You should not feel ashamed that you have ever smoked a cigarette of weed or that you have ever eaten a weed laced brownie. You are not alone; there are over 1 in 3 people in the US who have consumed marijuana at some point of their lives. Even though it is safe to say that occasional consumption of weed is not harmful, pot can actually affect your system; both mind and body for that matter any time you consume it. So what do you need to know?
What are the physical effects
How does weed come about? It comes from cannabis sativa a hemp plant that comprises and active ingredient and one which is responsible for the effects of weed. This ingredient is known as THC and is what brings the high effect. There are also other components of marijuana that can cause an effect on your body and its operations.
Weed is most often, always consumed in the form of dried leaves, stems, flowers or seeds. But you can also have weed combined with food items like cookies, brownies or lollipops, it can also be brewed as you would any tea or it can also be inhaled using a vaporizer.
Regardless of how weed is consumed or how it enters the system, weed affects all the internal organs of the body, including the immune and nervous systems. When weed is inhaled, the body reacts by absorbing THC almost right away. You will begin to notice marijuana effects in your body just after smoking. The effect should last for around three to four hours.
However if you consume a baked product or any other food item that is laced with weed, it could take longer for the body to absorb it. Because it has to be broken down by the digestive system before it gets a chance to enter the blood stream.
Inhaling marijuana will mostly likely increase your heart rate by more than two times for about three hours. This is why you may have heard of people getting heart attacks immediately after consuming marijuana. Smoking weed can also increase bleeding, while at the same time it can lower blood pressure. Another effect is that marijuana can affect your blood sugar levels.
It is still not clear whether marijuana increases your chances of getting lung cancer, however smoking marijuana will most definitely cause an irritation to the lungs. This is why it is not uncommon for regular weed users to have persistent coughs or have lung related illnesses such as lung infections or chest colds.
Some other effects of weed include dizzy spells, shallow breathes, dry patched lips, dilated pupils, red eyes, an increased appetite. One is also likely to have a slow reaction or reduced reflexes. If you drive yourself after smoking the drug you increase your chances of being in an accident by two times. This is why it is not advisable to operate heavy machinery or be behind a vehicle for at least ten hours after smoking.
