This is a loaded question. (No pun) The way this one is always phrased makes marijuana out to be a “soft drug”. All drugs have their own problematic side effects and marijuana is no exception. But of the many thousands of drugs out there, smoked marijuana is far above even the half-way mark for being dangerous. It IS a harder drug.
That being said, does marijuana lead someone to use other drugs considered more harmful or more addicting? I don’t think anyone can prove that smoking marijuana actually causes someone to move on to drugs like heroin or cocaine. However…
It is easy to show that most users of cocaine, heroin and ecstasy used marijuana first. The most likely explanation for this being that when the buzz from the weed became less exciting, the other drugs became more attractive. It is also true that being around a lot of pot smokers and dealers will expose someone to other substances they might never have had an opportunity to use otherwise.
Does Smoking Marijuana Cause Cancer?
No one knows for sure what causes cancer to develop. We do know what increases the chances of getting it, though. Chemicals called carcinogens. These irritating substances, when present in a person’s environment or ingested by smoking or eating, greatly increase the likelihood of malignancies forming in the body.
There are significantly more of these carcinogens in marijuana smoke than in cigarette smoke.
Do Doctors Prescribe Marijuana in Some States?
In about 13 states, doctors can legally recommend marijuana for a few certain illnesses. Very few doctors actually do this, and when they do, they do not prescribe it. They don’t write out a prescription that says “CUSH” that you take to the local drugs store for a bag of weed. All they do is sign a card that basically says, “This person is sick.” And then the “patient” is allowed to possess a small amount of marijuana for his or her own personal use only.
Commonly called, “Medical Marijuana”, there is not actually any difference between the marijuana they use medically and that sold illegally in the alley. In the medical marijuana states, if someone is caught by police with a medical marijuana card and a small amount of pot, the cops will probably not say anything. But if he has one of those cards and ten pounds of weed? Forget it, he’s going to jail!
