Smoking cannabis and its effects

In the Netherlands its licit to smoke dope. In big cities like Amsterdam and The Hague you see a lot of people who smoke dope. It’s, like smoking, an addiction and most people are unaware that they are addicted. In the Netherlands you can still doe it en sometimes it seems like more people are smoking dope. Young people would like to try out to see what it is or be tough. People who start smoking cannabis are in the beginning sick and have to vomit.

What’s it?
It is inhale of weed. You make is from tobacco and cannabis and make your own cigarette from it. In the Netherlands its called a sjaggie\ joint or stikkie. If someone springs up a joint then you smell a sweet spicy fragrance. Weed comes from the hemp plant. The top of the hemp plant are dried and usually green. Some people also put weed in a cake, which is called a space cake. (And yes you just eat the cake with the weed in it.)

What is it doing for you?
The drug substance is THC (Tetrahydrocannobinol). People who smoke dope notice the effects after only 2 minutes and it stays approximately 2 to 4 hours. Smoking dope strengthens your mood of that moment. If you are in a happy mood and you smoke weed, you're happier and you will have to laugh at the most normal things. If you're scared and unsure, you can suddenly be suspicious. Grief can turn into such a depressed mood. In the Netherlands we call it ‘flipping’.

Is smoking cannabis addictive?
Many people think that smoking cannabis is not addictive, but unfortunately it is. If you have smoked cannabis for a while you can get withdrawal symptoms. It is a mental addiction. If young people are curious, this is in fact a wrong choice to make. It costs a lot of money and it’s possible it’s making them curious to other drugs.

Benefits
* More relaxed
* You will be calmer
* You feel less physical and mental pain
* You dare more
* You can sleep better

Disadvantages
* It costs a lot of money
* Poor health
* Condition is less
* You argue more often
* More difficulty concentrating
* You get binge
* You become forgetful

Short term;
It has a calming effect. The effects depend on the amount and experience of the user. It's goal is to get "high \ stoned”. You can get laughs, stoned, reduction in sense of reality. Sometimes you can be sick or suddenly anxious. As mentioned earlier, it depends on your mood at that moment and that is reinforced.

Long term;
It has not been demonstrated yet  that permanent physical or psychological harm can come from smoking cannabis. American toxicologist Dr. Steven Lémeré found that cannabis (Tetrahydrocannobinol) is difficult and broken down slowly by the body and can have possibly harmful effects on the body. THC is 70 times stronger than nicotine and the difficulties of THC are situated mainly on psychosocial level.