Smoking marijuana is quite common in a lot of places all over the world for either recreational or medical purposes. Marijuana smokers consume this plant as a way to wind down at the end of the day with a movie and good company or use it to treat chronic pain, anxiety, or other conditions. The short-term side effects of cannabis use may be a case of the munchies or bloodshot eyes, which often pass after the effects of weed wear off.
But, have you ever wondered what the long-term effects of marijuana consumption are? Or whether smoking marijuana on a daily basis results in unwanted side effects? We’ll answer these questions and more as we dive further into the subject of what happens when users smoke pot every day.
What Happens if You Smoke Marijuana Every Day?
Whether you use a strain high in CBD or one high in THC, if you take cannabis as a medicine, you probably use it every day. Let’s go over the potential benefits marijuana users experience from consuming weed.
Cannabis Relieves Pain
Marijuana use is often common among patients who suffer from chronic pain, Parkinson’s, and other conditions. For that reason, a lot of medical practitioners prescribe it as an alternative treatment. It can also aid patients who suffer from cancer and inflammation by alleviating some symptoms like nausea and decreased appetite. Cannabis also aids with sleep as it has sedative properties.
Cannabis May Regulate Blood Sugar
Consuming marijuana may help people with diabetes regulate blood sugar according to recent studies. Even though the research is ongoing, current evidence shows that weed may not only regulate your blood sugar but also help relieve neuropathic pain.
Medical Marijuana May Treat Certain Medical Conditions
Medical cannabis has been used to treat a number of conditions including:
- Alzheimer’s;
- Cancer;
- Crohn’s disease;
- Eating disorders such as anorexia and appetite loss;
- Epilepsy;
- Glaucoma;
- HIV/AIDS;
- Mental health conditions such as schizophrenia and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD);
- Multiple Sclerosis (MS);
- Muscle spasms and spasticity (tight or stiff muscles);
- Seizures;
- Wasting syndrome or extreme weight loss (cachexia).
What Are the Negative Effects of Smoking Marijuana Every Day?
Since there are more than a few positive effects from smoking marijuana daily, there’d naturally be some that are less so. Let’s go over them.
Cannabis Use Disorder
The long-term effects of cannabis consumption may lead to a condition known as cannabis use disorder (CUD), especially if the daily use of marijuana is in high quantities. This also means that users who consume cannabis regularly (especially recreational users) might develop a tolerance to cannabis, meaning they’ll probably need to increase the dose in order to get the same effects. Furthermore, if they try to quit cannabis, the marijuana withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, difficulty sleeping, nausea, abdominal pain, decreased appetite, restlessness may follow and they may be more severe the larger the consumed doses are.
Cannabis and Heart Disease
Other long-term effects that can come from smoking weed every day include an increased heart rate and blood pressure. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, cannabis can increase a person’s heart rate by as much as 50 beats per minute above the normal. This can pose a risk for cannabis users suffering from heart disease.
Cannabis Use, the Brain, and Memory
Daily use of cannabis may affect your short-term memory, attention span, focus, and concentration since—according to scientists—cannabis temporarily prevents the brain from developing new memories and learning new things. High doses of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) can even affect your coordination as well as your driving skills, which is why it’s never a good idea to get behind the wheel while you’re high. Apart from memory impairment, daily use of cannabis in adolescents may be detrimental to their brain development, although further research is still needed.
Respiratory Issues as a Result of Cannabis Use
Smoke inhalation may cause respiratory issues, and cannabis smoke is no exception. People who smoke weed on a regular basis may develop a chronic cough and produce excess phlegm. Scientists are also trying to figure out whether long-term cannabis consumption may lead to lung cancer, although the research has a long way to go before a final conclusion is reached.
Smoking Pot Regularly Can Increase Your Anxiety
Smoking weed may affect mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety. This may be because marijuana use increases euphoric sensations, meaning it increases the dopamine levels in the body, which in turn may cause a decreased reactivity to dopamine after long-term cannabis use.
Cannabis use can be especially dangerous for people who are at risk of developing conditions such as psychosis or schizophrenia since it can trigger the onset of such conditions.
Smoking Pot Regularly and Building a THC Tolerance
As we’ve previously mentioned, regular weed consumption can result in you developing a tolerance to the cannabinoids in weed. After consumption, cannabinoids attach to the CB1 and CB2 receptors which are part of the endocannabinoid system. However, consuming larger doses of THC for prolonged periods of time can reduce the sensitivity of these receptors, meaning you’ll need to get a larger dose to get the same effects as before.
This is often the reason why a lot of cannabis users develop a cannabis use disorder over time. They get used to the pleasant effects that weed gives them, but need to up the dose after a while, which can lead to the negative effects we mentioned in the previous paragraphs.
Final Thoughts on What Happens if You Smoke Weed Every Day
Cannabis use can be extremely beneficial, especially for users who consume this plant medicinally to treat conditions such as chronic pain, epilepsy, cancer, and other conditions. However, excessive recreational use may lead to unwanted side effects in long-term users.
If you vape or smoke marijuana every day, you may be at risk of having a lower attention span, focus, concentration, and problem-solving skills. This may impair your ability to function well at work or at school since your motivation and focus will probably be affected. Smokers who start consuming weed as adolescents may experience brain development issues and have a higher chance of developing a cannabis use disorder.
Marijuana users whose preferred method of weed consumption is smoking may have some respiratory issues such as developing a chronic cough as well as increased phlegm production.
Finally, long-term daily cannabis consumption can be especially dangerous for people with a genetic predisposition of developing psychosis or schizophrenia as weed can trigger the onset of these conditions.
Research on cannabis has been ongoing as more and more scientists focus on figuring out the benefits as well as the side effects of cannabis consumption for the treatment of medical conditions. We only need to wait and see what future research will uncover about how this versatile plant can be used to treat even more conditions. Until then, it would be best if you discuss with your healthcare provider regarding using marijuana medicinally.
