Effects of Marijuana
Lighting up is fun but understanding it's effects on your body is important and a prerequisite for being an informed smoker - let's get right to it and explore cannabis and the human body.
If you're not a regular smoker and haven't seen many stoner movies let me introduce a common occurrence in a smoke session, what were we talking about? This is not just because of all the new and exciting thoughts you experience when smoking, scientists have found a link between previous pot smokers and abnormally shaped brains! Specific regions in your brain are accountable for short term memory, and those regions in some smokers are mishapen, leading to a worse showing in memory testing. Some smoker's "thinking muscles" even look similar to the brain's of schizophrenia patients! There are no definite results on the connection between cannabis and schizophrenia in adults.
Your blood vessels are responsible for carrying oxygen to and from your heart, this is important for human beings as without sufficient oxygen flow you open yourself up to a plethora of health concerns. A study by the AHA (American Heart Association) used two rats to test the drug's effect on blood vessels, one inflicted with a minutes worth of cannabis smoke, the other tobacco. Surprisingly the cigarette smoking rat only needed 30 minutes for it's blood vessels to return to full strength while the stoned rat needed 90 or more minutes. These temporary effects become more impactful the longer you use a substance. Not enough long term studies have been done on the health effects of cannabis but be aware of theses tests - if you experience dizziness, numb fingertips or toes it is probably time to pass on that next joint.
Researchers have proposed a scary connection between alzheimer's and cannabis use. The poor blood flow that occurs when smoking coupled with the long term effects it has on your brain may lead to alzheimer's. At the moment this just a hypothesis, but defiantly something smokers new or old should keep in mind. A study lasting two decades also yielded some unruly results, smoking cannabis regularly may negatively impact your cognitive function while killing brain cells and increasing the likelihood of experiencing psychotic symptoms. This is an older study - and we are awaiting new information about these scary possibilities.
The important aspect to keep in mind, is that each strain of cannabis will provide different effects (and flavors), and cultivators strive to produce new effects by combining two different strains with their desired properties.
Marijuana smokers are type-casted as lazy or calm individuals who can't say no to a snack in pop culture, but what does the science say? A singular study has noted that getting high can increase your blood pressure, so much so that it triples your risk of dying from hypertension. Always take it slow when toking, do not let peer pressure lead you to a joint you're not comfortable smoking.For a large number of users, the primary factor to consider, is the type of marijuana. While not always the case, it is a reasonable rule of thumb to consider indica strains as the ones which are best for the evening, and helping users to get to sleep. Whereas the sativa strains are often used to stimulate creativity, and focus - and many users will even accompany these strains with their morning coffee.
Are you using cannabis when creating, are you hoping that last toke will finish writing that gnarly riff for you? Stick to the stuff grown outdoors - A european study found smoking weed with a high THC content limited participants ability to come up with creative solutions to a proposed problem when compared to their sober study-mates. The great rock and roll musicians of the 70's weren't smoking Green Crack mixed with Huckleberry Smoke-Coma, as cannabis growing has only recently begun to yield such powerful crops.
This may seem like a lot to take in at once, and it is - just keep in mind that marijuana has not been studied properly due to its illegality and these results may not be accurate. If you experience any symptoms noted here; breathlessness, dizziness, negative impact on short term memory, psychotic thoughts or even just a dulled sense of creativity it might be worth slowing down on the smoke!
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