Is smoking pot bad for you?



A decades-long study has discovered that regular marijuana smokers experience more work, social and economic issues at midlife in comparison to the ones who use pot just occasionally or not at all. Published online on March 23 in the journal Clinical Psychological Science, the research suggested that regular and persistent users also faced more financial, work-related and relationship problems, which became bad to worse with the progress in the number of years of cannabis usage.

The University of California, Davis researchers tracked roughly 1,000 young people for decades and found that the ones who smoked cannabis four or more days in a week over many years suffer lower-paying, less-skilled jobs in comparison to those who didn’t smoke pot on a regular basis.

Regular and persistent users also “experienced more financial, work-related and relationship difficulties, which worsened as the number of years of cannabis use progressed,” according to the research that appeared online March 23 in the journal Clinical Psychological Science."

“Our study found that regular cannabis users experienced downward social mobility and more financial problems, such as troubles with debt and cash flow, than those who did not report such persistent use,” said one of the lead researchers, Magdalena Cerdá at the University of California, Davis, in a written release. “Regular long-term users also had more antisocial behaviors at work, such as stealing money or lying to get a job, and experienced more relationship problems, such as intimate partner violence and controlling abuse.”

"These people may also suffer more money problems and have more difficulties with both work and personal relationships than their non-marijuana-smoking peers, the researchers added," according to a news report published by KOAA.

"We need to be aware that persistent heavy cannabis use may have consequences for how well people do in life, how they perform and function at work and in relationships with others," she said.



I think they got it backwards. It's not the pot smoking that causes the problems, it's the person smoking the pot. Those who smoke dope all day were probably already messed up BEFORE they took up smoking pot nearly every day - that's why they start smoking pot! Those who smoke dope nearly every day (or all day) are probably less than highly motivated in the first place, have a low desire for a "normal" life (job, family, friends, etc) and may have pre-existing anti-social tendencies. Maybe THAT'S why they started smoking pot all day! Maybe it's not the heavy pot smoking that makes these people unmotivated, broke, jobless and unhappy, maybe it's being unmotivated, broke, jobless and unhappy that makes them turn to smoking a lot of pot!



Brad Pitt in "True Romance"

And, no, I am not excusing the behavior of heavy pot smokers nor am I advocating the smoking of cannabis, I am just pointing out assbackwards research.