|
|
Please note that any comments expressed in these forum posts do not reflect the opinions of Medical News Today in any way at all. Opinions posted in this forum do not constitute medical advice, which should be sought from qualified medical advisers. Disclaimer.
Marijuana weakens the immune system.
posted by Roger on 22 Apr 2006 at 1:15 amMarijuana weakens the immune system. Smoking pot every day is healthy? Would drinking a lot of wine or doing heroin help my sickness too? There are a lot of happy heroin addicts out there too.
Read the news article that this opinion was posted about:
Marijuana For Medical Use Turned Down By FDA
| previous page | post followup | alert a moderator | view all opinions on this news article |
Follow-Up Opinions
| Where did you hear that? |
| posted by Max Frisch on 22 Apr 2006 at 11:25 am |
|
I've heard a lot of myths about marijuana, but that it weakens the immune system is a good one. Of all substances that do weaken the immune system alcohol is probably the worst. Abundant details can be found in the medical and non-medical literature. Responsible use of marijuana is far less dangerous in both short term and long term than alcohol. How many DUI deaths a year do we have? Thousands. And how many DUI of marijuana? Zilch.
Putting alcohol and heroin in the same context is a sad manipulation of facts. Actually, heroin and alcohol have more in common with each other than with marijuana. Just study the literature, social and medical impact of the two and compare it to marijuana. Anti-marijuana campaign is laughable, just like the Reefer Madness movie that had become a camp classic. It is a matter of time before marijuana is decriminalized, just like in some other countries. Common sense and medical evidence will have to prevail, sooner or later. Legalizing marijuana will put out of business a lot of drugs that are currently making billions to their manufacturers. Collusion of government and big business? Not a far fetched concept if you think about it. |
| Abuse Is Always Precipitated By Excuse |
| posted by TiAja on 07 Sept 2006 at 4:08 pm |
|
It is absolutely ridiculous to argue the relative "health" merits of marijuana over alcohol. Both are drugs which means their deleterious affect on the human body are guaranteed. Sure, marijuana may be the lesser of the two evils in terms of clinical and epidemiological data, but the fact remains that today's marijuana is not the same marijuana our hippie father's smoked in the 1960's.
Today most experts would agree that the THC content is in marijuana is nearly 27% to 30% higher than in previous decades. Secondly, four-hundred specific chemicals are added to increase the likelihood of psychological as well as physiological addiction. It is now known that marijuana causes addiction by overstimulating the abundant cannabinoid receptor sites in various parts of the brain particularly the hippocampus. The fact THC is fat soluble (which simply means it has a long and unpredictable "shelf-life") does not bode well for the health of the human body. THC is a anadamide mimic which is to say it can potentially block natural production levels of various hormones which has a direct impact on protein synthesis and thus the immune system. |
| Know Your Fact Rights. |
| posted by Jay-Mark on 01 Feb 2007 at 5:08 pm |
|
"Both are drugs which means their deleterious affect on the human body are guaranteed."
So you think drug = damage every time? False. If it was the case they wouldn't be hundreds of legaly available drugs. I don't say drugs are harmless, but each one of them has a diffrent toxicity level and you don't seem to get that. The real danger you expose yourself too when smoking pot is the smoke itself, whitch contains more possibly harmfull chemicals resulting from combustion of the plant matter than cigarettes. Addiction may be a problem but that's purely up to the user so it shouldn't be an argument. Some are addicted to much worst things than that (not only drugs) and only because they are legal people accept it. "THC is a anadamide mimic which is to say it can potentially block natural production levels of various hormones which has a direct impact on protein synthesis and thus the immune system." The two important lymphocytes in the body of all animals (including humans) are T lymphocytes (T cells) and B lymphocytes (B cells) which are both derived from bone marrow. T cells are stored and matured in the thymus of animals and humans, and circulate in the blood. In addition, T cells protect the body from viral infection. In contrast, B cells are stored and matured in the spleen, and are also distributed throughout the body in the blood. Furthermore, B cells are responsible for the humoral response to infection since they secrete highly specific antibody that binds to foreign substance, antigen, for destruction. THC and other cannabinoids suppress T cell proliferation, but on the other hand, increase B cells proliferation. So it't a bad for a good... not only a bad thing like you said... there is potentially something in there that could be a immunostimulant, further reaserches have to be done. |
| Smoking Pot |
| posted by Anon on 10 May 2007 at 4:57 pm |
|
The real way that smoking pot lowers somebodies immune system is because if you smoke before going to sleep you don't sleep correctly. Your 8 hours of sleep is really only about 4 hours since it takes 4 hours for the stuff you get out of your system. If you hit the good stuff then it takes longer so that means even less sleep. So just don't smoke it on a constant basics before bedtime and you'll be fine!
