Many of the cannabis users are not aware that the strength of the cannabis depends on the amount of THC (9-delta tetrahydrocannabinol) in the dose, which means that not all the doses are the same. It depends from who they take from. Some users mix the cannabis or hashish with tobacco before smoking, making it worse.

The risks of using cannabis are very high for users health. When cannabis is used over a long time, it can irritate the user’s respiratory system and can lead to bronchitis and lung cancer. Other long-term effects are lack of motivation and difficulty concentrating. Long-term use can also cause the user to develop chronic mental illnesses, like schizophrenia. Heavy cannabis users can exhibit long-lasting toxic psychosis involving delusions and hallucinations that can be incorrectly and dangerously diagnosed as a schizophrenic illness.

Many people claims that is scientifically proved that the toxicity of cannabis is very low and that no one has ever died as a direct and immediate consequence of recreational or medical use of cannabis, however we can never say that cannabis is entirely harmless.

Remember the golden rule, smoking any drug is unhealthy, and there is no exception for cannabis. Actually cannabis smoke contains higher concentrations of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) than tobacco smoke. Cannabis smokers generally inhale more smoke for longer, depositing more than 4 times as much tar in their lungs as cigarette smokers. To balance this, they smoke less joints and smoke less often.

Combining cannabis and tobacco is even worse. If you are a heavy smoker of cannabis and tobacco joints (more than 10 a day), you are significantly increasing your risk of contracting lung disease. Recent studies show that the greatest pre-cancerous abnormalities appear in those who smoke the two drugs together.

Another important factor is that most cannabis smokers stop when they reach their 30s. Long term surveys of cigarette smokers showed that those who stop before the age of 35 had only a very slightly increased risk of lung cancer. The same may apply to cannabis.

A common side-effect, usually for first time or early users, is anxiety, panic, paranoia and feelings of impending doom. However, these effects disappear within hours. In a recent study, between 10%-15% of people who smoked cannabis reported “paranoid” or “confused” feelings as a disadvantage of smoking cannabis, and over 27% reported “anxiety” as a regular or occasional effect. Around 30% gave “negative experiences” as their reason for permanently quitting cannabis.

We strongly recommend to everyone reading this article to stay out of any form of cannabis use, however, if you or someone close to you have problems with marijuana  addiction, we suggest you to visit Drug Rehab Programs in Canada.