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Category: Weed

If you’ve been trying to quit smoking weed, there’s no time like the present. Call hypnotherapist Joseph Giove at 925-215-4017 for support on your journey.

Is Smoking Weed Bad for You?

Marijuana, or weed as it is also called, has been making major news headlines recently as several states in the US and many other countries moving to legalize or decriminalize this otherwise Schedule 1 drug. This, coupled with the ongoing discussions and studies surrounding its use in the medical field, ascertaining whether smoking weed is bad for you can seem confusing.

It is important to note that despite certain specific medical benefits for particular illnesses as administered by a medical professional, overall smoking marijuana is not ‘healthy’. It would be fair to say that weed is less damaging to your health than cigarettes, but it is still by no means healthy. Cigarettes contain over 4000 chemicals and many of them are carcinogenic. Many of these same chemicals are also found in marijuana if it is not grown certified as organic. Marijuana, more commonly known as weed, is a natural plant, as is tobacco. However, both of these natural plants are often then combined with thousands of chemicals.

Unfortunately, there are certain social groups that are more likely to smoke weed when the time comes to make a healthy choice. Pregnant women, breastfeeding women, and young people are the most susceptible to this drug.

The Chemicals in Marijuana

While cigarettes bear the brunt of more than 4000 incredibly harmful chemicals, this is not to say that marijuana doesn’t also contain its fair share. Scientists have identified 483 different chemicals in marijuana including THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol), which is the active ingredient in weed that gives the user a ‘high’. However, many of the other chemicals found in marijuana can be harmful to the body as well. Some of these chemicals include:

● Nitrogenous compounds
● Amino acids
● Enzymes
● Simple alcohols
● Acids
● Fatty acids
● Steroids

Particularly when purchasing weed ‘on the streets’, or from anywhere other than an official weed dispensary, there is no scientific way of accurately knowing what precise chemical components are contained therein. Different growing environments, planting methods, soils used and fertilizers can contribute their own chemical components to various strains and strengths of weed.

Smoking Weed, Breastfeeding and Pregnancy

The harmful effects of marijuana are amplified for certain segments of the population, particularly pregnant women and new mothers who are breastfeeding. While the effects of smoking weed while pregnant or breastfeeding are still being studied, it is certainly not recommended. Ingesting smoke of any kind is not recommended at any time in a life, and smoking marijuana while pregnant or breastfeeding could be harmful to your child’s development.

Unfortunately, and perhaps do to the lack of studies on the subject, many women do smoke weed when they are pregnant. Often the motivation for this is due to the calming and pain reducing effect that marijuana can have. There are any number of pains that can come with pregnancy such as back pain, leg pain and headaches, to name a few. Smoking weed, specifically the active ingredient THC contained therein, gives the user a sense of pain relief from these sometimes excruciating pains. This being said, there are some studies that have concluded that babies born to mothers who smoked weed while pregnant were at higher risk of being born with the following issues:

● Stillbirth
● Low birth weight
● Smaller length
● Smaller head circumference

When a woman is pregnant everything she puts into her body can be transferred to the baby through the amniotic sack. Likewise when a new mother is breastfeeding, chemicals from marijuana including the active ingredient THC can be transmitted through the breastmilk and ingested by her baby.

Marijuana Use in Adolescents

Despite recent legislation in certain states and moves to decriminalize weed, marijuana remains illegal in most of the United States and Canada. Marijuana is still a Schedule 1 Drug along with Heroin and LSD and it is nevertheless by far the most widely used drug among young people. Its illegal status means that young people must interact with criminals and drug dealers in order to procure it, which can put them in dangerous situations. If they are caught with weed by the authorities, they can also face jail time. In fact, in the United States, about half of all people in federal prison are there due to drug possession charges.