I'm smoking marijuana because of glaucoma and the lack of affordable health insurance. I do it once a day in small doses. Small dose is about the amount you get when you stuff the end of a cigarette with marijuana, about 1/4". Get 1 to 3 good puffs out of it and then just smoke the cigg. If I miss a couple of days I start getting halo's and foggy vision in the middle of the day. Other then that I don't like driving while on marijuana or working. |
| Marijuana And The Immune System |
| posted by Jasmine on 06 Nov 2007 at 9:08 am |
| I have been smoking marijuana daily for the past couple of years. I have noticed that I am sick more days out of the year than ever before. If I am around someone who is sick, I know for sure that my body simply can't fight it off. Recently I was diagnosed with HPV and have been told by my doctor that marijuana suppresses my immune system's ability to fight off the virus. Whoever out there who thinks marijuana is not harmful, look at someone who smokes it everyday and see how well they're doing in life. |
| I've Found It Actually Might Have Improved It |
| posted by Adam on 05 Jan 2008 at 4:36 pm |
| I used to get sick allll the time. Bronchitis is normally what each cold turned into, then i started smoking pot heavily, have for the last 7 years.. I hda a rhinoplasty/septoplasty done about 4 years ago and i have been sick maybe once or twice per year since then, that definitely helped....... It is my belief that smoking blunts or joints with groups of people trasmists all kinda of different bacteria/virus's from each persons mouth to the otheres.... but since its such small amounts the body builds antibodies to them and you actaully become more immune to most common colds |
| No Sense |
| posted by zack on 26 Feb 2008 at 9:27 pm |
| Marijuana can not affect your immune system by smoking it before you go to sleep. it will help GO to sleep, but smoking it before you go to sleep will NOT affect your immune system.at ALL |
| Immune System |
| posted by Stephen on 09 Mar 2008 at 3:51 am |
|
There are many myths about marijuana. Most detrimental things said are unmerited and unable to be proven in any way. Marijuana has never been proven to lower ones immune system in normal doses.
The only test that has shown a weakened immune system was done on many different types of rodents and yielded a higher chance of contacting herpes. The amount of marijuana per kg given to these rodents is a dosage so high that it is 1,000 times the amount needed for humans to feel high. This brings me to a sidepoint. Marijuana is extremely gentle when it comes to toxicity. There has Never been an overdosing on marijuana and has a lethal dose of over 3,000 hits. To simultaneously take 3,000 hits is basically impossible. Anyone who has smoked weed before will agree with me that even 50 hits at once would put anyone into a peaceful and deep sleep. |
| Official Stance On Marijuana Immunology |
| posted by David on 27 May 2008 at 6:07 pm |
|
Take a look at our government's drug policy site for the final word.
http://www.drugpolicy.org/marijuana/factsmyths/#immune |
| Well... |
| posted by coo on 05 Feb 2009 at 5:50 am |
|
Smoking marijuana WILL damage the immune system at least short term and this is coming from experience!
