Quitting smoking pot keeps your mental faculties in better shape.If you
are a marijuana smoker, quitting smoking is good for your mental health.
When we talk about smoking, particularly cigarettes, we are mainly
concerned with identifying the physical hazards, but when it comes to
smoking marijuana, the psychological hazards often pose a greater risk.
Let's take a brief look at what marijuana is, what it does and how it can
affect your mental health in order to underscore the importance of
quitting smoking pot.What is marijuana?Marijuana is a plant from the
nettle family known as cannabis sativa or cannabis indica. It grows in
the wild and is also cultivated by farmers and drug dealers. Marijuana is
used for many purposes: to make rope and textiles, medicines, and
finally, as a recreational drug. Marijuana can be smoked for recreational
purposes in both resin and dried plant forms; marijuana resin is commonly
known as hashish.How does marijuana affect your mental health?Marijuana's
active ingredient is THC and within ten minutes of smoking it, you will
begin to feel its effects on your body as it is being absorbed into your
blood stream. Theses effects include:· Euphoria· Paranoia· Fear·
Panic· Increased appetite· Rapid heart rate· Slowed reaction
time/perception of timeMarijuana is psychologically addictive; like
cigarette smoking, it becomes a strong habit that is hard to break.
Quitting smoking marijuana is difficult because people become
psychologically dependent on the altered state provided by the THC
experience. Smoking marijuana can lead to increased anxiety, depression,
and inability to function at normal social levels. It affects short-term
memory, so it can make your job or studies more difficult. Many people
believe that marijuana is not addictive because theories about it being
biologically addictive have proven to be inconclusive. However,
psychological addiction is often more difficult to break because habits
can become deeply ingrained into our brains-we feel as though we cannot
live without them.Quitting smoking marijuana is a good idea because it is
a distraction from the reality of life and altered mental states can
become problematic when trying to forge interpersonal relationships or
take care of your personal responsibilities. Smoking, whether it is
marijuana or cigarettes, is a habit and quitting the smoking habit is
something that only you have control over. The substances don't control
you, you control whether or not you are going to use them. Staying
mentally fit is an important part of life and if you want to have optimal
mental health, then a marijuana-free lifestyle is a good step in the
right direction.