Smoking weed can also affect young people’s growth and development. Smoking weed for extended periods in a person’s youth can have the following health effects as they grow older:

● Memory loss
● Inability to think clearly
● Decrease in IQ
● Poor school performance
● Behavioral changes
● Increased risk of long term mental health issues

Health Effects

While smoking, inhaling, or ingesting weed may not be as dangerous as smoking and ingesting nicotine from cigarettes, they share many of the same attributes. While the quantities are lower, there are still several of the chemicals found in cigarettes that are in THC. These chemicals, when smoked, will produce a thick tar that eventually builds up in the lungs the same way nicotine does. Just as smoking cigarettes can lead to severe health problems stemming from problems with the lungs such as lung cancer, so can marijuana use.

Clinical Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy

Marijuana use can pose significant health risks to anyone who smokes it in addition to being disruptive to your daily life due in part to the ‘high’ achieved by its active ingredient, THC. More and more studies are being done every day to examine both long-term and short-term effects and just how much damage smoking marijuana is causing the human body. Being weed free and smoke free in general is by far the healthiest way for you and your loved ones to live happy, healthy lives.

Joseph R. Giove uses Clinical Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy to gently reset your brain patterns in order to diminish your desire to smoke weed. He uses no outside chemicals or carcinogens as other ‘quit smoking’ techniques may use. Only the power of the mind, which in the end, is our most powerful tool.

May 13, 2016
How to Stop Smoking Weed
Weed, also known as marijuana, is still a Schedule 1 drug in the United States and despite the perception it has health benefits compared to cigarettes, weed can have adverse effects on a person’s health in the long term.

There have been tests that study the long term effects of smoking weed but since marijuana is still a Schedule 1 drug, there are a lot of people that will not be truthful about their use of the drug. However, now that marijuana is becoming legal in many states in the United States, Canada and other countries around the world, health testing is quickly becoming scientific and widespread. That being said, there are still harmful chemicals being absorbed by the body, not to mention psychological and socially disruptive effects that can occur with prolonged marijuana use.

Quitting marijuana can greatly increase your overall health, physical and psychological, and this article will focus on these effects and how to best quit smoking weed in the most efficient way.

What is Weed?

Weed is Cannabis (its official name) but also goes by many other pseudonyms such as marijuana and pot. The active ingredient in marijuana is THC, which stands for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, and gives the smoker a psychoactive “high”. This active ingredient is found in the resin of the leaves and buds of the plant. There are also an additional 500 chemicals present in the Cannabis plant and at least 100 of those are chemically related to THC, called cannabinoids.

There are many ways of smoking or consuming marijuana, and some of the most popular ways to consume are as follows:
- “Joint” – This is simply the dried leaves or buds rolled up in paper like a regular cigarette and smoked in much the same way.
- “Blunt” – Similar to a joint but this method involves cutting open a cigar and removing some or all of the tobacco and replacing it with weed, then re-sealing and smoking.
- “Bong” – Also, referred to as a water bong, it is a device that allows the marijuana smoke to “clean” itself by being filtered through water before being inhaled.
- “Edibles” – Weed can be very easily incorporated into both food and drink by grinding up the leaves and buds. It can then be added to food items such as brownies, cookies, candies, and almost anything else. Another use is in brewed teas, which is very popular with medicinal users.
- “Resins and Hash” – Resin is the tar-like substance left over from pipe smoking and contains much less THC than the plant buds, however, after some processing it can become a very concentrated, potent form of weed called hash. Some of the types of hash that are smoked are: “hash oil”, waxy-like “budder”, and hard, amber-like “shatter.
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The Benefits of Quitting Weed

There is medical evidence that smoking marijuana is “safer” than smoking cigarettes or other forms of nicotine. However, smoking weed has only recently become legal in some states and therefore is still in its infancy in terms of studying its long-term health effects. Smoking marijuana, regardless of its potential medical uses, still produces tar that is taken into the lungs and builds up the same way cigarette tar does. The physical benefits of quitting smoking weed are similar to quitting cigarettes and include breathing easier, less chance of cancers, and increasing your life longevity.

