SHOCKING UPDATE: Is cannabis good for you?

By: Tom Parker

I don’t know about you. I read in the media that cannabis should be available freely, that it’s good for medicinal purposes and does no harm etc etc I agree that cannabis for some people who have a medical problem, can probably help with their pain or with their condition. And like any other drug, they should have access to it, if it helps their medical condition.

My problem is with cannabis as a recreational drug, whether you use it once in your lifetime or more regularly. I am going to share with you 4 stories of 4 people that I know who have used cannabis. Is cannabis good for you? You be the judge.

User no. 1

Well, we won’t call him a user as such. This friend of mine used cannabis “just once” in his early twenties. Following this ONE TIME use, he became withdrawn, paranoid and had to leave his university studies for an entire year! I kid you not, he stayed at home for a whole year unable to face the world.

Now, I can see all you cannabis lovers saying this is rare, or that it wasn’t cannabis or that this story is BS. Fair enough. I know how defensive regular cannabis users are, so you are entitled to your opinion. I am sure there are millions of cannabis users that haven't experienced this. However this one time use, did take away a year of this person's life.

User no. 2

Another young guy in his early twenties. He started smoking in his teens and would smoke a joint every day. By his mid twenties, he was hearing a regular other voice in his head and also became house-bound, rarely venturing out. His parents who were quite well off, tried many different things to help him but thus far, he is still suffering even though he has stopped all cannabis use.

User no. 3

Another friend of mine that has been a regular daily smoker since his teens (hmmm, I seem to have a lot of dope-smokers as friends!). To look at him, he looks normal, intelligent and even outgoing. However, if you look just beyond the surface, you will see that he has frequent bouts of depression, has not achieved much with his life, always making excuses and though he periodically gets very motivated, it is very rare to see him follow anything through.

User no. 4

An aspiring bodybuilder that stayed skinny throughout his cannabis-smoking days. He is normal in other ways but just could not put muscle size on whilst he smoked weed. As soon as he stopped, the muscle started piling on. Cannabis triggers oestrogen release, so this could well have been the reason.

You may see this article as biased and maybe I have been unfortunate enough in that I have not encountered any highly active, normal cannabis users. The above is just my experience. I have of course encountered many others who use cannabis habitually or more regularly and I can tell you to me at least, the majority (not all) have several things in common:

• Depression

• Lack of motivation

• Up and down mood

• Unable to build a decent physique

• Anger issues

• No direction and uncertainty

Is cannabis good for you? I personally doubt it but each to their own. If you think it helps you, and you can be objective about it, then so be it. If you want to be as healthy as possible, then smoking cannabis is probably not a good idea.