Hey guys long time no see!

Been smoking quite a lot of weed lately and as with all drugs I do I like to try and understand the effects it will have on my health, I'm mainly focused on the effect smoking cannabis has on the lungs, concerned with long term irreversible damage.


Now...I was wondering if you knowledgeable folk out their could give me some information on how well our lungs recover from the stress placed on them by smoking, naturally I've done my fair share of research on the net and discovered its quite a [censored] difficult subject. There are so many damn contradictions.

For example this source suggests that the damage done by short term smoking is repairable:

Quote:

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“I asked him if I was going to end up talking through a hole in my neck."


"After a month? No. Not if the risk factors aren't already there. You're in uncharted territory here. No one starts up at your age. But if you quit, your body will repair the damage pretty quickly. That's the great thing about quitting. The lungs repair themselves."

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Source: http://www.esquire.com/features/learning-to-smoke-0308-3

(Good read btw, very entertaining. Also note he is referring to cigarettes rather than cannabis.)

However other sources (sorry I can't provide links) have stated other wise.


Informed opinions much appreciated thanks!

Tough question.

The problem is while there is cause and effect in play, it's by no means absolute.

By that I mean, does smoking cause cancer and other illness, yes. Will everyone who smokes die from it, no. You are playing with odds here, and you have to weigh your odds of sickness and death against your day to day happiness.

But you mention weed, a bit different because just on useage you are not exposing yourself to as much damage as tobacco, most pot smokers are pulling down 2 packs a day.

And pot has positive qualities too. but you are still damaging your body to some degree and it will possibly result in problems down the road.

Then we come back to trading off between short term happiness and long term health.

So I'd say don't gamble, learn to live without or at least limit the intake...find a vice that works in your favor.

That said, I'd rather see you smoke pot, then drink booze, personally I'd prefer you smoked tobacco to drinking booze. Booze has all kinds of ways to get you.

Kind of a rambling post tonight, sorry just can't sleep.

I'm pulling an all nighter myself LoL..this term at uni has been funny, first half of it spent getting [censored] up on booze (had a night where me and a mate were watching a film and a dozen girls with bottels of champagne turn up outside the window drunk, shouting random names at us, we open the door, next thing we know we have a random house house party with 20 ppl in our house at 2am, ended up being carried home from their place by my mate...funnily enough it turned out they genuinely thought someone in their group knew us, which they didnt. lol.)...and the second half has been spent 5 of us hotboxing in a 4 man tent in my bedroom LoooL

Sounds like you have your priorities right at school there. Keep up the good work. With any luck, you may be able to remember a little bit of what you're majoring in.

I do yeah, I went to uni to make some [censored] mates...and its uni not school I'm actually not quite sure how you can confuse the two..but I don't want to argue with you JKogas of all people <3 !!

Also: Where in my post did I mention lack of regard for my course? I didn't. British students are known for having fun and passing at the same time!

Smoking = lung damage, period. Stop smoking and your lungs will regain their former health within 10 years or so.

Stop smoking now.

If the post were about booze would you have typed drinking = liver damage, stop drinking now? The liver regenerates and can witstand a certain about of abuse (exactly how much is pretty well documented and preached by the government, however the same can not be said for smoking cannabis)...I'm looking for a more evidence based answer on how much abuse the lungs can take (harsh way of putting it lol)...Looking foward to Cords post :-)

Thanks?