Some other immediate physical effects of smoking marijuana include:
- Dry Mouth
- Shallow Breathing
- Dizziness
- Slowed Reaction Time
These effects will subside immediately as soon as you quit smoking marijuana.

The addictive nature of smoking weed is more psychological than physical, and the user can become very dependent on the THC that is delivered to the brain.

Here are just some of the psychological benefits of quitting weed:

Ambition and Mental Clarity

When smoking marijuana, a person can become lethargic and therefore content with a simpler life that they originally wanted. If a person smokes marijuana during their working day they can lose the ambition that they might have had for the job or even the clarity in which to do it. After removing weed from the equation, the brain is no longer dependent on the THC that it is receiving and will allow for greater concentration and activity.

Overall Energy

Smoking weed is similar to smoking cigarettes in this way, as smoking anything causes the lungs and bloodstream to be restricted of oxygen. This lack of oxygen makes a person tire faster and for longer periods of time. By quitting smoking weed, there will be a gradual increase in the re-oxygenation of the blood and lungs and therefore an increase in overall energy levels.

Personal Benefits

Marijuana is, for the time being, still a Schedule 1 narcotic drug in most places in the world, alongside Heroin, LSD, Ecstasy, Quaaludes, and Bath Salts. This makes it a drug that is still illegal in most states and is punishable by various lengths in prison at worst, and heavy fines at best. Having to find someone from whom to purchase weed can be dangerous, as can growing it yourself. Many people have been buying and smoking marijuana for years with no problems with the law, but as it is still illegal all it would take is one mistake.

Clinical Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy

Smoking in general has detrimental effects on a person’s health both physically and psychologically. While smoking cigarettes is potentially the more dangerous of the two, marijuana still has many of the same chemicals that cigarettes have. For instance, the part of the marijuana plant that contains THC is the resin, which produces a tar that can build up in the lungs and can cause many of the same cancerous and physically harmful effects as cigarettes.

Quitting smoking weed has many of the same physical health benefits as quitting smoking nicotine, both physical and psychological. Clinical Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy is proven to be one of the most effective methods of quitting smoking weed and tobacco. Joseph R. Giove is a certified Clinical Hypnotist and has over 25 years of experience helping people quit smoking weed. Joseph R Giove Clinical Hypnosis can help with quitting weed without the aid of harmful chemicals by focusing on gently altering the way the brain craves marijuana. If you need assistance with quitting weed in the most effective way possible, Joseph R. Giove can help.
April 28, 2016
Marijuana Use While Pregnant
Marijuana use has become increasingly popular in recent years, particularly since it has begun to be decriminalized in parts of Canada and the United States, as well as many other countries around the world. With the use of medical marijuana on the rise, governments and scientists alike have begun to analyze long term health effects, both beneficial and some detrimental. Particularly, they have been looking into the previously neglected area of marijuana’s effects on fetuses, newborns and expectant mothers. In this article will explore the effects that some of these new studies have uncovered regarding marijuana use while pregnant.

What is Marijuana?

The official name for marijuana is cannabis, but it is also known by a wide variety of other names such as: pot, bud, mary jane, and weed. There is a specific chemical in the Cannabis plant called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, which, when smoked or eaten gives a psychoactive effect, or “high”. When cannabis is smoked in some forms, such as a “joint” (a rolled marijuana cigarette) the user is exposed to carbon monoxide because of the burning of the leaves and the resulting tar that is produced. It is this tar and carbon monoxide that that can build up in the lungs and cause health problems, much like a cigarette.

Why Some Women Use Marijuana When Pregnant

The long term effects of marijuana on adults are still fairly inconclusive but the short term effects are very well known. When marijuana is eaten or smoked, it produces a high that causes the user to have, among other things, an increased appetite. Some pregnant women experience morning sickness, which is sometimes intense nausea most common in the first half of the day.

