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thejackofalltrades42069 · 1 year

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An updated Cannabis overview.

I listened to a podcast about the most up to date studies made on Cannabis, about its possible positive and negative effects, I’ll share some of the information learned plus some more info I think can be useful I’ve learned through the years.

There’s a lot of information out there about its consumption that most people are not aware of, for example, CBD oil that is being sold so much and has become very popular can have negative effects in the long term if it’s used too often (for example, more than 3 times a week), something else some don’t know, it shouldn’t be consumed during pregnancy at all, they don’t even tell you that at stores they sell the oil.

I’m not trying to discourage any cannabis (CBD or THC) consumers with this post or say it’s just bad because it isn’t necessarily bad or good, there are a lot of drugs (medicine) like benzodiazepines or clonazepam than can harm anyone who takes them often or who takes them continuously for a long time.

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Strains, THC and CBD.

There are 2 mainly studied and known compounds that are THC and CBD.

*As a side note, the marijuana plants have over 100 different compounds, most of the compounds don’t seem to have a huge effect on people and have not been studied enough, studies are hard to make and are expensive for many different reasons, there are some details that we’ve probably not discovered yet about cannabis use.

The part of the marijuana plants that is consumed and that contains all the properties (CBD and THC) are the flowers (also called “buds”). Some of the smaller leaves that grow with the buds also contain some CBD and THC.

There are 3 mainly known strains of cannabis plants, sativa, indica, and hybrids (there’s also ruderalis, not very relevant, grows in colder weather, has less THC and CBD). Plants also have further denominations, type I, type II, type III. Will describe these along the way.

THC is the main compound that makes you feel high or drugged, and sativa varieties contain higher amounts of THC. The effects it gives are stimulating, mostly things like alertness, creativity, wanting to talk a lot, etc., it also shuts down the amygdala that causes anxiety and fear, so with sativa varieties people feel energetic but relaxed at the same time. Consuming sativa varieties (THC) can make some people panic and feel anxious (you can’t really know if it’ll make you feel that way, we can speculate it has to do with the person’s personality and with the environment). Again, sativa plants have higher THC levels, it’s also the case for type I plants (hybrids), the type I have much higher concentration of THC than CBD.

Type II plants have a mixed ratio of THC and CBD. This hybrid is generally more friendly than the type I or sativa for people who have never tried cannabis. Type II plants would be the best example of a “hybrid” plant.

CBD is mostly associated with a feeling of relaxation through all the body, it can relieve pain, temporarily reduce stress and anxiety, help get better sleep, etc. (there are too many positive effects the internet says CBD has, and it does have many positive effects, but I will talk about the possible negative outcomes of chronic use). Indica strains have higher CBD concentration. It’s also the case for Type III plants.

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How people consume it and some recommendations.

Marijuana can be consumed by smoking it and by eating it.

If it’s eaten, it must be prepared, you can’t just eat the flowers (the buds) and get high, that just doesn’t work (I won’t go into details, but it must be dried and is usually then heated together with oil or butter, then added to brownies, cookies, or something else).

For people who have never consumed it, it’s a terrible idea to first consume it by eating it because when it’s eaten it can take 1-3 hours to feel the effects, you can’t really measure it, and it usually hits you hard, it’s much easier to try a small dose by smoking it.

The best way to smoke a small dose would be with a flower vaporizer or dry herb vaporizer (also called “weed vapes”), this is the safest and best way to smoke it because it harms less, it can be smoked in smaller doses, and it tastes better. That said, any type of smoking is harmful for your lungs, digestive system, eyes, skin, etc. So, for anyone smoking anything, the best is not to do it often and not to smoke a lot in 1 day, this might sound obvious but still, it’s best to remember and think about it.

It's also sold in vaporizers that contain THC or CBD or both in a small oil like liquid. These are not recommended at all because not only you’re smoking and hurting your body, but some of these liquids also contain other chemicals that can be very bad for health. Same thing with nicotine vapes.

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Chronic use.

We know that consuming cannabis 2 times per week is equivalent to chronic use, perhaps using it once a week would also be chronic use, it’s hard to establish an exact time range that is equivalent to chronic use because the amount consumed can vary a lot depending on the strain (some are incredibly potent) and on how it’s consumed (some people are smoking it, others eating brownies, some using vapes, some are consuming micro-doses in CBD oil, etc.).

CBD oil could be an exception when it comes to chronic use because it’s usually consumed in micro doses, if someone takes a micro dose once or twice a week that helps them get a better sleep, that's not necessarily a bad thing, people are so stressed out these days, they need these kinds of remedies. But, again, consuming it daily or every other day could be a bad idea because it will create dependence and you will need more every time. The recommendation for CBD oil would be to consume it 1 or 2 times per week in small doses.

