Although it is clearly written on most tobacco products that “smokers are liable to die young”, humans have refused to totally drop the habit of smoking, because after all, Shakespeare once said that nothing is truly good or bad, but thinking makes it either.

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This saying is particularly true when we consider the negative and positive effects of cannabis and marijuana, and it could still be the same reason that while they are out rightly banned in some countries, while other countries have no reservations about it.

Marijuana and cannabis contain about 400 chemicals, and its most active ingredients are cannibidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). While Cannibidiol is responsible for the medical benefits of the plant, tetrahydrocannabidiol (THC) is the responsible for its intoxicating effects.

Both of these compounds have lots of positive and negative effects, but their negative effects have been on the mainstream of information, and this has caused many individuals to decide to abstain from smoking.

THE GOOD

Cannabis is used in treating systemic lupus

Over the years, Scientists have found so many beneficial compounds in cannabis. Research has found that tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THCA), which is derived from the disintegration of THC, can be used in the treatment of immune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus.

Inflammation: Free picture from pixabay.com

Lupus erythematosus is a chronic autoimmune disease condition where the immune system cannot differentiate between bacteria, germs, virus and normal body tissues. The immune system thus releases antibodies that attack and destroy normal body tissues just the way it fights bacteria and other pathogens.
Some of the major symptoms of lupus erythrematus are acute pain and inflammation.

THCA helps relieve this symptoms by increasing the production and release of an anti-inflammatory protein called interleukin-10. It also decreases the levels of the pro-inflammatory protein interleukin-2. Also, cannabis suppresses the immune system by triggering the activation of myeloid-derived immune suppressor cells, which helps reduce the hyperactivity of the immune system.

Cannabis and Marijuana have Anti-Cancer Properties

Cannabichromene and cannabinol, both found in cannabis and marijuana, have been shown to have anti-cancer activities. Cannabinol has been used as a chemotherapeutic agent, as studies have found that it deactivates the Id-1 gene, which is responsible for the spreading of the cancer. More so, cannabichromene has also bee shown to have anti-viral and anti-inflammatory activities, and also aids brain development.

THE BAD

This is the aspect of marijuana which most people know about. Those negative effects include:

● Depression and Anxiety
● Anixiety
● Psychosis
● Hallucination

However, these effects may be short-lived, and goes away as the concentration of cannabis in the bloodstream reduces.

THE UGLY

Smoking Shrinks the blood vessels and Damages the Lungs

When one smokes cannabis or marijuana, carbon monoxide from the smoke goes directly into the lungs and gets absorbed into the bloodstream. Carbon monoxide displaces oxygen in the blood, and binds with haemoglobin to form caboxyhomoglobin. This reduces the amount of oxygenated blood, thus reducing the supply of oxygen to other parts of the body, including the brain. As time goes on, this results in the shrinking of blood vessels, and consequently, high blood pressure.

Smoking also affects the respiratory system. It damages the lungs by first killing cells involved in mucus formation and removal of dust and germs. Dust and germs begin to accumulate and injure the cell linings. This ultimately causes chronic cough, wheezing and acute bronchitis. This happens gradually, and you may not even realize that smoking is killing you slowly.

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Mental Disorder and Unstable Memory

When you smoke cannabis or marijuana, their chemical compounds enter the blood stream and reaches the brain within few seconds. THC, especially interacts with brain cells and neurotransmitters to give feelings of lightheadedness, intoxication, etc.

The chemicals in these weed reaches the Hippocampus, which is the part of the brain responsible for short-term memory, and bind to the cannaboid receptors.

There are so many cannaboid receptors located in the brain, and these receptors are normally activated by anandamide, a natural cannaboid produced by the body. What THC does is that it mimic anadamide, and binds to the cannaboid receptors. This binding causes the activation of neurons of the hippocampus, causing momentary memory loss, lack of coordination, learning disorder, etc. And when the psychoactive effects of cannabis smoking continues, it could lead to permanent mental disorder.

Final Notes

When you put the merits and demerits of smoking cannabis and marijuana side by side, we can only draw one reasonable conclusion: Marijuana and cannabis may not be totally dangerous; but unless if you’re using them for therapeutic purpose, the negative effects greatly over-weigh the positive.

References

https://news.lift.co/anatomy-cannabis-5-components-need-know/
https://science.howstuffworks.com/marijuana3.htm
http://tobaccosmoke.exposurescience.org/abcs-of-shs/what-happens-when-a-person-smokes
http://drugfreeworld.com/drugfacts/marijuana.html

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