason you don’t often see cannabis and death in the same sentence is because cannabis is practically impossible to overdose on.

According to The Weed Blog in order to overdose you’d have to consume over 1,000 pounds in less than 15 minutes.

Compared to other narcotics the risk of physical addiction is low.

As with all addictions, dependencies, however you define it—like many things that are bad for us like coffee, relationships, FB—quitting can trigger nasty withdrawal symptoms, but with cannabis they’re usually short-lived and non life-threatening.