What are the risks?

The person who does not feel good should not use hash or weed as the chances of feeling worse are quite large.

• An overly large dosage can create severe feelings of anxiety or dejection. Physically, an overly large dosage can create nasty feelings ranging from dizziness or nausea to panic and loss of consciousness. This is called ‘flipping out.’ Waiting it out is the only thing which can then be done. One can try to calm the person down.
• ‘Flipping out’ as a result of an overly large dosage occurs primarily among inexperienced users (young people, foreign tourists). The risk of this is also greater when hash is eaten because the user has less insight into just how much of the substance is being consumed.
• THC diminishes the ability to concentrate, slows reaction times and impairs short-term memory. Logical thinking is more difficult and the thread of a story can often get lost. THC and doing homework, studying or working do not go hand-in-hand, thus. Driving under the influence is clearly dangerous and strictly prohibited.
• People who use large amounts of THC on a frequent basis can stunt their social-emotional development. Instead of solving problems and learning from this, they simply ‘blow’ the problems and any dissatisfaction off. Such users also run the risk of becoming socially isolated.
• There are indications that a relation exists between the use of cannabis and the onset of such mental disorders as schizophrenia, depression and anxiety.
• Individuals with a mental disorder or a predisposition for such a disorder thus constitute a risk group for cannabis. The use of hash can magnify such disorders or predispositions and is therefore advised against.
• The smoking of a joint usually entails deep inhalation into the lungs and keeping the smoke in the lungs for as long as possible. Cannabis smoke contains more carcinogens than tobacco smoke alone. In the long-run, damage can thus be inflicted on the airways.
• THC has been shown to be present in breast milk. The same applies for hash and weed, thus, as for alcohol, tobacco and other drugs: Use during pregnancy and breast-feeding is strongly discouraged. Most researchers do not consider it proven as yet that long-term use produces permanent effects on the brain or the immune system.
• The more one uses, the greater the risks.

Recognition of problematic use

Cannabis use has clear symptoms as described in this text. However, the presence of such symptoms need not necessarily be the result of hash or weed use. Problematic use is thus more clearly indicated when someone feels the need to be stoned on a daily basis and thus shows signs of psychological dependence.