Cannabis Effects on Humans Long-Term

Cannabis use, no matter for what purposes, produces various negative effects on human health and the brain. Here is a review of the long-term effects' evidence.

Cannabis Effects on Humans Long-Term

Smoking a joint or eating a pair of canna cookies at a party may seem fun while you're young. You may also enjoy the painkilling and relaxing properties of marijuana, which may be of real help in some situations.

But both occasional and regular weed users should keep in mind that marijuana is, first of all, a psychoactive drug. Thus, short-term and long-term effects on human health, especially brain health, are unavoidable.

Here is a detailed review of the long-term impact cannabis produces on your organism. Read on to make informed choices about the dosage and frequency of weed smoking sessions.

Mood Disorders

Cannabis produces a psychoactive effect for which most people love it. A dose of weed can help you relax and fall asleep quicker or get high and euphoric whenever needed. However, these mood-altering effects come with a price, which becomes too high for some people.

• Lucatch et al. found that people with major depressive disorder and bipolar disorder use cannabis at a higher rate than people without mood disorders.

• Cheung et al. also found cannabis use to be associated with the onset of anxiety and mood disorders (AMD), concluding that cannabis fans are at a greater risk of this disorder’s development.

• Mammen et al. discovered that cannabis use hinders the outcomes of pharmacological treatment for mood disorders. Thus, people with AMD who use medications for their condition shouldn’t smoke weed as it blocks the pharmacological effect and brings their efforts to naught.

Thus, regular cannabis consumption causes anxiety and depression, among other mood disorders, and offers only a temporary solution to mood issues.

Psychotic Problems in Vulnerable Populations

Though marijuana use for medical purposes is allowed for patients with psychotic disorders, its administration should be treated with much caution. Clinical research suggests that some cannabis strains, like the Motorbreath strain and other relaxing weed types, can indeed help manage anxiety, depression, and stress in psychotic patients. Still, its prolonged use poses a risk of symptoms' worsening.

• Kolliakou et al. found that people with psychosis are more likely to use drugs, including cannabis, for self-treatment, which often causes the onset of schizophrenia and leads to acute psychosis issues.

• Coronado-Montoya et al. also cautioned that occasional cannabis use might not cause serious health outcomes in healthy people but is dangerous for people with psychosis. Regular use of cannabis by psychotic patients often leads to hospitalization, worsening psychosocial functioning, and severe psychiatric episodes.

• Noel associated marijuana abuse with elevated risks of transient psychosis and claimed that early onset of marijuana use could lead to schizophrenia development in adulthood.

This evidence suggests that people with mental disorders are considered a vulnerable population that should avoid addictive substance use, including cannabis.

Cannabis Use Disorder

Currently, cannabis is the most widely used psychoactive substance in the United States. Its use rates more than doubled in the past decade, and so did the incidence of cannabis use disorder (CUD). So, now, over 8 million Americans report near-daily use of cannabis. The major factor in the upward trend is cannabis legalization in many U.S. states.

Such heavy consumption leads to CUD development, with symptoms ranging from cognitive impairment to increased risk of psychotic episodes to lower educational attainment. People are diagnosed with CUD if they continue smoking weed regularly despite the negative health consequences and show impaired cognition and distress.

Diagnostics of CUD focuses on the following criteria:

• Prolonged and intense marijuana use.

• Unsuccessful efforts to control or reduce weed intake despite a strong desire to do so.

• Craving for a cannabis dose.

• Much effort invested in buying, using weed, and recovering from its effects.

• Inability to fulfill family or work duties because of cannabis use.

• Inability to stop using weed despite family or interpersonal problems.

• Need to increase the dose of weed to achieve the desired psychotic effect.

If you notice two or more criteria from this list in your relationship with cannabis, it's time to seek psychotherapeutic help. CUD is treated with cognitive behavior, motivational enhancement, and contingency management approaches.

Withdrawal Syndrome

Once heavy cannabis users decide to drop this unhealthy habit, they may come across the cannabis withdrawal syndrome (CWS) of varying severity. CWS usually manifests itself in the form of mood swings and behavioral problems, which results from the reactivation of human brain cannabinoid 1 (CB1) receptors.

Stoners may start feeling the downsides of their recovery around 2 days after they stop the weed intake. The CWS can last up to four weeks, depending on the human organism and neuroplasticity.