Some women have found that after ingesting marijuana, their appetite increases and, more importantly, they can keep the food down. Some women experience such intense nausea and vomiting that they may even become hospitalized for dehydration. This is called Hyperemesis Gravidarum and can be potentially harmful to the baby and the mother. Also, keeping the mother well fed is the only way to ensure the unborn baby is well fed, and the only way to do that is eat food and keep it down. Some pregnant women find that marijuana can help alleviate these symptoms.

Another reason for women wanting to use marijuana while pregnant is for pain relief. There is any number of pains that women may experience while pregnant, as her body will be going through many changes. Back pain, foot pain, knee pain, any pain really can be relieved by the effects of marijuana. The pain itself isn’t subsided per se, but the body becomes more relaxed and the mind is distracted from focusing on the pain.

With marijuana use the mind will relax, which can greatly help to ease anxiety. Anxiety is another common complaint from many expectant mothers, as there are numerous things that pregnant women can get anxious about. Anything from something small like how much sleep she is getting all the way to the changes in her body and bringing a child into this world, is reason enough to develop anxiety. Marijuana can relax the mind and help ease these worries.

The Health Effects of Marijuana

It should be noted that the health effects of marijuana on pregnant women are still being studied and the minimal studies that have been done have been mostly inconclusive, especially regarding the long term effects. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the active ingredient in marijuana, and studies have shown that it can be absorbed through the placenta and into the unborn baby’s bloodstream. Because of this, there can be some birth defects that pregnant women may be putting their unborn babies at risk for, such as:
- Low birth weight
- Premature birth
- Stillbirth
- Small head circumference
- Small length
After the baby is born there also may be risks such as a higher pitched cry, different responses to stimuli, and increased trembling. Other symptoms can include symptoms resembling Attention Deficit Disorder. These can be attributed to the baby going through withdrawals and can usually last around ten days.

The Evidence

There have been relatively few studies looking at the effects of marijuana on pregnant women and unborn children. Even the few studies that have been conducted have largely been inconclusive. Marijuana is still illegal in many states and countries around the world. For this reason, many women would be compelled to lie when asked if they took the drug for fear of judgement, imprisonment or even having their child taken away from them.

Another complicating factor is that even if a pregnant woman admitted to using marijuana, there is a chance that she is also smoking cigarettes, drinking, or both, which are much more dangerous to the baby and complicates the study of marijuana’s effect in particular. Some tests say that smoking marijuana gives the baby a higher chance of going to the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) and others say there is little to no evidence linking smoking marijuana and any birth defects. All in all, when considering the life and health of another, it seems better to err on the side of caution.

Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy

The research regarding smoking marijuana while pregnant is very much in its early stages, and much is lacking. Some of the tests seem to suggest that marijuana causes birth defects, while others find no connection to birth defects at all. Where cannabis is still illegal, it is still considered a Schedule 1 drug, a category which also includes heroin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and Ecstasy. However, the Commissioner of the National Football League is considering using marijuana for pain relief for players and even President Obama says he does not believe marijuana is more dangerous than alcohol. As we can see, there are conflicting ideas in the media about the potentially dangerous effects marijuana may have.

The ideal way to have a happy and healthy baby, from birth and throughout their life, is to refrain from ingesting harmful substances in any capacity while pregnant. Quitting smoking of both nicotine and marijuana will go a long way to achieving this goal, and Joseph R. Giove can help. He is a certified Clinical Hypnotist and has over 25 years of proven experience. Clinical Hypnosis and Hypnotherapy work by putting the mind into a relaxed state that is open to suggestion and gently changes the thought patterns of the smoker to not crave cigarettes or cannabis. His methods are extremely effective and use no additional chemicals or carcinogens. Joseph R. Giove Clinical Hypnosis can help mothers and their babies have a healthier and easier pregnancy.
April 22, 2016

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