Heavy Marijuana Smokers Face Numerous Health Risks

The issue of legalizing marijuana will be passionately debated for a long time to come. People on both sides of the issue are well versed in their facts, figures and statistics. However, from a medical perspective, the problems arising from consistent use of marijuana are considerable.

There is a general consensus that marijuana does not have the devastating medical effects of heroin, cocaine or excess alcohol use. Yet, it is still not harmless. For regular marijuana users face increased risk of cancer of the lungs and other respiratory ailments common to cigarette smokers.

In fact, marijuana contains 5o to 70 percent more carcinogenic hydrocarbons than cigarettes. Since marijuana smoking requires users to hold the smoke inside their lungs longer than a cigarette smoker does, common sense indicates an elevated risk to the lungs of marijuana users.

Marijuana has also been proven to inhibit the ability of key immune cells in our body. This means we become more prone to contracting bacterial infections or other ailments.

And a frightening side effect of marijuana use is its impact on specific nerve cells in our brains which influence pleasure, memory, concentration, coordination, sensory and time perception. It seems marijuana has a negative impact on these cells. Repeated studies among people who use marijuana on a near daily routine found that critical skills related to attention, memory, and learning were significantly impaired. Additionally, the studies repeatedly show these impairments continued for days or weeks after the subjects had ceased smoking marijuana.

As with other drugs, marijuana is linked to behavioral and mental defects to unborn children whose mother's smoke marijuana while pregnant.

Research repeatedly has determined that consistent marijuana use is associated with depression, anxiety, paranoia and personality disorders. As a rule, these same studies show that marijuana has a tendency to make those troubles people are escaping from only worse.

Finally, there is the issue of addiction. This remains hotly debated as to whether people become addicted to marijuana. What is not debated, though, is that people become dependent upon marijuana. Indeed, the number of people seeking treatment for this dependence has risen dramatically over the past decade.

Studies of students who smoke marijuana almost daily shows a decrease in their ability to process information as quickly as those students who do not smoke marijuana. In other words, some intellectual properties may actually be reduced as a result of marijuana use.

It appears that in the debate over the use of marijuana both sides have staked out their territories and are not going to win each other over to their opinion. Regrettably, even those who read objective medical studies find reasons to doubt the data.

However, most health care professionals believe the dangers of regularly using marijuana are considerable and suggest, at the least, that their patients honestly approach the controversy.