Marijuana Q&A

CBD has no effect on the pleasure scale. Most of its effects occur in the body but not the brain.

There are many drugs that are dangerous but also have important use in medicine. Opiate drugs like oxycodone are useful to treat pain but are very dangerous when used for recreation. When used in medicine, these drugs have to be closely monitored by doctors, and even then they can be dangerous.

A huge factor in the legalization of marijuana is the economic benefits of the marijuana market. Making weed legal has opened jobs and investment opportunities that were not around before. Long story short; there is a lot of money to be made in the legalization of marijuana. Another factor is that the health effects of marijuana are modest compared to other illegal drugs, but there is still a risk in abusing marijuana just like other drugs.

There is very little evidence that cannabis helps cancer. Some cancer symptoms, like nausea and pain, do respond to cannabis and can be used by cancer patients to help. Cannabis does not cure cancer or slow the growth of cancer.

I don’t know. A change in color usually reflects an injury, which over time will lead to disease.

Some drugs, like alcohol and opiates (oxy) interfere with the brain’s ability to record memories. If that happens, the user is taking a dangerous dose. They will likely become addicted or soon will.

Just like weed activates the pleasure part of the brain, it also activates the part of the brain that makes you hungry. It is an effect that doesn’t last long, and regular users lose the munchies after using for a few months. Many drugs do more than make you high, and the munchies are a side effect of weed.

Appetite stimulation is a side effect of weed. It activates the body’s own natural cannabis compounds, called “endocannabinoids” which work exactly like the cannabinoids that are ingested when using weed. This natural system is part of the brain system that regulates appetite.

They might not understand what “addiction” means: trouble stopping, using too much, using too often. Addicted people are aware of the problems being caused by the drug but continue to use even though the use is causing them problems. A major sign of addiction is the appearance of craving, a strong desire to use that takes over. Often “addiction” is mistaken for the sickness that some drugs cause when stopping. “Tolerance” and “withdrawal” are signs of “physical dependence” which very often accompanies addiction.

A common way to refer to people who are addicted to a drug is to call them a “head.” It comes from a term in the 60s when regular cannabis users were called “heads.” Or “pot heads.” The use of the term broadened in subsequent years, and applied to other addictions like “meth heads and” “coke heads”.

Use of concentrated forms of cannabis, including the vape pen, wax, hash, oil, and some edibles, are way, way too strong. It is hard to adjust how much is taken, and excessive intoxication is very common in regular users of the pen. Risk of addiction is very much increased in users of concentrated forms of cannabis. Going to a party of potheads can be boring, since everybody just sits and stares.

Interaction with the Endocannabinoid System (ECS) The ECS is a network of receptors throughout the brain and body that helps regulate mood, memory, appetite, and perception. THC mimics the body’s natural cannabinoids, such as anandamide, known as the “bliss molecule,” and binds to CB1 receptors, which are highly concentrated in the brain. Effects on the brain Dopamine Release: THC increases dopamine levels, producing feelings of pleasure and euphoria. Altered Perception: Changes in sensory processing can cause time distortion and heightened senses. Cognitive Effects: THC affects memory, attention, and coordination by disrupting everyday communication between neurons. Relaxation or Anxiety: Depending on the dose, strain, and individual factors, marijuana can either induce relaxation or trigger anxiety and paranoia. Duration & comedown The high lasts 1–3 hours when smoked and 4–8 hours when consumed as an edible. As THC is metabolized, effects gradually fade, sometimes leaving behind drowsiness or mental fog (the “come-down” effect). The intensity and high depend on dose, strain, individual tolerance, and method of consumption.

Interference with the brain function is usually worse with alcohol, since it interferes with thinking and muscle coordination. However, weed makes the brain work more slowly and it’s hard to concentrate on it.

CBD has several sources in the hemp family, including the hemp plant and cannabis. The amounts of CBD are very low in hemp (“ditch weed”), and range to high levels in cannabis. Although it doesn’t appear to be intoxicating, there is no medical evidence that it does much of anything. It often makes you feel like you’re going to feel better, but it might not be doing anything except making you think it’s doing something.

