How Smoking Weed Affects Your Health

Cannabis is used by Americans across the country to treat all manner of health conditions, with the science backing up these health claims. But beyond the relief and euphoria that cannabis can offer, there's pushback to the legalization trend: experts say there's increasing evidence of long-term harms. VITALS host Sheena Williams debunks five surprising health-related myths about cannabis use with the help of cannabis specialist Dr. Peter Grinspoon.

Let’s Connect:

Find our experts and hosts:

:: Sheena William, RN ::
Twitter: @Keepingitkinky1
Instagram: @keepingitkinky

:: Alok Patel, MD ::
Twitter: @AlokPatelMD
Instagram: @alokpatelmd

:: Peter Grinspoon, MD ::
Peter Grinspoon, an American born physician, is an internist and medical cannabis specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital and an instructor at Harvard Medical School
Twitter: @peter_grinspoon
Instagram: @peter_grinspoon

All Of Us Research ProgramThe All of Us Research Program will provide a national research resource to inform thousands of research questions, covering a wide variety of health conditions. It has the goal of surveying the health data of over 1 million participants.

Marijuana Use Disorder
While one study estimated that approximately 3 in 10 people who use marijuana have marijuana use disorder, another study estimated that people who use cannabis have only a 10% likelihood of becoming “addicted.” The measurement and classification of cannabis use disorder as an addiction is controversial: as Dr. Grinspoon explains, “[cannabis] does help people. It helps people with anxiety, with pain, with sleep, with boredom, with loneliness…And it's not a simple thing to disentangle—you can't just write off a third of patients.”

Cannabis Use and Schizophrenia
Using Danish health records for over six million individuals, one study found that as many as 30% of cases of schizophrenia among men aged 21 to 30 could have been prevented had they avoided cannabis use disorder. The study author, however, flagged that Denmark does not have as much diversity as the US and that genetics do play a role in schizophrenia risk. Again, a correlation isn’t enough to imply causation, but the study findings may warrant caution.

Marijuana, Race, and Policy

Other studies and data mentioned

00:00 Intro
02:03 Myth #1: Marijuana is natural, healthy
05:02 Myth #2: Marijuana isn't addictive
07:03 Myth #3: Cannabis is safe for the brain
07:56 Myth #4: Weed can replace prescription sleep aid
09:22 Myth #5: Weed can cure anxiety/depression
11:03 Weed, Policy, & Race
12:20 Outro/Sheena's Story

[anikaelizabeth]

I think we should do an episode on crazy work schedules destroying lives. No sleep is just as bad as any drugs.

[americanadreaming]

As a combat vet that came back home broken, cannabis was the key to unlocking healing 'for me'. Yoga, therapists, keto, and quitting sugar were/are equally important.

[geomundi]

I was happy to hear him mention loneliness as something treated by cannabis. I am someone who lives rural live and was widowed early and never remarried; I've battled more with bouts of loneliness versus depression or anxiety. I like to smoke before doing farm chores so I don't go into negative thought loops.

[APOLLINAIREBARTHOLOMIEU]

Psychedelics are just an exceptional mental health breakthrough. It's quite fascinating how effective they are against depression and anxiety. Saved my life.

[josephbearup]

As a Life long Weed Smoker who’s now 43 years old I started at 12/13years old. I stopped Cold turkey about 8 months ago And Couldn’t be happier. The Sleep and The DREAMS oh The Dreams are Back after Having some here and there But now Every time I sleep I dream. I even started a dream Journal and Have had my First Lucid Dream of my life about 2 Weeks Back. As I’m in Michigan I can drive 2 mins away and Go to a Dispensary It was super easy to Get whatever I needed and Now I have Zero Urge to Smoke at all. Mental clarity and No Brain Fog I will always enjoy the Times I’ve had with Weed But I’ll Love those times from a Distance now

[tommybombadil]

Nothing about cannabis is as dangerous as the people who seek to control your life.