However, when i smoked every day in groups and my tolerance built up, i was less affected by the drug itself but noticed i was ill less. BUT, i cut down hugely on weed and stopped smokin cigs amd smoked one joint two days ago and now i've got a cold! I cut down herbs and quit fags cos of the damage that was done to my lungs and brain- i was 'dopey'. My concentration levels were low and i had a psychological addiction: So my advice is DON'T START SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO STOP!!! |
| Weed |
| posted by Dave on 09 Apr 2009 at 9:28 am |
| Marijuana is a good thing. Anyone who disagrees needs to go smoke some more, that is all. |
| Logic - marijuana and immune system |
| posted by Mike on 31 July 2009 at 10:00 am |
| Lets use some logic here, everyone anti pot fails at this. Smoking marijuana before bed may mess with your REM but it probably does not mess up your immune system. (Just a silly idea I find easy to ignore. like seriously?) I could probably agree with the build up of antibodies as Adam said as I've been smoking daily since 15 and haven't had a cold longer than 3 days since. I'm talking about 2 colds a year. |
| Reply To Zack |
| posted by mohsen on 03 Aug 2009 at 1:51 am |
|
I'm glad that your PHD in med school has been able to help you confirm this fact that it does not affect your immune system.
Face it weed is great who doesnt love it, but there is a price. It does and will affect your immune system, all the pot smokers i know get sick, and are sick a lot of the time, but then again half of them are perfectly healthy. Realisticly, theres nothing to tell you how your body will be affected by marijuana. Everyone's different,, there's some basis that it will hurt your lungs, immune system, brain, make you a little tempered, or maybe a little relaxed. It's always different for everyone. If your looking at these posts to see if you should try it or not, these wont help you. Try it a couple times, see how it is for you, if you don't like it then its not for you in this part of your life, or ever. It all depends on the person. But remember, not everyone's a doctor. |
| Marijuana Lowers The Immune System - Yeah Right. |
| posted by angel on 12 Oct 2009 at 11:30 pm |
| If marijuana lowers the immune system, there would be no such thing as medical marijuana. |
| "57% Off All Statistics Are Made Up On The Spot!" |
| posted by Happy_Cenobite on 22 Oct 2009 at 4:26 pm |
|
For those who say they see pot smokers get sick a lot: how many of them also smoke cigs?
When someone uses key phrases and buzzwords from anti-pot ads on teevee as evidence, one may determine the individual has done very little research on the matter. The demonization of pot is all about money and power! Why is the plant illegal and not just THC? Yet, why can I legally grow Papaver_somniferum_ in my yard so long as I dont bleed the seed pods? Studies proving the harmful effects of pot are notoriously slanted. An example is the Reagan admin.'s funded study trying to "prove" that THC kills brain cells. The poor primates of the study were pumped pot smoke through air masks so thick that they were deprived of oxygen, thus suffering brain damage. The "scientists" behind the "experiment" had only one thing in mind: money! Using lame 'medical safety' uses to justify building a prison slave labor force out of non-violent offenders should be the real question. And, by the way...why are those opposed to nationalized health care also opposed to me having the right to buy my own drugs and treat myself? $MONEY! money money money! |
| Weed Is Great! |
| posted by Devin on 26 Oct 2009 at 6:25 pm |
| Alright check this out...there is NO reason why weed so even be illegal. Has anybody ever overdosed on weed? NOPE! Has anybody ever died from the usage of weed? NOPE. Does weed weaken the immune system? MAYBE but nothing too serious. Everybody wants to make it seem like weed is so bad but the government is just mad cause they can't make any money off of it with all the street dealers...lol>>>>government. I mean get over all this anti-weed s**t and just smoke. So I guess its cool to do crack (which is addictive and kills people), get drunk (which turns into a addiction and kills people daily),have wild sex (which leads to stds and death), pop pills (which really weakens the immune system and tears up your stomach lining) and I could go on but I"m not! Matter of fact I'm bout to go smoke my blunt and be happy! |
| Pro, But Open-minded |
| posted by Melissa on 01 Nov 2009 at 5:54 pm |
| Well, as for the whole post about anadamide and it's effects on the body, I would have taken more of the things said in the post into consideration had I been able to find that in the dictionary; come to find out, there is no such thing as anadamide, however, anandamide does exist. It is released in a mammal's brain in response to pain. It is an endogenous cannabinoid. A cannabinoid is any of the chemical compounds that are active principles of marijuana and endogenous just simply means it is derived internally. So in use of anandamide, it pretty much negates everything said previously. |
Pages of Opinions: 1
