Marijuana and weight loss?

THC is given to stimulate appetite and encourage weight gain in HIV and cancer patients. If fact, blocking receptors for the drug has been shown to promote wight loss, but seems this seems to cause too many other effects. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabinoid_receptor_antagonist for more on that if you're interested!

All I can really add to this is that I was a lot thinner when I smoked regularly. I will also say that I beleive in the positive effects and use of marijuana for medical purposes. I live in Colorado where medical marijuana is legal and doing a lot of good for our economy. Just my opinion.

The answer to your question is complex because everyone will have a different experience. People that smoke pot occasionally will find that they get the munchies and tend to binge eat while they are high. Obviously that will ruin a diet and cause a person to gain weight if they repeat that behavior often. However people that smoke pot on a regular basis will begin to not eat because eating will make you come down and probably tired. Basically you start smoking pot every time you get hungry and it will curb your appetite enough that you will begin missing major meals. You will lose weight but it will be from malnutrition and not healthy dieting. Of course I'm sure there are people out there that smoke on a regular basis and can still maintain a healthy diet but those people are few and far between.

Another thing to consider is what will happen if you use marijuana for weight loss and then decide to quit. I umm know a guy who smoked regularly for 10 years and used pot as an effective weight loss measure. At one point he was down to 175 pounds and he felt great. But when he decided to quit he gained 80 pounds in less than 6 months. Even if you don't get addicted to pot and you have no withdraw symptoms, you will get a "hand-to-mouth" addiction/habit just like with cigarettes. That translates into putting food or alcohol into your mouth which is why so many tobacco smokers gain weight once they quit.

All in all I don't recommend using marijuana to enhance weight loss because you could wind up malnourished or with a hand to mouth addiction.

I have a problem with the term 'gateway drug', personally.

I myself do not smoke weed anymore, and very rarely drink. That said, I come from a part of the world where marijuana use is commonplace and most of the people I know have a very relaxed attitude about it. I have also spent the past ten years working both personally and professionally with multiple individuals who each suffer from addiction.

My husband is a former cocaine addict, who still smokes marijuana regularly.

Marijuana is not a usually 'gateway' to anything. In fact, many of the drug addicts I've worked with and know personally do not- and never have- smoked marijuana. Does marijuana use and more serious drug use happen simultaneously? Sure, sometimes. That doesn’t mean that the use of one will necessarily lead to the use of another.

Where I come from, pot is often grown locally. There’s a certain level of comfort because you ‘know’ where it is coming from and you know that it is ‘clean’ (I know that other places- especially in the US- it is often laced with other drugs to make it more addictive. Pot in the States is a very different animal because it is more carefully controlled- there is more risk involved in selling it, which means that you have to often deal with ‘harder’ criminal types to obtain it).

Around here, pot is more comparable to beer than coke. Whereas some people will come home from a hard day’s work and crack open a beer in front of the television- others might light a joint. Both contribute to an overall feeling of relaxation. (The difference is, of course, beer is chemically addictive. Weed is not.)

The MAJORITY of the people I know who smoke pot are intelligent individuals who have children, own property and maintain full-time jobs.

Of course, there is a risk of addiction to marijuana- but there is also a risk of addiction to beer. Just as some people will take the ‘beer after work’ thing too far, and spend their lives on the couch tossing them back…. Others become ‘pot heads’ and do nothing but smoke weed all day.

The thing about addiction is that it’s often not about the substance itself so much as the person. Most of the drug addicts I know have some sort of mental illness. MANY of these people go undiagnosed for years. What winds up happening is that they discover, at some point, that drugs make them ‘feel better’- so they self-medicate. This is what happened to my husband, who was diagnosed at 27 with ADHD and PDD (on the autism spectrum). The marijuana ‘slows down his brain’, which is often filled with a thousand thoughts at once (he now takes Risperdone, which performs a similar function. Since he started taking this medication, his marijuana use has dramatically declined) . The cocaine he used to take had a stimulant effect- similar to the ‘buzz’ a person gets from Ritalin.

Almost all of the people I know that have ADHD also have an addiction to a form of stimulant- even if it’s ‘just’ nicotine or caffeine. They actually feel ‘foggy’ until they have their morning smoke or cup of coffee- the same way that I feel until I’ve had my Ritalin (I have ADD myself- I’m not ‘hyperactive’ like my husband is).

The point that I’m trying to make is that some people are biologically prone to addiction. If marijuana weren’t available to them, it’s quite possible they would develop an addiction to something else instead. Obviously, there are some people who start smoking pot due to peer-pressure, which then acts as a ‘gateway’ (usually I’ve found it’s more of a ‘social’ gateway than a ‘mental’ one) to heavier drug use. I’ve known lonely people who did drugs to ‘fit in’ with their friends- and as their friends became addicted, so did they, because they felt connected to someone. So, yeah, sometimes addiction stems from psychological issues- but often it’s directly related to mental health. (The distinction being that a person may be mentally ‘healthy’ but have psychological issues stemming from life experiences. Others may have had very ‘good’ lives but suffer from a physical condition- such as ADHD or Autism- that affect their brain).