Wax (cannabis extract) is much more dangerous than weed. The amount of alcohol is the same in beer and whiskey, but if whiskey is used, the intoxication comes on more quickly and higher, making users get drunk after three drinks. Wax is a high-concentration form of cannabis, and it produces a quicker and more intense high. High intensity drugs like wax lead to brain neuroadaption and addiction much, much more rapidly than smoking a joint. Wax should not be used by new users as it will get them into trouble much more quickly.

What I tell them is that I care about them, and it is upsetting to see them harm themselves. I ask them to take a week and try not to use (“The Experiment”). If a user can’t go a week without using and craving, they are in big trouble. It means that the drug is controlling them. Most people hate being controlled, especially by a chemical. It really helps users if you don’t use around them. If you do, you are causing harm to your friend. Everyone knows someone who uses too much, and offering them support (walking, exercising, sports, sober hanging out) make a big difference.

Marijuana causes a moderate high. It does not produce overdose, and many people use it to enhance music, sex, hanging out. However, it produces addiction, which is difficult to treat: withdrawal symptoms include problems sleeping, boredom, irritability, and craving.

Early onset use produces injury to the developing brain, slowing brain development. Teens who start using at a young age act immature and childlike. They tend to act on impulse and have trouble concentrating.

The amount of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis) varies widely across different forms of cannabis products. Some products contain very high concentrations of THC, especially those that have been processed or concentrated. Here’s a breakdown of some cannabis products with the highest THC content: Cannabis concentrates THC oil Edibles Cannabis flowers THC capsules or tinctures

Severe intoxication results from both alcohol and cannabis (and other drugs) used together. The brain is too stoned, judgment is impaired, inhibitions are weakened, and dangerous behavior is the result. Combining drugs leads much faster to the brain changes of addiction, and it is much harder to recover caused by mixing drugs.

Marijuana is commonly used with alcohol. Certainly, it makes the user more stoned, but the main effect is on driving: Marijuana has a negative effect on driving during the first 30 to 60 minutes after ingestion, and then the impact lessens. However, adding the alcohol seen in one beer to marijuana will dramatically impact driving; for drivers, the two should never be mixed. The risk is significant. A big problem for users is that they really can’t tell how impaired they are, and often underestimate how impaired they are.

People, especially teens, become addicted to weed and can’t stop using without going through withdrawal. Heavy users just sit around, do very little, have trouble concentrating, get bored, and inactive. They only like hanging out with other stoners, and stop doing other pleasurable things, like sports, music, clubs.

CBD oil is not psychoactive and doesn’t cause harm. Further research is necessary to decide if CBD oil does anything.

I’m sorry that some kids are exposing you to drug use. They should cut it out; it is definitely uncool. Smelling smoke or vapor from drug using devices doesn’t produce a detectable level of drug in your system and there is no risk to you.

It is possible to get addicted to weed. “Addiction” means trouble controlling the amount used, the use is causing problems for the user, the user develops craving for the drug, and when craving can talk themselves into using when they are trying not to. Additionally, weed causes “physical dependence” meaning that when people addicted to weed stop using, they develop symptoms: users get verbally nasty to the people around them, have nightmares and weird dreams, and crave the drug. A simple test is to put yourself around the drug but decide in advance that you are not going to use it; if there is no craving, and it is easy not to use, there is not any addiction yet.

Marijuana doesn’t cause mortality it doesn’t affect the brain’s centers that control breathing or heartbeat.

One hit of weed won’t hurt you. However, there is a high risk that you will like it and want to do it again. It takes a few weeks for addiction to start, and then it becomes a very big deal.

