Even though recent history and government officials would have you think otherwise, marijuana is actually an extremely safe drug. People are starting to study it from a scientific, less biased perspective, and that means that we’re gaining a decent understanding of the truth of the matter. And, guess what? That truth is that marijuana and the active ingredients in it (such as THC and CBD) can be really helpful to recover from injuries, medical and mental conditions.

So why is marijuana illegal?

You read that right — marijuana does not kill. No one has ever been recorded overdosing on marijuana and dying from it. This might make you wonder why it is on a list of drugs that includes drugs that are actually quite lethal (such as heroin, alcohol, and even caffeine). Indeed, it is still classified as a Schedule I drug in the United States, ever since the declaration of the drug as being dangerous in 1970.

The United States federal government decided marijuana was dangerous in 1970, and they even went as far as to say that marijuana was more dangerous than meth, cocaine, oxycodone, and more. It might seem like a shock, but this had a resounding effect on the present-day laws that still stand federally today. The negative stigma around marijuana use stays present to a certain extent, even though there’s no scientific basis for it.

Luckily, states are slowly becoming more rational in their laws these days. More than half of US states now have medical marijuana programs, several of which also allow recreational marijuana use. If you live in states where medical marijuana is legal, such as Texas, and you’re looking for a way to get well naturally, you can get a Texas medical marijuana card online and start your natural healing journey. This isn’t as progressive as you might think — humans have actually been using marijuana for medical reasons for centuries. It’s only the recent history that involves scaring the public into thinking it’s so dangerous.

The safety of marijuana

Although more funding is crucial for a complete scientific understanding of how marijuana really affects the body, there has been more and more research taking place to get to the bottom of it. That, combined with the experiential and anecdotal evidence that clearly shows marijuana having no negative (and, in fact, highly positive) effects on users, makes us certain that it is safe to use.

Although the research isn’t as far along as we’d like, there is still a decent understanding of how marijuana affects us when we use it. In fact, its relationship with our body is precisely why it is so safe. The cannabinoids in marijuana (THC and CBD being the best-known ones, but hundreds of others are found in cannabis as well) work in tandem with our own endocannabinoid system in our bodies. There are plenty of benefits of cannabis for athletes. Basically, our endocannabinoid system (which is short for endogenous cannabinoid system) has cells that are there for receiving the cannabinoids called receptor cells. These receptor cells are located all over the place in our bodies — except (for the most part) in our brainstem. This is important because our brainstems work to keep our most basic functions working normally. That includes breathing, maintaining a healthy heartbeat, and so on. In other words, no matter how much marijuana you take in, it won’t affect these life-preserving processes. This is the crucial underlying reason for why marijuana alone won’t kill you.

So, you can’t overdose on marijuana?

You cannot overdose on marijuana, at least not in a lethal way. Of course, that doesn’t mean you should start going around consuming marijuana in gigantic proportions. It will still have an effect on how you feel, and too much can make a person feel pretty crappy. There are also some negative effects of certain strains that some individuals experience. Some strains might be more prone to making your paranoid, for example, or could even make you feel a bit anxious or, on the other hand, way too mellow. Despite these possible adverse effects, marijuana still won’t kill you.

That said, it’s a good idea to keep consuming marijuana in reasonable amounts. People who overdo it by smoking too much all at once, eating too many edibles at one time (a common mistake), or trying to keep up with experienced smokers when it’s your first time will find that they don’t have a good experience at all. It’s not fun to feel overly paranoid when you had meant to have a chill time with your friends, after all.

The quest for knowledge continues

While this is what we know so far, it’s important to keep researching the effects that marijuana has on our bodies. Hopefully, we’ll get a 100% understanding in the near future. For now, the information we do have is clearly pointing in one direction: marijuana is safe. There is no reason it should remain a Schedule I drug, especially when other (legal) drugs like tobacco or alcohol have far more damaging effects on the human body.

Growing your own medicine

Many athletes are in control of their body and what they use to take care of it. This also applies to the marijuana they use, so is 100% under their control. This means that they are growing their own plants, harvesting the bud, and preparing their medicine (whether it is in the form of an oil, the plant matter, or an edible) themselves. This can make absolutely certain you know exactly where your product comes from.