This post has become longer than I intended- but it’s a subject that hits close to home for me. I don’t believe that marijuana should be illegal if beer and alcohol are not (because, most often, they are used for basically the same function). I don’t believe that marijuana use, on its own, is directly responsible for as much ‘evil’ as people think. I ALSO believe that the majority of the problems our society has (due to marijuana) exist because it is so taboo- basically, in criminalizing it, we’re creating criminals.


(Going back to the original question), as far as marijuana and physical health or weight loss are concerned- I don’t think that the effects would be positive. Smoking- period- isn’t good for your lung health (which is why I don’t smoke it anymore). Consuming THC orally may not be as bad for you- though I know that prescription marijuana is often given to patients to stimulate their appetite in order to cause weight gain. Probably not what most of the people at MFP are going for…..

I've heard it can increase your metabolism. I smoked for years and stayed small. And I always got the munchies. I think as long as you can control the munchies (we all know we weren't reaching for celery and carrots) there shouldn't be an issue.

Im actaully an addictions counselor.... and I know a lot of my clients started doing various drugs and alcohol as a weight loss solution.
i do not recomend it at all.
any drug or alcohol can aid or hinder your weight loss... but its a quick fix, and after you become addicted its a harder battle and not worth it at all.
I do not recomend anyone take drugs as a means to lose weight.

In my working experience (and Ive never used drugs so I cant talk on a personal level)
Marijunia gives you the munchies and you eat and eat and eat when smoking
untill you become addicted.. and then marijunia stops giving you the effects you want, so you switch to a harder drug.. and thats when the weight loss comes in
but so does the decrease of health and motivation.. along with the loss of almost everything you have.

:huh:

I'm under the impression that you are telling us that marijuana is chemically addictive. y/n?

"the loss of almost everything you have"? That sounds awfully derogatory. I know plenty of pot smokers (myself included) who are extremely high functioning, very intelligent, and successful in their lives.

I agree. I think this has more to do with the person than the drug. It never led me to harder drugs because I had no interest in snorting something up my nose (ew!) or sticking a needle in my arm (once again - ew)! I gave it up due to money.

I can eat thousands of calories with the munchies. I had to quit to lose.

I don't see munchies as an issue at all. It is self-control, period. I think it is obvious that plenty of people get the munchies without ever taking a single puff. I am fatter since I have (for the most part) quit because I drink more now. Stupid beer :grumble: .

Join your local Tea-Pot Party and fight for legalization! Its good for the economy!

I'm another addiction/mental health therapist and this is a tough thread for me to read. I see what pot has done to my clients, so I would never recommend it to anyone. However, I suppose I should modify my view to point out that the lifestyle that my clients live to pay for and use the pot is where they get into trouble.
I suppose along the same lines as alcohol, it's not conducive with a healthy, weight-loss lifestyle. People who lose weight while smoking, I'm guessing it's because they've progressed to addiction and all other things have taken a back seat to getting stoned. Including proper nutrition and exercise. I mean, really, are you going to smoke a joint and then get on a treadmill? I don't think so!

My struggle comes from this need to alter consciousness. I myself used to abuse alcohol like it was my job. I gained weight. I used to smoke cigarettes. I gained weight. What started off as "just one to relax" turned into "just one bottle to relax". I have found since I started on my weight loss/improving health journey, I have no desire to self medicate anything. If I want to relax, I drink some tea. No calories and no munchies. I just don't see the point...

You don't see the point because you, in my opinion, seem to have a bit of an addictive personality. I can take or leave the herb but I chose to take it. My need to alter my consciousness is under control. I can have one glass of wine and it will make me feel good - one bottle would just make me feel sick. Hell, I can even have one cigarette and not hold an addiction. (although, I don't like the way they make you smell so I don't ) If I don't smoke weed for a couple of days it's because I was too busy to or wanted to save money. I do miss it when I don't have it but if I'm busy with something else I don't even think about it.

"People who lose weight while smoking, I'm guessing it's because they've progressed to addiction and all other things have taken a back seat to getting stoned. Including proper nutrition and exercise. "

I'm confused about this statement. If those who smoke and still lose weight have given priority to pot and put exercise and being healthy on the back burner then how did they lose weight? Myself is included in this generalization. I lost weight successfully while smoking almost daily. Personally, I chose to be productive and do things that are necessary to make my life a happy & reasonably healthy one and then smoke afterwords. As another poster said- many of us refer to herb as our evening relaxing beer.

There are different kinds of herb. Some kinds give you more of that relaxing- couch potato feeling. Some don't. With complete honesty I can tell you.. I HAVE smoked and then gotten on the treadmill! It's not my first choice but it's not impossible. Weight loss is all about the drive. If you want to be thinner- there is nothing to it but to do it!

ooo and I have a psych degree and a rehab diploma...so I'm a little educated in the matter