Cannabis has a long history that’s been faced with disapproval. However, as science and medicine advance, questions about the benefits of pot smoking are coming into public consciousness.
A study released by The National Institute of Drug Abuse demonstrate how teens are using cigarettes and alcohol less. Instead, they are smoking more marijuana. The reason? Students consider it less harmful… but are they right? And is it beneficial to studying?
A Much Safer Drug Than Alcohol and Cigarettes?
Scientists carried out a risk assessment. They tested the odds of death associated with the use of various legal and illegal drugs.
It confirmed what earlier studies have already suggested. Alcohol is proven to be the deadliest, while marijuana is the least risky. In fact, pot is 114 times safer than drinking alcohol.
The consumption of weed is determined as generally safe, as long as you smoke it without tobacco.
Through such research, one can assess that students are putting into practice safer ways to have fun and chill out. So maybe it’s not so bad after all?
Risks of Smoking Pot
That being said, short-term and long-term risks of smoking cannabis have been outlined by drugabuse.gov
Short-term:
- altered senses (for example, seeing brighter colors)
- altered sense of time
- changes in mood
- impaired body movement
- difficulty with thinking and problem-solving
- impaired memory
- hallucinations (when taken in high doses)
- delusions (when taken in high doses)
- psychosis (when taken in high doses)
Long-term:
Marijuana also affects brain development. When people begin using marijuana as teenagers, the drug may impair thinking, memory, and learning functions. It could affect how the brain builds connections between the areas necessary for these functions.
A study from New Zealand showed that people who started smoking marijuana heavily in their teens lost an average of 8 IQ points between ages 13 and 38. These mental abilities didn’t fully return. However, those who started smoking marijuana as adults didn’t show notable IQ declines. -drugabuse.gov
While risks are a worry, smoking pot may prove beneficial to students by increasing creativity and its usage has been shown to have some positive mental effects.
Benefits?
A 2012 study in Consciousness and Cognition found that marijuana made people more creative, especially how well they used language. When it comes to assignments, verbal fluency is useful students may turn to pot to help this.
Also, smoking pot may also decrease anxiety. Anxiety is a disorder so many students suffer from with the pressures to do well mounting and,
In 2010, researchers at Harvard Medical School suggested that that some of the drug’s benefits may actually be from reduced anxiety, which would improve the smoker’s mood and act as a sedative in low doses. – Business Insider
That being said, high doses of marijuana has been proven to increase anxiety and paranoia. It’s all about being sensible and balanced. You should make the right choices and take care of your body and mind. A little of most things should be fine, maybe even better for you. Just don’t overdo it!
While students should be aware to not self-medicate without doctor’s intervention, cannabis has been known to improve the quality of sleep. Sleep is something you struggle to get at the best of times. Top it off with advancing deadlines, money stress, socialising and anxiety. It’s no wonder students are especially bad sleepers.
Medical marijuana physician Dr. Matt Roman says,
Marijuana is an effective sleep aid. It restores a person’s natural sleep cycle, which so often falls out of sync with our schedules in today’s modern lifestyle.
So if you’re amounting workload is keeping you up at night, perhaps a little puff might do you good.
University Magazine is part of the 
