By Audrey Throne
Quite often you will hear people who are against smoking weed describe it as something that will destroy your entire life just from taking a hit or two.
Now we must ask the question, is smoking cannabis that harmful?
In the United States, the movement to legalize marijuana is steadily growing, and more scientists can acknowledge the many functions cannabis plays in the human body. Research and experiments on this herb have produced remarkable results and many health benefits have surfaced as well. As a result, marijuana is gaining the attention of more people every day.
Check out some of the amazing health benefits of smoking marijuana below!
- Smoking weed helps keep your weight under control.
So, this may confuse quite a few people because smoking weed gives you get the munchies. However, despite this, pot smokers generally tend to be thinner.
According to a study done by the journal Obesity, people who smoke marijuana frequently are usually more likely to be thinner than people who do not smoke.
A team of researchers studied 700 adults from the ages of 18-74. The results showed that weed smokers usually have a low body mass index score, which usually indicates good health.
When your body mass index is low, you have a lower risk for diabetes.
- Weed can enhance your lungs
Now, I'm pretty sure you were not expecting better lung functionality as a benefit of smoking marijuana.
Despite the fact that you are inhaling smoke into your lungs, smoking weed is not as bad for your lungs as you would think. When you look at the difference between cigarette smokers and marijuana smokers, people smoking weed have better lung functionality.
According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, the large inhalations marijuana smokers take can be helpful in increasing your lung's ability to be more effective.
- Weed boosts brain functionality
To be more specific, smoking weed will help your creativity soar!
A 2012 study done in Consciousness and Cognition revealed that weed enhances creativity when it comes to language.
This study was done on people with schizophrenia and divergent thinking. In one day they experimented on 150 marijuana smokers who were sober, then another day they tested them after using cannabis.
The use of marijuana enhanced eloquent speech in people who are not as creative to the same degree that it did in those who are highly creative.
- Athletes experience improved performance
Gordy Megroz of Outside conducted a study based on the responses of several athletes claiming that marijuana helped their performance and recovery. In his study, he was able to function much better on the treadmill and experienced less sore muscles after heavy squatting.
While Mr. Megroz's experiment may not be considered a reputable source for scientific knowledge on the subject, it is still worth mentioning.
Mr. Megroz continued to explain that when he does a heavy squat session while high, he feels refreshed within 24 hours flat, unlike his experiences when not smoking.
He goes on to state that, "Even when not stoned, other aches and pains seem to dissipate, too." Many studies indicate that marijuana has an anti-inflammatory effect, which is a primary reason for so many people using medical marijuana.
- Marijuana destroys cancer
The U.S. Government has acknowledged the role cannabis can play in reducing cancer cells. This is a huge win for the movement towards legalizing marijuana.
On its own website, the U.S. government openly states that they have proven marijuana's cancer cell killing effects in the lab. They continue to say that these studies were conducted on lab animals and therefore, are not enough evidence to give a recommendation of Cannabis as a treatment for cancer-related symptoms or even for the side effects of cancer therapy.
- You are better off smoking weed than drinking alcohol
The journal Scientific Reports states that studies show smoking marijuana is 114 times less dangerous than alcohol. The study included the effects of heroin, alcohol, tobacco, cocaine, ecstasy, cannabis, and crystal meth.
With that being said, it wouldn't hurt to begin considering smoking weed as a replacement for alcohol consumption!
- Marijuana can ween you off of heroin
Marijuana is useful if you are trying to give up heroin. A team of researchers at Columbia University studied patients being treated for drug addiction and noticed that the ones who smoked marijuana slept better, had less anxiety and had better chances of completing their course.
Researchers found that dronabinol, a drug containing THC, reduced withdrawal symptoms when given to patients. The magazine, High Times also notes that drug-related deaths have reduced in the American states that have legalized the recreational use of cannabis.
By Robert Bergman, founder of ilovegrowingmarijuana.com. Robert has been growing cannabis passionately for over 20 years and shares these insights to educate growers avoid mistakes and to fully capitalize on a bud's potential.
Audrey Throne is a mother and a professional blogger by choice. She has completed her masters in English literature from university of Birmingham. As a blogger she wrote quite a few posts on health, technology as well as management. She loves to discover new places and share experiences in words.
