In Parts 1 and 2, we went over Pain Killers and Steroids and why they are bad for the human body. In this series, we of course are diving into the major issues WWE has a problem with and why they are against them being involved in their company.
While we are going to go over the protection policy as well, I feel writing about the drug and hard liquid end of things first will give you more of an understanding of why WWE has been strict as of late on several WWE stars.
Today’s article will be on Marijuana. I wanted to make the article about both Weed and Alcohol, but due to the information on weed being too long, there will be a single one on alcohol.
A little history on Marijuana will result in you finding that even as late as the 1900’s doctors would give it medically for their patients through prescriptions. But the problem was that scientists didn’t understand its effects on the body.
Of course, the same could be said for alcohol and cigarettes. Alcohol was not found to have as many issues until the 1930’s. Cigarettes were not understood as much until the late 70’s and 80’s. Now, we know both to be quite harmful to the body. When it came to marijuana, very few knew of what it could do to you.
Social Scientists (Psychologists, Anthropologists, and Sociologists) would simply claim it was a “gateway” drug. This was both right and wrong. A certain percentage would go toward another drug, but it would go into flux. So you could never claim it was a guarantee if you did weed you’d do harder drugs. However, in the last 5 years we now know just about everything we need to about weed and what it can do to affect your human system.
We had results when it came to the brain, heart, lungs, and even the GI system. None were considered proven until the last few years.
Now, because I am fair to weed, I will first go over what it can do to help the body. Number one, it can relax you. Your brain actually can do more harm than good at times. You’ll over-think things and at times, cause yourself to have more pain than what it actually there. Weed stops this. So things like Anxiety are helped with it. Those who have a ton of real pain that is not created in your head will be helped too. So someone like Jeff Hardy who has taken a ton of bumps that were hard would be helped well with it.
When you cut off the nerves telling your body it’s hurting and you can relax, pain naturally will not be as big an issue for you. This is technically how pain killers work as well. So you can probably throw weed in the realm of pain killers. Now why is a medication like the Lortab given over weed? Well, let’s go over the negative side effects to understand that.
To understand the negativity, we have to talk about how weed works for you.
Upon inhalation, our lungs take in the weed and due to the fact that many hold it in for a bit (from 10 to 20 seconds), tar from the weed affect the lungs by attacking the small hair-like cilia that helps to protect the lungs. The cilia are either paralyzed from this or destroyed. The tar inhaled by holding in long, is up to 4 times the amount of an unfiltered cigarette. Which is pretty high.
That is like swallowing mud for little to no reason. Due to the cilia being injured, this allowed for the tar to penetrate the lungs. There by opening you up for a risk of viruses and infections like Chronic Bronchitis. Once inhaled, the smoke reaches the membranes lining the lungs and into the blood stream. The blood carries them from the lungs to the heart. Once there the blood vessels relax and dilate. This allows the blood to rush around the body.
Of course by doing this, the body immediately starts to feel warm as blood flows to the skin. It then surges to the small blood vessels in the eyes which turn them red. Now due to the blood rushing around the body, blood pressure starts to drop. If it drops too far, it can make you faint. But let’s not forget about THC. It has also made its way inside you. Once the chemical hits the blood stream, it immediately heads up the spine and into the brain.
Once it gets to the brain, you immediately get high. To experience something similar, try holding your breath for 30 seconds. Then release and breathe. By doing this, you kept yourself from getting air and pressure built in your chest. That pressure is then released when you take in the air to breathe.
Imagine pressure being built in your head and then immediately released. That is what happens when THC gets inside. The chemical feels like you’ve released pressure built up for a while, which can feel pretty good. You’ll feel light headed, like you’re floating, etc.
Now there is normally no pressure. THC just makes things relax and takes you out of the control booth. This allows for the feeling of pressure to disappear, despite no built up pressure in the average pot smoker.
Now that you know how things work when you take in the drug, here is what the problem is.
The THC in your blood has lowered your blood pressure, the heart figures out that the pressure is low and starts to beat faster and faster to catch up. It will speed up by around 50%, which can be very dangerous for anyone, and possibly fatal for those with a heart condition.
The Weed also goes inside and basically takes over your nervous system. The brain has billions of nerve cells, messages of course go from cell to cell, moving about and helping the brain do what it does. The receptors control the movement of the messages from cell to cell. THC goes in and takes control of these receptors. Once it controls the receptors, it controls how they work.
It’s like your computer being hacked and controlled from another computer. Nothing is in your control. These receptors show up in areas that control our memory, thoughts, appetite, and mood. This is where weed takes you over.
For at least the next few hours, your brain is hijacked.
There are over 1,000 types of weed. So, at times there can be different mixes that affect you. With new strands more THC may be in versus CBD, which grows by the THC. It makes things mellower for you during the high. But with less CBD, the mental state of someone may be messed with because CBD helps to make things mellow and not psychotic.
With higher CBD, the person has less trippy problems which is good. With just THC or higher THC, paranoia, anxiety, hallucinations, weird visions, disconnection with reality, upon other side effects are common.
The one’s without CBD are usually the one’s sold today because people love the newer strains of it. Without CBD or with lower amounts, you risk a lot of issues over those with CBD in the brain. This is mainly because the CBD offsets some of the THC side effects.
Anyone who is a teen will have impaired brain function due to the long term effects of going weed daily or weekly. While teens are at more risk for impaired brain function, an adult will have several brain issues out of too. The more you use, the more you need seemingly. This can create addiction. On average, those who start pot at any age, over 9% will become dependent on it. This means they have to have it daily or a few times weekly.
Weed can mess with people so much so that when you become dependent on it, you will be an addict. This will make you feel you need it even though you really do not, and the more you do the more the body will feel it needs, thus creating the same effects of overdoing pain killers for example.
The problem with using daily or frequently is that your brain no longer feels it needs to produce its relaxing effects. Without the weed, your brain no longer knows how to react. Which causes you to lose sleep, triggers depression and anxiety, and mood swings will also occur from it.
So, basically like getting off any substance in a detox center.
Very few people, who get tested for weed addiction or answer questions in relation to it, find that the weed was what was causing their issues.
Mainly because they still like it and don’t think it’s an issue, despite the obvious signs.
The good part is that getting off of weed is much easier than it is for other drugs. The brain will eventually be able to produce the relaxation affect. And thus the issues it was causing in not having that will disappear too. However, due to long term use, one can still have anxiety and depression out of it. And other brain functions can be messed with too. This is due to overuse of THC for long periods of time.
WWE does not care for weed with their talents due to all of these issues I listed. But they do not suspend for it currently, just fine for it. It continues to rise for them too, and they have put some on notice to stop it or they will see suspension. R-Truth and Evan Bourne both got into issues involving weed which resulted in issues for them with WWE.
They may start to crack down on it, as those with weed troubles tend to get pushed down a lot. Someone like Swagger who got into a DUI in relation to his weed issues, ended up going from the main event level he was to mid-carding again. And this trend will continue or get worse.
But what do you think about WWE and their policy on weed? Is weed as bad as other drugs they suspend for, and should it be part of suspensions too? Let me know your thoughts below.
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