Wax is more dangerous than weed. When concentrates are used, the active ingredients are present in much higher amounts, they enter the brain faster, they produce a peak of concentration in the brain which injures the chemistry that is needed to get high (or enjoy everything else because the chemistry is damaged.). To get high, the amounts used go up and up, as it gets harder and harder to get high. This is injury to the pleasure system, and will produce much worse withdrawal symptoms including nightmares, low appetite, no motivation, sleepiness, problems with remembering, and BOREDOM. Very quickly, the user finds that they can only feel well when they use, more and more. They enter the “wake and bake” phase, in which they need to smoke before they get out of bed or first thing in the morning. They have crossed the line into addiction; it will always get worse unless they stop using, get away from it, and find another way to have fun, especially with exercise. This process of using a drug that seriously overstimulates the pleasure chemistry (and the body’s own natural cannabis) lead to addiction, which is very hard to treat. There are many people who have stopped smoking weed, especially the concentrates (wax, glass) and they are doing fine. They had to work to get and stay sober, but all of them are glad they did it. It takes courage to fight addiction.

Yes. Cannabinoids affect the heart producing fast heart rate, and dilation of blood vessels. For people with heart disease, these effects can be dangerous. For most people, the effects outside of the brain aren’t dangerous, but there are definitely effects.

Smoking anything a lot, nicotine and weed, is a strong sign of addiction. Try not to use it: if withdrawal symptoms appear, you are addicted.

Whether marijuana is used for medical purposes, like reducing nausea, or used for recreation, the drug changes the brain leading to boredom, irritability, excess sleeping, and loss of interest in things that they used to enjoy.

Marijuana has very little research that shows a beneficial effect. There is a rare form of epilepsy that can be treated with THC, and some cancer patients use marijuana to reduce nausea and promote appetite. However, extensive research suggests that moderate use of marijuana is not harmful and leads to feelings of pleasure and relaxation. Addiction is common among potheads, which they often don’t discover until they try to stop using and get super irritable and negative.

Cannabis is both chemically and behaviorally addicting. Use of all drugs, definitely including cannabis, change the way the brain functions (“neuroadaptation”), so that more and more has to be used, and with negative consequences on how they feel when sober. Behaviorally, users of weed become less active, more bored, sleep a lot, and get very irritable and nasty when they are not using. A serious sign of impairment from weed is “procrastination” in which they just can’t start doing anything. They sit and do less and less. They only like the way they feel when they are high.

Cannabis is both chemically and behaviorally addicting. Use of all drugs, definitely including cannabis, change the way the brain functions (“neuroadaptation”), so that more and more has to be used, and with negative consequences on how they feel when sober. Behaviorally, users of weed become less active, more bored, sleep a lot, and get very irritable and nasty when they are not using. A serious sign of impairment from weed is “procrastination” in which they just can’t start doing anything. They sit and do less and less. They only like the way they feel when they are high.

Hell yes. It produces physical dependence with a nasty withdrawal syndrome that gets worse and worse every time you go through it. Even when cannabis addicted teens try to control their use, they will lose control over it and then they are being controlled by the drug. Use becomes compulsive, causes adverse consequences that get worse and worse, leads to craving, and then you will find yourself making excuses to use. It is really hard to get off of weed.

Some teens can try weed and experiment with it. Others may try weed, and become addicted to it, and should not even try it. Teens need to know if they are at higher risk: the chances of getting into serious drugs goes way up if there is a family history of addiction, presence of anxiety, depression, or boredom, and a history of unwanted sexual contact before the age of 13 or currently. For these teens, the drug works too well, and does things beyond getting you high; drugs give these teens a feeling that they are better when they use, even though below the surface, the drug is harming them. Exercise is a safe way to feel better, and will help, not hurt.

Both drugs interfere with safe driving. Alcohol makes muscles get uncoordinated and alcohol intoxication makes users fail to appreciate danger. On weed, it takes more time to react to changes around them, and they also don’t appreciate when something dangerous is happening. Although using weed and alcohol interfere with driving, the combination of even small amounts of alcohol plus small amounts of weed is much, much more likely to lead to accidents.

No. A wax pen is used to smoke highly concentrated cannabis. In weed, a THC concentration is below 30%. Flower like Bruce Banner or Purple Kush are around 28% to 30%. This is very strong weed. Concentrates can approach 100% THC and is WAY TOO STRONG. This strength is nearly incapacitating, and very quickly leads to tolerance/withdrawal and addiction. These concentrates are fine if all you want to do is sit and stare. No one should drive on this high strength, and it is risky to mix it with alcohol.

