Is marijuana as harmful as they say?

I'm not quite sure that I believe the supposed studies that have been reported stating that marijuana can be bad for you. I've seen recent commercials come out emphasizing that it can horribly impair a young teen's mind if they smoke weed, which to me says that they're trying to say smoking marijuana is generally unhealthy.

But how can a plant-developed substance harm you? Ok maybe intaking the smoke itself isn't such a good idea or if it becomes too much of an addiction, but at least it's from a plant only, unless you're smoking marijuana that has chemicals added to it to manipulate the effect. What do you guys think?

I think you don't know a lot about Marijuana and it's effects. My father is addicted and being that I am from the country that produces the best herb, Jamaica to be exact, I know that it can be deadly. The tea is oftentimes used for medicinal purposes but not everyone's system is strong enough to tolerate it. I have seen people go crazy from just drinking it once. Smoking it on the other hand will do just a little for you but then the side effects and long term damage is not worth it.

Marijuana does have does have medicinal purposes and uses. But it is when it abused it does become harmful. Like any drug, even over the counter drug, it can be dangerously harmful if abused and used excessively.

Many highly addictive drugs' origin is from plant material, eg. Morphine, heroine and others. Do not for one minute believe that because it is not synthesised by man, and therefore of plant origin, that a drug is safe. In fact many drugs used today are of plant origin, yet dangerous and some highly addictive.

They call it a gate way drug but nothing has been proven as harmful from the drug itself.

A lot of recent studies have shown that it's good for you if consumed orally, good for both your body and brain. They were saying that smoking it is different though and causes damage. However, I saw a study on the brain of a marijuana smoker a few days ago which showed significant improvement in brain health.

Who's they?! Is that the fairy people who live on Neverland or something? Or E.T.s from Orion Belt stars? Or the ants in the ant colony in my back yard? Who is this magical they?! They, can imply any group of thing in the entire multi-verses, which is why I don't care for what "they" have to say.

Also, cannabis has never directly caused the death of any human in its entire historical usage, and if any human imply it had, then he/she better be able to prove it or be labeled a fraud.

"It's not what you know, it's what you can prove!"

Marijuana is a tricky drug because it does have a lot of medical uses, and moderate use won't harm most people, at least in the short-term. Still, more and more studies are coming out that link heavy marijuana use to various problems, mostly related to motor function and cognitive thinking. Then again, even moderate marijuana use has been shown to change the actual shape of the brain, which obviously isn't healthy.

There are plenty of arguments for legalizing this drug and keeping it illegal, no matter how you approach the situation.

Well, Mr. smarty-pants, "they" would be the researchers who carried out the studies, as referenced in the paragraph, obviously! That's what the word "they" is used for. You clearly don't know much about linguistics. There is an incredible amount of this research being done lately from an overwhelming amount of sources and no, it wasn't carried out by your imaginary fairy people and if it was the ants in your backyard I'm sure you would know about it already - you should do something about that ant problem. Researchers at Ohio State University (did you get that, I'll say it again - OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY) found that components of marijuana are beneficial for the aging brain and can help reduce brain inflammation, aswell as regenerating dead brain cells - that's just one example.

Why don't you have a look at some of these:

http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v95/n2/abs/6603236a.html (tumor growth inhibition)
http://www.jneurosci.org/content/21/17/6475.abstract (anti-neurodegeneration)
http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/308/3/838.abstract (anti-tumor properties)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20859676 (breast cancer inhibition)
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22198381?dopt=Abstract (anti-cancer cell invasion)

That's just a couple of studies out of a ridiculously huge list of research that has been carried out recently.

And no-one said anything about people dying from it - are you seeing/hearing/imagining things? lol.

Actually many of these studies seem to be showing the exact opposite! The shape of the brain was shown to improve significantly in some of the studies. I'm not saying it's harmless though, of course it isn't but it's a lot more beneficial than we've been led to believe (and no I don't use it by the way).

There are plants that can be deadly, toxic or harmful and that includes marijuana.
It is illegal here and it was just right in my opinion. Those who tried it and get addicted to it suffer from mental illnesses and other health issues.

You know that cannabis can be deadly? How so? Considering "deadly" means that it has caused deaths, would you be able to provide evidence of said fatalities?

As a side note, Jamaica is far from the country that produces the best cannabis. The United States easily has the highest quality cannabis, considering we have labs full of scientists with lab-grade equipment whose jobs are to produce high-quality cannabis for medical patients.

In small doses marijuana can be beneficial to some people. However just like everything else when the drug is abused then it will have negative effects on the user. Using too much marijuana for example can cause psychotic disorders. But please note that this and many other negative side-effects come with overusing the drug.

I get so confused with this ongoing debate at times. I am here listening to a user of the substance 'marijuana' and to be honest, he thinks that the idea of it being deadly is ridiculous. He reasons however that as long as he maintains a healthy eating lifestyle he is just fine.

Even though I may beg to differ, he raised some very interesting points.For example "they" say weed stimulates appetite so for someone to be consuming the substance and not eating as they should they would eventually run their hold system into the ground seeing that to much of anything is deemed to be bad for your health. But at the end of the day even though his points seem logical to him, I am still confused.

Wait, what? I'm confused. Are you saying that you'll starve to death if you smoke weed and don't eat because of the increased appetite? That's not at all how the digestive system works, nor is that how cannabis works. Smoking weed isn't going to cause your body to start breaking into its fat and nutrient stores until they're fully depleted just because you have the munchies.

Now we are both confuse. I think you might have misunderstood what the person to whom I referred was saying. Anyway, for now , let's disregard the comments of the youngster and let's get to looking at some of the research information Sparkster suggested we read.

Perhaps after that I might be in a better position to provide more concrete advice to him and others.

From my opinion, not it is not harmful as they say it should be. First, let's take a look at statistics, no death case was ever recorded due to marijuana use/overuse while tobacco and alcohol are the main source of deaths nowadays. So, marijuana is nowhere nearly these 2 drugs, yet they say it is more harmful.

He may not just feel the side effects yet for now but there could be some after long time of use or after certain amount of use. If just for appetite, why not consume other medications or appetizers for it instead of marijuana.
Anything consumed in excess can be deadly or bad.

I'll try to keep my explanation short, sweet, and to the point. The problem with marijuana use, is it is harmful to young brains. The younger the person is, and the more that is used, the more damage is done. I have seen this damage personally. Just because it is from a plant, doesn't mean it is a good thing. That is a false stereotype a load of companies are pushing. You wouldn't drink tea made from poison ivy would you?

Exactly! Just like cocaine comes from a plant and heroin comes from a poppy, just because they grow naturally it doesn't mean they are harmless. And yes, studies have shown marijuana usage to be more likely to result in potentially permanent mental illness in users under sixteen years of age. I also think a large part of the problem with regards to health is that a lot of people, most users in the UK, choose to smoke it with tobacco.

Glad to see someone else well educated . That is a major issue I glossed over. People are mixing marijuana and its main active chemical (thc), with everything from butter, to tobacco, to harder drugs like cocaine or heroin. If you go to the home of someone who uses thc (even for medical purposes), the chance of someone who doesn't need thc in their diet getting some on accident (and the addiction that comes with it), seems quite possible. Sparkster, expect a private message from me, I would love to chat with someone else who is not blind to the issues of marijuana use.