• Bonnet and Preuss found that women report worse CWS symptoms than men, experiencing nausea and stomach pain in many cases.

• Crippa et al. reported using medical cannabidiol to alleviate the CWS symptoms in patients.

There are no DSM-V diagnostic criteria for CWS; neither is there a single, accepted pattern of weed withdrawal patterns among regular users. Thus, more research is needed to manage the withdrawal discomfort and help people drop weed use easier.

Neurocognitive Issues

Cannabinoids bind to the human neural receptors, thus blocking the normal functioning of the human brain, such as data processing, sensory perception, memorization of information, and recall. They also hinder the reaction to external stimuli, making people slower than while sober.

All these effects can't help damage the neurocognitive system of the human organism in the long run. Thus, long-term cannabis users often complain of memory issues, lower dopamine production, and impaired movement control.

• Crane et al. confirmed the negative effect of cannabis on neurocognitive functioning, acutely right after intake and non-acutely in the long run.

• Duperrouzel et al. reported that regular cannabis users without pronounced health problems exhibit poorer neurocognitive functioning compared to non-users in the longitudinal perspective. They also experience functional brain alterations, with worse damage observed among users who start weed intake at a young age.

• Thames et al. held a clinical study with cannabis users and non-users and discovered that regular users demonstrate the worse performance of attention, working memory, information processing speed, and executive functioning. Recent users performed better than long-term users, proving the hypothesis that cannabis effects worsen over time.

Cardiovascular Problems

Weed smoking and tobacco have a strong negative impact on the human heart and cardiovascular system. By inhaling smoke, stoners expose their blood vessels and heart to excessive load and contaminate their cardiovascular system with smoke byproducts. Thus, the long-term effect of marijuana administration includes heart attacks, heart disease, and risk of stroke.

• Casier et al. cautioned that even recreational cannabis use could lead to severe cardiovascular problems in the long run and even result in sudden death in people without significant cardiovascular risks.

• Winhusen et al. also found a relationship between regular cannabis use, with and without tobacco, with adverse cardiovascular events, such as CVA, arrhythmia, SAH, and death.

• Jouanjus et al. reported a growing incidence of cardiovascular complications and an extremely high death rate (25%+) among adolescent cannabis users.

Respiratory Diseases

Those who smoke cannabis regularly are at a higher risk of developing associated respiratory problems, such as lung damage and persistent cough. The problems caused by weed use specifically for the lungs include

• Worsening of existing respiratory symptoms, such as coughing, wheezing, or shortness of breath.

• Hyperinflation and increased large airway resistance.

• Respiratory complications like aspergillosis, hemoptysis, emphysema, or secondary pneumothorax.

• Development of emphysema and vanishing lung syndrome.

Thus, weed intake by smoking is directly connected with different lung problems. Hancox et al. observed higher lung hyperinflation, increased large airway resistance, and associated problems among weed smokers. The American Lung Association also cautioned against using vape pens and dabbing as seemingly safer methods of smoking weed, as they still cause respiratory problems.

Teenager-Specific Problems

Though the scale of weed's health effects is generally large, covering all age categories from adolescents to older adults, teenagers are at a disproportionately higher risk. Their brains and bodies are developing, and their hormonal system is far from established. Thus, it's vital to ensure the unimpaired development of young people across all health domains to guarantee positive public health outcomes in the long run.

So, what’s wrong with the teenager group that makes it extremely vulnerable to the harmful effects of weed use?

• Adolescence is a period of experimentation and risk-taking. This path often leads young people to the wrong path of alcohol and drugs, which may become a dead end for many.

• Teenagers are very vulnerable to peer influence. They are still not autonomous and critical in decision-making and can yield to peer pressure even if they don’t feel like smoking weed.

• Teens often have a crisis period with their parents as they start their independent lives and want to separate from the family nest. This separation usually accompanies a loss of trust and openness with parents, who are the last to discover their children's harmful hobby.

In terms of the weed effect on teens, it's also more serious compared to older age groups. The teenage brain and neurocognitive system are still developing, making them more susceptible to cannabinoid effects. As a result, teens report impaired thinking and problem-solving more often and experience problems with memory, learning, and coordination. Weed use also affects their school and social life, reducing their motivation and achievement. Thus, it is vital to discourage teen use of weed as much as possible, delaying the onset of its intake until an older age.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes