9 Surprising Health Benefits of Smoking Marijuana

There are as many marijuana users in the United States as there are cigarette users. That truth is absolutely astounding given the fact that marijuana isn’t federally legal.

While people that push anti-marijuana agendas are typically drumming up the idea that marijuana’s users are a bunch of recreation seeking, unproductive people that are killing their potential due to drug addiction, in reality, marijuana helps more people than it hurts.

As a matter of fact, there is a bevy of well-documented health benefits to smoking marijuana. This is why many states that classify the drug as illegal on a recreational level allow it for medicinal purposes.

Not sure what the health benefits of smoking marijuana are? Keep reading to find out a handful of awesome things that marijuana might be able to contribute to your life.

1. Stop Chronic Pain

One of the most common health benefits of smoking marijuana is the quelling of chronic pain. Various compounds in marijuana have the ability to dull pain receptors and reduce inflammation which remedies a number of discomforts caused by injury and diseases.

We’re seeing doctors progressively prescribe marijuana for pain purposes because the risk of addiction is significantly lower than addiction risks associated with drugs like Oxycontin.

2. Seizure Control

50 million people have epilepsy. For the uninitiated, epilepsy is a condition that is chronic and affects the brain.

One of the most noted symptoms of epilepsy are the epileptic seizures that send sufferers into convulsions. While there are many drugs that are prescribed to help manage these seizures, marijuana has become a premier natural medication that has a research-backed track record of reducing a seizure’s volume and duration.

3. Anxiety Reduction

People that suffer from chronic anxiety find that marijuana can help ease the stress episodes that they experience. It should be noted that anxious people should consume marijuana in moderation as high doses could exacerbate anxiety.

As this VICE article outlines, much of marijuana’s applications in anxiety are based on user reports and don’t have conclusive research to back claims. Research is being conducted to better nail down the roll that marijuana use may have when it comes to long-term anxiety and stress reduction.

4. Reduced Complications From Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel disease is a condition where sufferers have an inflamed bowel tract. That inflammation makes digesting food painful and passing stool arduous.

Marijuana is a noteworthy anti-inflammatory drug. Regular use can help soften inflammation in the bowels which can improve your overall digestive health. There are a number of studies that conclusively prove marijuana’s positive effects on inflammatory bowel disease so discuss this treatment option with your doctor if you’re finding that conventional medicine isn’t helping.

5. Arthritis Relief

Arthritis is characterized by painful inflammation of the joints. Just like marijuana can reduce bowel inflammation, it can also reduce joint inflammation. This helps arthritis sufferers endure less pain during the day. It can also improve their ranges of motion.

For older arthritis sufferers that prefer not to smoke marijuana for the purpose of arthritis relief, CBD oils can be purchased and rubbed over joints for a similar effect.

6. Combat Eating Disorders

It’s no secret that marijuana use stimulates appetites. That stimulation is often the punch-line of jokes in movies and TV shows.

Fortunately, appetite stimulation carries pragmatic applications in addition to its entertainment virtues. Namely, in the case of people that experience eating disorders, marijuana use can help boost appetites and can get affected persons back to a healthy weight.

7. PTSD Management

More than 8 million cases of PTSD surface on an annual basis making it an extremely common mental illness. PTSD can be brought about by experiencing any degree of trauma.

Many PTSD sufferers turn to alcohol help soften the severity of their episodes. Alcohol abuse in conjunction with PTSD though can make issues more grave. Marijuana has, consequently, become a better alternative since it can help calm anxiety in short-term spurts without leading to dependency.

As you can see here, there are a number of social events that surround marijuana culture. These events often result in relationship building which can further dampen PTSD suffering.

8. Reduction in Nightmares

Nightmares occur during a person’s REM sleep stage. For reasons that are still being studied, marijuana can keep users out of REM sleep. This effectively reduces the occurrence of nightmares and “night terrors”.

Given that your body does benefit from REM sleep, using marijuana to combat nightmares can lead to other issues. Depending on the severity of your nighttime problems, the trade-off may be worth it.

9. Easing of Chemotherapy-Related Symptoms

Cancer sufferers are subjected to rounds of chemotherapy which carry symptoms like nausea and loss of appetite. Both of those symptoms can be helped by leveraging appropriate doses of marijuana.

Many chemo patients prefer marijuana when dealing with chemo’s side effects as opposed to standard medications. That’s because it reduces the number of pills that their bodies need to process as it’s fighting cancerous growths.

Do the Health Benefits of Smoking Marijuana Help You?

Did you read through the health benefits of smoking that we’ve just outlined and think to yourself that marijuana might be able to improve your life? If you did, don’t delay in talking to your doctor about it. Stigma stops thousands of people from exploring marijuana as a healing tool.

Don’t let it stop you.

For more information on marijuana as a healing property and other insight into your health questions, read more of the content right here on our blog.