Yes. If the problem is boredom or negativity, use of weed will improve how they feel into interested and normal. Repeated use injures the brain’s pleasure system, and the initial boredom and negativity comes back worse and worse. Using drugs to promote interest and feeling better

Drugs of abuse all activate specific chemical pathways in the brain, especially the part of the brain that senses pleasure and reward. Overuse of substances causes the brain to “neuroadapt” leading to the need to use larger and stronger doses to get high (tolerance) and a crash after using, going as low as you were high. Weed, alcohol and nicotine all overstimulate the pleasure system, so that using all three leads to appearance of tolerance/withdrawal sooner. Someone using a lot of drugs should ask themselves if they’re doing it only to get high, or because their sad, angry, bored, depressed, anxious. When a drug is used for more than just getting high, risk of relying on the drug to feel better sets in, higher risk of addiction, and worsening of their unhappiness

Weed is relatively safe and can be used recreationally for some people (unless there are risk factors for addiction or mental illness). However high dose or frequent use forces the brain adapt, leading to more and more boredom, longer and longer periods of being stoned, and risk depression, anxiety. Regular users who can’t use get really nasty and say bad things, even to people they love. Regular users do less and less and spend their time sleeping and staring. Regular users masturbate frequently, but often are unable to achieve orgasm.

It depends on how it is used and how strong it is. Vaping concentrates can start addiction in a week of daily use, and it gets worse from there. Withdrawal becomes a serious barrier to stopping. Smoking flower on an occasional basis (once or twice per week) doesn’t usually lead to addiction to cannabis but daily use will.

Weed does not cause death. The muscles that control breathing, and heartbeat aren’t affected by weed. Usually an OD means you go to sleep, but rarely can cause panic attacks which are terrifying.

It has no effect on anyone. It can irritate the airways but doesn’t reach a high enough level to cause any drug effects.

From one hit, about three days. A week of use produces positive tests for up to one month.

It depends on how strong the drug is and how it is used. If a drug is very strong, and it is used in a format that produces rapid onset of intoxication (smoking, vaping, injection), tolerance appears very quickly, within a week to two. If use stops then, and not used for a month and then re-started, the original tolerance will return in a matter of days. People with tolerance will always experience negative feelings and high craving. Tolerance to nicotine develops in one day.

It’s almost impossible for a test to turn positive for weed from second-hand smoke. It would take 9 people smoking weed in a space the size of a phone booth to turn the test positive; if that should happen, it will clear out of the system within 3 days.

Weed is a medium potency drug that makes people feel good. For people who don’t have risk factors for addiction, use less that once per week doesn’t lead to brain changes that develop into addiction. However, for bored, sad or anxious people, it does more than makes them high, but also makes them feel better so that they want to do it again. There is a progression from “liking” to “wanting” to “needing it” to “requiring it to function normally.

Fairly easy, especially with strong weed, dabs, concentrates. They are too strong, and quickly change the brain. Use of weed more than 3 out of 7 times in a week will start brain changes, leading to addiction. A good sign to watch for is when weed doesn’t do as much as at first, and higher and higher doses are needed to get high and avoid withdrawal.

Marijuana gets you high primarily through tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), its main psychoactive compound. Here’s how it works: Inhalation or ingestion

Although weed is used mainly because it makes you feel good, it can also reduce nausea and help sleep. Many chemicals can make you high, but also have uses in medicine. A good example is opium (which contains heroin). If used as a drug, opium produces a strong high, but it also relieves pain and helps with sleep.

There are no known deaths related to weed. It doesn’t cause overdose because it doesn’t affect the muscles of breathing.

The chemicals are used to put THC into a soluble form that can be vaped. There is a national outbreak of fatal lung disease, probably because the dope is mixed with Vitamin E acetate which inflames the lungs. Many of the chemicals cause cancer.