[tiffanyannhowe]

As a user for pain management, I appreciate this episode. Keep the information real, not scary. Keep the research going! 🖤

[zeph]

I've used cannabis for 30 years now and I can honestly say that with cannabis, the rule is - less is more. Using it in excess leads to problems, so I can recommend it to anyone IF... you never combine it with other drugs such as alcohol in particular. Like everything in nature, if it's used in moderation, then you receive the benefits. If you intend to use it regularly, then I would also recommend that you keep to a regular exercise program. It can really help you with your motivation and endurance if you play sport.
Although I have used it for so long, I went for a check up recently and my lungs and heart were just fine thanks. I have experienced no other deleterious side effects at all and have just appreciated life more - so as long as it's properly regulated and kids aren't allowed to use it, then I can't see what all the fuss is about.
Anti-legalization "experts" are usually from the medical fraternity who don't want to sell less prescription poison, or stiff necked fuddy duddies who have never used it themselves before.

[Cannabian]

As someone who went with undiagnosed ADHD for 38 years of my life I feel like marijuana saved me from worse addictions and also helped me function more normally without getting as overwhelmed. I also never started until around 19, which is still too early imo but it's not the worst. That said I knew for a long time I was self medicating to slow and calm my mind and figured I had adhd but life was going okay for awhile. That doesn't last forever though and comes with other problems like still doing adhd stuff but just not caring.

[yin]

Smoked for the first time in hs, but didn’t buy my own until I was legal where I live (Canada). It has helped tremendously with my own anxiety, adhd lack of sleep, and whenever I’m down in general. I will say though, that kids who started regularly smoking in hs are absolutely locked in a psychological dependency. I personally don’t ever want to be that— it’s done great things for me recreationally but I know my limits.

[bradjohnson]

This woman is really good at what she does. I hope we see a lot more of her on PBS. Bravo

[Sweetpea]

I use CBD for menstrual pain. Also periodically for sleep. Sometimes low grade THC to relax. However too high of a dose and I’m irritable, heart racing, anxious. Totally agree the dose matters and frequency. This made me think about cutting the dose even more and just letting it rise.

[mcclassic]

Moderation is key in life it’s only fun if you don’t abuse it too much

[lascelleschen]

I am 66 years old and I have been smoking marijuana since I was 18 years old. Last month I had a wellness health check and passed with flying colors. The best thing to do is to exercise regularly to keep fit and also eat healthy.

[tee]

I’ve been smoking heavily since I was 13. Increasing doses as the years progressed.I’m 33 now and never once did I ever think of or tried quitting in my 20 years of usage. I went cold turkey 4 days ago with very minimal side effects. I haven’t felt this good in a long time.

[Jblazesmyth]

I've smoked cannabis at the age of 14 the year of 1998 and i haven't quit ever since..I'm 40 yrs old as of now still smoking cannabis aging like a fine wine and I'm still in good health

[abrahamramirez]

I started smoking in college at 18 and man have I indulged over the past 6 years, I’ve had my ups and downs in life even before I smoked weed and I definitely prefer to deal with life and anxiety with weed instead of alcohol or nicotine

[MacarenaWalsh]

Cannabis Nurse here! It’s important to note that Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD) is rare and generally much lower than other drugs. In fact, cannabis has shown to help with other addictions.
The way it was presented in this video it made seem that cannabis CUD was significantly higher than it really is and its a problem….when its 10% of chance…
Also, when comes to withdraws, most people don’t have to worry about titrating their cannabis dose… Cannabis users can experience withdrawals without having CUD this important for people to know (which is different from say alcohol, when someone suddenly stops drinking and experience withdrawals it’s bc they are addicted).
This video was somewhat helpful, but seemed one sided….

[CannabisJon]

I'm a big fan of cannabis but I was lucky in that I wasn't exposed to it until I was in my early twenties. Perhaps this is why I've always been a highly productive 'stoner', most folks would never guess that I am a frequent user. Great information, thanks for this. Cheers from Cannabis Jon!

[krissy]

Autistic here and it helps me SO MUCH with coping/making life easier to deal with all my life's challenges. Sensory issues, emotion regulation, overwhelm, and social anxiety. Still having trouble finding medical quality since I live over an hour away from the nearest med dispo and still don't have a med card