FACTS ABOUT CANNABIS

“Conversations are ongoing in public offices, pushing for cannabis legislation. This makes Cannabis of national interest. This then raises the question and makes one ask, Why are are these conversations ongoing? If its not medically considered comfortably safe, why are there conversations to make it legal for recreational use that is, for persons to use it simply for fun.”

“Something being natural doesn’t make it safe for consumption.”
Recently, 12 days back, the 4.20PM Cannabis culture day was observed. This was the 20th of April. A while back, I happened on that day to be with a few people that were celebrating this culture. One of them wanted to have a conversation with me about it but I really couldn’t partake because I realised that most of what I knew about cannabis was hearsay, nothing solid. Not to mention that I had been secondarily exposed to it for at least five years now.

This made me choose to research on it. Today, I will be writing about Cannabis. The effects of Cannabis; Medical uses of Cannabis; Legality of Cannabis; Countries in which it is legal; In what form it is legal.

Cannabis is a psychoactive drug, it has two major components that are responsible for most of its effects. First, THC which is Tetrahydrocannabinol while The second component that is interesting for Cannabis is CBD, Cannabidiol

CBD While THC is the psychoactive component, CBD is the non-psychoactive component of cannabis. They both have several medical uses. CBD, Cannabidiol has been approved by the FDA in some states within the Unites States In Canada, it is approved in some drug form In a few other countries, it is approved for medical use. Medical uses include Its potential in the treatment of Epilepsy Improves appetite for HIV/AIDS patients Antiemetic, in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy Treatment of neuropathic pain Treatment of rheumatoid Arthritis

THC THC on the other hand is the psychoactive component(Schizophrenia, Hallucinations, Psychosis) and it has not been approved for use in majority of countries. There are several risks in using it. These risks include Addiction/Dependence Withdrawal Syndrome Lowering of IQ Reduction in brain density of neural fibers - evidence from brain scans
However, there is a drug, that has a combination of CBD and THC, it is approved for use in some countries

Politicians, activists, legislators are pushing for cannabis legislation. This makes Cannabis of national interest as people occupying certain public positions or having influence are trying to make it legal. This then raises the question and makes one ask, Why are persons trying to make it legal? If its not medically approved, why are persons trying to make it legal for recreational use, for persons to just use it simply to have fun.

Misconceptions Associated With The Use of Cannabis

Lets discuss the misconceptions that are associated with the use of cannabis Misconception - It is non-addictive-No, it is addictive.It is addictive with withdrawal syndrome

Misconception - It improves lung activity-No, it does not improve lung activity. Possibly, this misconception arises from the medical fact that the use of cannabis causes widening of the bronchioles and because of this, maybe people think it improves the activity/functioning of the lung. Actually, in the long term what happens is that it reportedly is involved with chronic bronchitis.

Misconception - It is possible to smoke only cannabis-there are extreme circumstances where persons with very high discipline smoke only cannabis but investigative facts indicates that many persons that use cannabis started from using tobacco or other illicit drugs and then graduated into using cannabis.

In other cases, persons that started using cannabis went ahead to use tobacco. Many Cannabis users mix cigarette and cannabis together. Other cannabis users went ahead to use even more damaging drugs. Cannabis is reportedly a gateway drug. Previously persons started with tobacco and went on to use cannabis. However, now, cannabis serves as a gateway to tobacco and other illicit drugs so, its a case of a reverse gateway drug situation.

Last misconception is that - it is of natural origin and that makes it safe... Who are we playing with? There are so many things which are of natural origin but are not safe. Ever heard of poisonous mushrooms?-Mushrooms that are entirely natural and one takes a bite then is dead?

Shellfishes poisoned with algae and once eaten, one is paralysed. Shell fishes are of natural origin, algae are of natural origin. Several plants are of natural origin, not to mention cocaine being of natural origin, from the leaf of the coca plant(In only 2013, cocaine was responsible for 4300 deaths). -Something being natural doesn’t make it safe for consumption.

Why Persons Seek Out To Use Cannabis Recreationally. For the europhoric effect it gives- A possible alternative would be watching comedic movies(jokes..worth a try though)
For its relaxing effect, the CBD component of cannabis gives a relaxing effect-possible alternative, read an entertaining book (jokes too.. surely worth the try still though)
It gives an energy boost-eat, take a smoothie, a shake, drink water-good energy right there.
For creativity, inspiration or motivation-find what you love(…I’m just playing with you)

In what countries is cannabis legalised?

, Within Europe, it is legalised in one form or another and generally for medical use In Canada, legalised for Medical use In most African countries, No it is not legalised for any kind of use. Ghana is an exception, a pharmaceutically purified form is legalised for medical use. In South Africa, it is legalised both for medical and recreational use; In China, not legalised; In Thailand, it is legalised in one form or the other. In Australia, for medical use

Effects Of Cannabis

Short Term Effects of Cannabis. Immediately after smoking, there is intoxication, it affects behaviour, people might see things differently, they might loose consciousness, they might behave differently. Some persons might just be really excited. Some persons might think differently, they might see small things as big.

It basically influences the mind immediately, it intoxicates. Some persons might have panic attacks. Mostly, this is for first time users. Some persons might hallucinate from first time usage but not only from first time usage. Some persons also hallucinate after regular usage, perhaps when they take a higher dose.

Long term Effects of Cannabis Some persons get addicted, they depend on it.
Some persons unfortunately develop a stroke from it.
It leads to acute bronchitis.
It influences the brain development, changes the brain structure after long term usage
It reduces the density of neural fibers in some parts of the brain, it lowers the IQ
It is associated with lower educational outcome, people achieve less educationally
Lower life satisfaction
It increases the risk of using other illicit drugs
It impairs the memory, it impairs cognition
It influences people’s ability to learn.

There is a 9% chance of addiction when one uses cannabis. One may say that this chance is low but the chance of dying from corona virus is from below 1% to about 5%... It’s really low. However, as at 2020, after less than a year of the pandemic, the deaths recorded was already above 300,000. This is only to say that the chances of something happening being low does not mean it doesn't happen. A person may not get addicted but why risk finding out. Why take the risk of disrupting one's life if one develops an addiction later on.

Also, the idea of dependence on drugs to do basic things isn’t very cute. If it is a medical situation and it is prescribed, that could work. One might argue that alcohol and tobacco are more harmful than cannabis but are legal for recreational use. In this case, it might be worthwhile to consider the argument that drunk driving is the top second factor in the whole world that’s responsible for road accidents. Tobacco is ranked by WHO as the one cause of death in the whole world that could be prevented. The question here is if Tobacco was illegal, would it still have this status? The problem with alcohol and tobacco having these status can then be loosely associated with:
1. They are accepted
2. They are available
3. They are considered as cool and
4. Their legal status

Combining the fact that they are addictive to the above these opens a door to abuse. On one hand its damaging, on the other hand, its societally accepted, its legal, its okay to do.

However, the damaging reports from alcohol and tobacco use brings to light that the legal status of a substance may not necessarily be a true reflection of the safety status of that substance.

I hope you have found this piece helpful or informative.

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Much love! Besos!!