After the age of 18, the risks of addiction to weed are less than if the drug is used prior to 18 years old. The young brain gets addicted much easier than a mature brain. In adults, the risk that someone will develop addiction is between 10% and 15%.

In regular doses, used occasionally for fun or sex, cannabis use produces little harm; however, it very often leads to addiction when you use because you feel that you have to. Molly (MDMA) produces a medium strength high if used in most doses (50-100 mg) but can be incapacitating if ingested in high doses or when boosting with repeat doses, sometimes called “rolling E. The come down from Molly is a bitch.

Weed does not kill users. For some people, getting and selling drugs can produce dangerous situations where guns are used. It is the illegal trade in weed that leads to killing.

No. Nicotine produces a mild feeling of calm alertness. Weed is much more intoxicating. It is a different kind of high.

Yes, weed (commonly referred to as marijuana or cannabis) does affect the brain, particularly through its active component, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC interacts with the brain's endocannabinoid system, which is involved in regulating a variety of functions, including mood, memory, appetite, and pain sensation.

Marijuana, itself, is one of the relatively safer drugs. However, like all drugs, if they are used too often or are too strong, drugs injure the user’s pleasure system, making it harder and harder to have natural pleasure. Quickly, people who overuse cannabis lose interest in the things that they formerly loved to do and rely increasingly on the drug to have a good time. Cannabis is a “bad” drug if it is overused. For people with anxiety, depression, and histories of traumatic events, drugs do more than make you high. They also relieve psychological stress: quickly, users rely on the drug to feel better, but eventually, ALL drugs stop working and require more just to feel normal.

Generally, increasing the age of onset of use to 21 reduces use of weed and of nicotine, according to research studies. Enforcement is incomplete, and most teens who want these drugs can get them. Harmful effects of weed and nicotine are much more likely to develop, including addiction, if onset of use is prior to age 18-20 years.

Cannabis is both a drug and can be used recreationally and by people who become addicted to it. There are many compounds in medicine that are used as a medication and as a drug: pain killers (opiates) are essential for the treatment of severe pain, but are also abused by many people and addiction to them is common

Marijuana should be illegal for teenagers; during the teen years, especially from ages 15 to 18, the brain is developing, and marijuana use slows the maturation of the brain. In adults, this risk is much less, and many adults find using marijuana to be a pleasurable experience. Used in moderation, there aren’t many risks to adults who use marijuana. The laws against marijuana use are used more often against black and brown people, trapping them in the legal system, which can make it difficult to move ahead in life. The laws against marijuana cause more harm than the drug does. Overuse of any substance, including marijuana, forces the brain to make changes that eventually lead the user to rely on marijuana to feel normal, and the drug use becomes increasingly difficult to control.

The laws are tricky when it comes to prescribing. In California doctors can only “recommend” the use of marijuana, and to provide patients with a “medical marijuana” letter that allows patients to legally buy and use cannabis for medical purposes. Although cannabis has very little scientific evidence to support its use, many patients feel that it helps them to feel better and to avoid the use of stronger drugs for their conditions. People with cancer and other long-lasting diseases often use marijuana to help them to feel better. It is safe for use for medical patients.

No. There are no known overdoses on weed.

It is possible. The risks of becoming addicted or getting into legal trouble are higher among youth who use weed, but some are able to use without losing control over it. Anyone who uses any drug should take a break from it and see if they feel craving to use; if so, the brain is heading towards addiction and users must find an alternative source of fun in order to tolerate the loss of the pleasurable stimulus from weed.

This experiment has been done many times. It is believed on the basis of research that inhaling secondhand cannabis and meth smoke doesn’t cause a high. If meth fumes are directly inhaled from someone’s mouth, they might get a little high.

