Moderation or Abuse?
“You have to learn self love and evaluate who you are and what you want for yourself as a person. If those people who are peer pressuring you into doing something you know you don’t want to do, you need to remove yourself and find people who accept you for who you are as an individual.”
My fellow New Yorkers, I have a question..When you were younger do you remember smelling weed as soon as you walked outside? If you say no, it is because weed was illegal. Weed became legal on March 31, 2021. Since that moment, weed seems to have become a “trend” between teenagers, and young adults. As soon as you step outside you smell a whiff of weed. Weed can be used for personal use “to get high”, and for medical use for aches and pains – prescribed by a doctor for certain medical conditions.
The use of cannabis originated in Central Asia and or Western China. Cannabis was used for healing properties for thousands of years. The first case of its use goes back to 2800 BC, when it was listed in the pharmacy of Emperor Shen Nung, regarded as the father of Chinese medicine.
Marijuana was used for food, medicine, fiber and rope. Cannabis has been used by humans since at least the third millennium BC. Cannabis has been valued for its use in making fiber and rope for many years.
Marijuana has been used as food and medicine for thousands many years as well.
The psychoactive properties of cannabis have been used for religious and recreational purposes. Cannabis plants make and produce chemicals, cannabinoids, which are responsible for the mental and physical effects of consuming cannabis. The chemicals are secreted by glandular trichomes, which are most abundant on the bracts, and floral calyxes of female cannabis plants.
I did some interviews to get some insight about the trendiness of weed and people’s personal opinions about weed.
My first interviewees answer to the question was she feels that people just do it just to keep up with trends. There's no real reason other than popularity. She feels that it's more for a “fit in” purpose. Instead of being you and who you are, you try to be someone else that you're not. She feels that this can take a toll on mental health because you are trying so hard and running yourself down to fit in.
I asked another interviewee and the response was that weed is part of a recurring cycle of trying to fit in. People don’t understand the health risk of weed in the long run, blinded by the nice sensation that weed brings for a short period of time. Society has made people think that weed makes them look cool. She feels that growing up around weed affects the way she breaths, and affects the way her lungs function due to secondhand smoke. Teens shouldn’t consume weed at young ages and should wait until the brain is fully developed and mature to engage in drug usage. Teens have a long time to do the things that they are doing at an early age and need to slow down their growth as much as possible because adulthood isn't easy.
Since weed has become legal I feel that it has been taken advantage of. You see more weed than ever. I feel that people are doing it because it has become a trend. You see people blowing smoke in the camera on instagram. You see all the rappers posting all their weed, and the bags of weed they have. People feel that since it became legal you can just smoke and smoke. They don’t realize that just because you see people doing it, you don’t have to do it too.
Some people are doing it for health benefits. But then there are others doing it to “make themselves look like they are somebody”. Not only that if you are smoking weed you have to be mindful of others around you. If you are coming to school with weed in your bookbag and you know that others around you have health conditions you need to take that into consideration. That kid that has asthma that sits next to you may start feeling that their chest is getting tighter and tighter now not allowing their airways to properly get air. My view is not to bash weed smokers because to give people an eye opener and hope to have them self evaluate what is the reason behind them smoking. Don’t feel that you have to smoke to fit in today's world. If you find yourself doing that then you need to distance yourself and find people who accept you for who you are and aren't making you feel like you have to do something because they are doing it. Which then brings me into the Positives and Negatives of weed.
In life everything has a negative side of it.. Weed has negative aspects to its consumption,whether eaten in an edible or smoked. Let's start with the short term negative effects of smoking weed. To start you may have impaired attention. Impaired attention is the inability to focus on a subject or idea. With impaired attention you are not going to be able to have a strong attention span meaning that your mind will start drifting off. This is not allowing the brain to properly process information and think.
This leads to short term memory loss. If you are being told something you may possibly forget within a few minutes resulting in you asking that same question again and again because of the lack of the brain not being able to remember. This pushes me on to now inform you on the long term effects of smoking weed.
Smoking weed can cause respiratory health issues. Smoking weed can irritate the throat and lungs and can cause a severe cough. With respiratory issues breathing in marijuana can trigger asthma symptoms such as coughing or wheezing. People with asthma are more likely to suffer an asthma attack because of breathing in weed. And if yes if you don’t have asthma directly you can still develop asthma if you smoke. In addition to the subject of irritated lungs, overtime with how much weed is being smoked it can lead to lung cancer. I don’t say this to scare anyone, this information is to inform to who may or may not smoke weed the health factors with the utilization of weed. Which leads the article to move forward in the positives of cannabis.
The positives of cannabis:
Even though there are negatives in life, there are still some positives. In this case there are still positives with cannabis even though there are some negatives. Starting cannabis helps with pain. Cannabis reduces chronic pain. When consumed, cannabis-infused medicines interact with CB1 receptors in the brain, helping to manage inflammation, and reduce chronic pain.
In addition to the positives of cannabis, cannabis alleviates anxiety and depression. Cannabis-infused medicines have shown effects in reducing anxiety and depression. This can lead to better sleep quality. CBD has an interaction with the brain serotonin receptors to elevate mood and reduce both the mental and physical symptoms of anxiety. Cannabis-infused medicines have been seen to be linked to fighting cancer and able to alleviate symptoms caused by cancer treatments. In some research it is suggested that cannabinoids found in cannabis can slow down the growth of cancer cells. In addition cannabinoids have been found to be effective at alleviating nausea and vomiting, which are the side effects of some medications and medical treatments.
Even though cannabis has its positives and negatives you have to evaluate yourself and the reason behind you consuming cannabis.
Like earlier in the article, having time to think about your reasoning and intentions behind consuming weed is important. You shouldn’t be consuming cannabis if you are being peer pressured into it. You are damaging yourself and allowing others to get the best of you and take you out of your character and element. You have to learn self love and evaluate who you are and what you want for yourself as a person. If those people who are peer pressuring you into doing something you know you don’t want to do, you need to remove yourself and find people who accept you for who you are as an individual. By people allowing you to do something that is taking you out of your character , you allow them to have control over you. Please know your worth and know who you are!