Today I have a guest post from Anna Deeds.  She is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a recovering addict.  She has a website for addicts that offers online counseling, articles and workbooks about addiction and recovery.

Check her out at www.challengingaddiction.com.

Recently, Oregon and Washington legalized recreational marijuana use for adults over the age of 21.  While I don’t think there is anything wrong with adults who occasionally use marijuana and it does have medicinal purposes, I think the costs outweigh the benefits.  I think the problems that legalizing marijuana can create will outnumber the few people who would use it responsibly.

The problem is that people will abuse it.  Just like any substance, there will be people that use it on a daily basis.  There will be people who drive while impaired on it.  There will be people who lose their jobs because of it.  And there will be people who think it’s alright to give marijuana to minors.

Legalization promotes the idea that marijuana is safe and not addictive.  Marijuana just like alcohol and cigarettes is harmful to the body.  When smoking it, you’re breathing in a substance that is not meant to be in the body.  It impairs short term memory, motor coordination, increases heart rate, alters judgment and decision making, and alters mood. (Topics in Brief: Marijuana, 2011)  Long term use can lead to addiction, poor school and job performance, respiratory problems, risk of psychosis and cognitive impairment.  (Topics in Brief: Marijuana, 2011)

I know a lot of people already think marijuana is harmless.  Legalizing it only legitimizes this false idea.  However, it is far from harmless.  It is addictive.  Yes, it’s true that not everyone who uses marijuana will become addicted.  But that doesn’t change the fact that there are just as many people who will become addicted to it.

Marijuana is a mood altering drug.  People who use it on a regular basis develop a tolerance to it.  This means they need more of it to get the same effects.  If you use it daily and suddenly stop, you will have withdrawal symptoms similar to quitting smoking.  Use of it can have a negative impact on a person’s life.  You can be fired from your job, go to jail for driving on it, lose interest in activities, and have health problems and damaged relationships.   These are all the signs and symptoms of an addiction.

Legalization will make marijuana more accessible so more people are likely to try it and become addicted.  You never know if you are one of the people in life that are prone to becoming addicted until you start using a substance.  Legalization means more people out there who will try marijuana just because it’s legal and available.

I know that a lot of people who are pro-legalization believe that it will cut done on the crime associated with it.  I think that drug lords will always be drug lords and they will just move their efforts into bringing harder drugs into this country.  It’s ridiculous to think they’ll just stop selling drugs.  They’ll just switch to cocaine, heroin and other illegal drugs.

While I think there are a few people who might not be harmed by its occasional use, I think there are a lot more people who will be harmed by it.  Legalizing it only serves to make it more accessible to these people and makes it appear safe and not addictive.

Works Cited

I’ve heard many misconceptions about depression and marijuana in my life. I’d like to share my experience so that others who have similar experiences feel more comfortable discussing and finding solutions to their issues.

Marijuana did not help my depression.

This is one of the most important things that I just wanted to get out of the system right away. Many people think that since marijuana is famous for making people think they are happy all the time, when they are depressed and they smoke it, they’ll be happy as well, but the truth is that it does not work that way. This actually brings us to the second point which is…

Depression and marijuana feed on each other.

When I smoked I was depressed, and I smoked because I was depressed. I mean, seriously depressed. That’s the truth. Of course, when I was depressed, I wanted to get away from my real feelings, so I hid behind marijuana so that I didn’t have to face reality.

Marijuana is cowardly. It is time to face your fears.

People smoke pot because they want to get away from the tough reality of life. It’s an easy escape. They are trading short term happiness for long term misery. It took me years to realize this simple fact in my own life.

The truth is that if you’re depressed about life, you need help. You need people that will love and support you. If using marijuana is a contributing factor, smoking more if it just doesn’t help.

The more you smoke, the less you can do.

When I smoked a lot, I didn’t accomplish a thing. It took me forever to do simple tasks that didn’t used to cause me any trouble at all. Where are my keys? Even getting dressed becomes a pain. Believe me. Sometimes I woudn’t even have the motivation to leave the house for days.

I ended up becoming a little emotional in this article, but that’s because I want you to fully understand that you will not fight depression with marijuana. It just won’t work.

I put an end to my addiction and depression

After smoking marijuana for close to 10 years, one of the main reasons that I wanted to quit was to get my mind back. I feel like a different, better person now that I am not stoned all of the time. Most people can’t quit smoking marijuana because they don’t know what to expect, or don’t have a plan. You can escape this lifestyle.

People talk a lot about weed, but what they forget to mention is that just like there are side effects to smoking weed, there are also side effects to weed withdrawal. It’s kind of strange that it’s not talked about very much, but as I don’t really like to complain, I decided to take a few minutes and create this short article that will describe the side effects of quitting pot.

Ready?

1. Lack of sleep.

That’s one of the first things you’ll notice if you decide to quit marijuana. You’ll not sleep very well. I’ll tell you even more, you’ll not sleep much at all. You’ll probably be so preoccupied with the desire to smoke, you’ll not be able to rest. There are some things you can do to help that, but we’ll talk about them later.

2. Not much of an appetite.

Have you ever been in love? Of course you have. If you’re like me, when you’re in love, you don’t eat much, because you’re just not in the mood. See, the problem is that when you go through weed withdrawal, you won’t eat much either. You’ll be one of those people that sit at the table staring at their food for ages without ANY desire to take a bite, so get ready.

3. You might angry.

That’s another thing that’s really common. After all, weed is considered to be a strong drug that will get you pretty hooked, so weed withdrawal has to be annoying. I am sure you’ve been around someone who decided to quit smoking regular cigarettes, right? Do you remember how easily worked up they were?

You could say pretty much anything and they would get mad. Well, multiply that by at least five and you’ll get a pre-taste of what will happen with you when you go through weed withdrawal.

4. You might pretty depressed.

That’s the last thing I want to mention here. You’ll want to smoke. In fact, you’ll want to smoke so bad that the thought you can’t will make you really miserable. That will pass when the weed withdrawal is over, but it will last until you’re clean. Of course, since you’ll get really sad and extremely mad, as mentioned above, you’ll be perfectly antisocial, so be sure to let your friends know you’re quitting so that they are prepared.

Weed withdrawal side effects are real and don’t let anyone convince you otherwise. They will happen, but it does not mean that quitting weed is not worth it. Once you’re through with it, you’ll be glad you’re not addicted anymore and you’ll feel really free.

Good luck and talk soon.

Hi Folks,

I just found this video by David Goldenkranz about what it is like to be addicted to marijuana.  This is a really great documentary where he interviews his parents, therapist, uncle and other people in his life about their perspective on his issues.

I am going to try to get him on the blog for an interview.  If you have any questions, please put them in the comments.

John

A study was conducted how marijuana effects the embryonic development of mice. @ Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Med Center.

The research indicates:

• Healthy Placenta formation can  impeded by Marijuana thus harming the essential supply of nutrients to the fetus.
• Can increase risk of preclampsia.   (Preclampsia can be dangerous for mother and child during pregnancy due to high blood pressure.

Prior research indicates that THC could result in harm to the embryo even if marijuana is used in the early stages of pregnancy

Sudhansu K. Dey, Ph.D.,  Huirong Xie and Xiaofei Sun, state:

“The findings or our investigation raise concerns that exposure to cannabis products may adversely affect early embryo development that is then perpetuated later in pregnancy. Also, given that endocannabinoid signaling plays a key role in the central nervous system, it would be interesting in future studies to examine whether affected cell migration-related genes in early embryos also participate in neuronal cell migration during brain development.”

You can read the whole article here: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/250195.php