Edibles are food products containing cannabinoids and have emerged as a popular and lucrative facet of the legalized market for both recreational and medicinal cannabis. Though edibles are often considered a safe, discreet, and effective means of attaining the therapeutic and/or intoxicating effects of cannabis without exposure to the potentially harmful risks of cannabis smoking, little research has evaluated how ingestion differs from other methods of cannabis administration in terms of therapeutic efficacy, subjective effects, and safety. The most prominent difference between ingestion and inhalation of cannabis extracts is the delayed onset of drug effect with ingestion. Consumers often do not understand this aspect of edible use and may consume a greater than intended amount of drug before the drug has taken effect, often resulting in profoundly adverse effects. Edibles are food products infused with cannabis extract. Edibles come in many forms—including baked goods, candies, gummies, chocolates, lozenges, and beverages—and may be homemade or prepared commercially for dispensaries. b. At a basic level, extraction of cannabinoids (such as Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or Δ9-THC, and cannabidiol, or CBD) from the cannabis plant involves heating the flowers from the female plant in an oil-based liquid. Although Δ9-THC is considered to be the major psychoactive ingredient of the cannabis plant responsible for the “high” that users experience (Gaoni & Mechoulam, 1964), the plant contains this chemical primarily in its nonpsychoactive acid form, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol acid (THCA). Heating is required to convert THCA into Δ9-THC. Once Δ9-THC is formed, it diffuses out of the plant and dissolves into an oily liquid, along with other cannabinoids that are present in the plant (such as CBD). The extraneous plant material is then discarded. Recipes for using the resulting cannabinoid-infused oil abound on the internet and in various specialty publications. Cannabinoid-infused oil may also be purchased directly from many dispensaries and retail shops. c. Edibles have emerged as a popular method of cannabinoid administration in the legalized cannabis market and have proven to be quite lucrative for states, dispensaries, and manufacturers. However, many questions remain unanswered regarding the basic effects of edibles and how consumers understand and use these products. Further research into cannabinoids, and edibles in particular, is needed so that policymakers can be well-informed when establishing regulations regarding the manufacture, labeling, and sale of edibles. The need for additional regulation of edibles is evident given the frequency of cannabis overdoses and accidental pediatric exposures. Such risks can be reduced through standardization of product formulations, adequate quality control measures, and appropriate product labeling. In summary, on the production side, much remains to be done to ensure that edibles provide a consistent dosage. On the labeling side, more should be done to ensure that consumers are better educated on how edibles affect the body and that they are aware of how to use edibles safely to avoid concerns such as unintentional “highs” or “highs” lasting longer than anticipated. d. https://www.ccsa.ca/sites/default/files/2019-06/CCSA-7-Things-About-Edible-Cannabis-2019-en.pdf

No. There are very rare forms of epilepsy (Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome) in which good clinical research has established that derivatives of cannabis significantly improve children with these disorders. For other forms epilepsy, including the common types of epilepsy) cannabinoids are not effective.

As near as is known, use of any smoke can lead to lung cancer and heart disease. However, there is no research that shows an association with use of cannabis and lung cancer.

No. In order to induce the brain changes of addiction, repeated episodes of overstimulation of the pleasure pathway are necessary. However, for people with a history of trauma, depression, anxiety, or boredom, the drug does more than make you high, but also relieves psychological stress. For those people, using helps them to feel better, and they begin to use it regularly for that purpose.

Unprotected sex can lead to pregnancy whether the person is intoxicated or not. However, many teens have sex when they’re intoxicated because drugs interfere with judgment, and cause behavior that wouldn’t happen if the person was sober.

Not really. Smoke is toxic to the lungs. The problems with edibles are that they are way too strong and its hard to adjust the dose. People using edibles get TOO STONED.

All drugs can cause harm if they are used too often in strong doses. For adults, marijuana use is relatively safe unless it is used in large amounts on a frequent basis. This isn’t true for teens: marijuana use slows the necessary maturing of the brain, leading the user to rely on using in order to enjoy anything. After ages 18 to 20 years, the brain is more mature and marijuana use has less of a negative impact.

Edibles are probably the safest way to use cannabis because it comes on slower and produces a plateau (instead of a strong peak). However, edibles are definitely addicting, and lead to a serious buildup of the drug, and sleepiness, irritability, and becoming dumb set in.