More than you ever wanted to know about Marijuana strains

I have observed most of HN community to be pro-marijuana. Having no real experiece here and being really curious, I would like to ask you guys this simple question: Is Marijuana risky for your health? Have you personally been affected?

Posting from a throwaway account: most of the risks of marijuana are: bad short-term memory, if you're a new smoker you might be paranoid, if you're smoking (as opposed to vaporizing) you're taking in smoke (bad for your lungs). It's also potentially psychologically addicting (like being addicted to shopping, chocolate, as opposed to physically addicting like meth or something).

If health is a concern, invest in a vaporizer instead of combusting with fire.

I've never personally been negatively affected with weed. It's an excellent mind expander and pairs extremely well with music and video. For some people (like myself), I have clear thoughts going through my head faster than I can write them down. Sometimes I like to lay back and vape and read Hacker News (like now) — it's a nice relaxer. Life just becomes more real.

Nobody can give you a 100% answer on whether or not it is a risky behavior. I can however enlighten you as to my opinion on the matter.

If you smoke in moderation, you will not observe any harmful effects.

When I smoked every day all day, I was definitely slower and less enthusiastic in general. I was a classic stoner. I didn't have any serious health problems, but my lung capacity was greatly decreased. This may have also been affected by my job at the time which prevented any consistant exercise.

I still smoke fairly frequently, but usually not more than a hit or two a day max. I take regular breaks of a week or more to control my tolerance and to prevent "stoner creep". I stay mentally sharp and I exercise regularly now and haven't detected any issues with my habit. It does feel good though to take a few months off once a year or so just to make sure I'm not too reliant on the green.

The only physical dangers that I see is that you tend to take on a less active lifestyle and can do a lot of damage to your body due to lack of exercise and proper eating habits. If lung damage is a concern, it can be prevented by edibles or a vaporizer.

Weed is an issue with many employers and most likely will be for the near future. Drug tests are no more than a IQ test though. If you can't fake a (corporate) drug test, you probably have a learning disability.

I cannot answer your question because I have only used pot two or three times in my life, but I can give you some advice: don't take the word of a drug user about whether drugs are good or bad for you. Drug users, like most people tend to suffer from self delusion, and you really do not want to be a victim of that.

There are very few people in the world that can be brutally honest about themselves and their lives. Very few people are willing to admit that a voluntary choice they took has caused a serious permanent damage in their lives.

There is no evidence to back up your bogus, overreaching claim. You make no distinction between use and abuse.