Why is chronic use bad?

Not only it will create a dependence, the use of any drug or medicament, in this case cannabis (both CBD and THC) interrupt natural processes in the body, and this can lead to many negative effects in the short and long term, it’s not the same for everyone, but generally it has the same negative effects for most people, some of them are:

-Affects movement, makes you slower. Talking is movement, so it can negatively affect the way you speak.

-Negatively affects the short-term memory.

-It increases estrogen and decreases testosterone.

-Increases prolactin which is bad for sexual drive (it seems that when it’s smoked this happens a lot more than when it’s eaten).

-Increases anxiety in the long term. It can increase the probability of getting depressed or psychosis.

-Again, should not be used during pregnancy, it interrupts natural body functions, also in the unborn baby. We don’t know the consequences of this.

-For people who are under 25 years old, their frontal cortex has not developed fully, and any time they consume cannabis, the frontal cortex is disrupted, it temporarily gets thinner, not good at all if this is done often.

I won’t detail why all these are bad, but you can imagine or investigate.

All this might sound like marijuana is a terrible idea but that’s not what I’m trying to say here, what I’m trying to say is, the chronic use is what’s most likely for most people a terrible idea. Also consider that these and other negative effects not only happen with cannabis, but it also happens with alcohol, cigarettes (nicotine), other stronger drugs, and with pretty much any medication that you consume chronically.

For anyone who enjoys it, I would say, consume it every 2-3 weeks, perhaps every 10 days if you like it a lot, you’ll even enjoy it more that way. For CBD oil, we can say it can be safely consumed 1-2 times a week if it’s a micro dose, if you want to be completely safe here regarding chronic use, perhaps once every week.

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Positive effects (?)

It it’s consumed sporadically (let’s say, twice a month or less often), it can have some interesting effects that some people like me can consider positive.

These are general, maybe not everyone will feel some of the effects, it depends on the strain, the person, the way they feel at that time, their environment, etc.:

-Gives you an incredible feeling of relaxation and can help people get a deep and restorative sleep.

-It can help give people a different perspective on things, on music, on food, even on how you see or feel about someone else, how you see even yourself, etc. People can for example start to like a song or food they didn’t like before after having smoked.

-Creativity wise, it can help with divergent thinking (the thinking method used when brainstorming), because people will be less afraid to throw out different ideas out there. Since it can help to give a different perspective, it can help having new ideas.

-Some musicians and artists consume it and say it helps them perform better, since marijuana can help them be more relaxed and active at the same time, who knows for sure. There’s no real evidence about THC or CBD actually helping this way, it’s most likely it’s a placebo effect.

-It can help alleviate pain, people with diseases such as cancer, fibromyalgia, arthritis, some other type of muscular pain, etc., get a huge pain relief when consuming cannabis.

-Some people consume sativa strains (high THC strains) before having fun in bed with their partner and say it’s awesome to do it that way because your senses feel somewhat enhanced.

-Doing other activities such as playing videogames or watching comedy are very enjoyable to many people after consuming cannabis too because of how it intensifies senses and gives you a different perspective, and sometimes makes you laugh more, laughing is good for health.

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Cannabis quality and conclusion.

Something else worth mentioning. In some countries where marijuana is illegal, or sold illegally even if it’s legal, people are used to smoke really low quality stuff, the main problem can come from all the pesticides they use on the plants that can be toxic to humans, so if you believe the marijuana or CBD oil, etc. you’re buying has any chance of having pesticides on it (for example if it’s obtained from drug dealers for a low price) you should stay away from that (beware of the weed that smells of ammonia). There isn’t really much information out there about smoking pesticides from weed, but it could turn out to be very harmful, so even if you buy for higher prices, try to find good quality stuff.

Many people live very inorganic/ artificial lives, we wake up, go to work, sit down in front of a monitor for 8 or more hours, then we go home and have more responsibilities, sometimes even a second job. We tend to consume a bunch of stimulants and drugs where we find a temporary relief, life is tough. There’s nothing wrong with consuming cannabis or drinking alcohol occasionally, I’d suggest limiting the use of cannabis to twice a month or less often (based in the information from studies about the chronic use), it can create many negative outcomes in the long term if consumed often. If it brings a big relief to stress, to a disease, to pain, or if it helps sleep, etc., I wouldn’t suggest to stop consuming it, I’d say, keep it for difficult or special occasions.

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Here's the link to the podcast where a lot of this is mentioned more in detail, it also has links to articles with more additional info:

youtube

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