How To Know If A Person Smokes Joint: The 6 Main Signs
Although marijuana is among the most consumed drugs in Western countries, it is also a substance that is often used “in secret.” This means, among other things, that people who smoke joints frequently do so within a social context that approves of this type of habit: for example, groups of friends who meet specifically to get high together. And therefore, they have less reason to consider whether turning to cannabis is something that really suits them, or to know what can be done about addiction.
Because yes, although there is a myth that marijuana cannot cause an addictive disorder, the truth is that it can give rise to a dependency problem due to the changes it produces in the nervous system. Taking this into account, Let’s see the keys about how to know if a person smokes joints based on the effects that this drug produces on the body and behavior of consumers, so that it is easier to tackle possible complications due to addiction.
One of the characteristics of drugs is that in practically all cases they leave a trace on the person who consumes them. In the best of cases, it disappears in a matter of hours, and in the worst, it leaves chronic marks on the body and mind of those who have been addicted for some time. With this in mind, if you suspect that a loved one or another type of person in your environment has a problem with joints, read on. Here we explain what aspects you should look for to know if a person smokes marijuana or other substances related to cannabis.
Due to the effects that this drug produces on the central nervous system, the person who has been smoking joints tYou tend to feel hungry very easily, even if your body doesn’t really need more nutrients For example, this is reflected in the habit of binge eating after returning from a party on a Saturday night. There are even establishments that open late in the morning on weekends because a good part of their clientele tends to use this type of drug.
This phenomenon after smoking marijuana is so common that in the English language a term has even been delimited to refer to it: the munchies.
2. Redness appears in the eyes
One of the most important tips to remember to know if someone has been using marijuana is to look at their eyes. And one of the clearest signs is redness in the eyes, caused by a widening of the blood vessels that run through the sclera (the white part around the iris). This change towards red also occurs without the eyes stinging or stinging, which can help differentiate between a case of marijuana use and other disorders that frequently affect this part of the body: allergies, the fact of having cried a lot, lack of sleep…
3. Slow to react to stimuli and what is said to him
In the most extreme cases, the person who has been smoking marijuana has trouble even knowing if what just happened really happened or if they imagined it; However, when his mind is not so affected, It is still difficult for him to react with fluidity and mental agility to what is happening around him or even estimate the time that has passed between when something happened and the present moment.
Furthermore, this is one of the reasons why after having used these drugs it is very important not to drive vehicles, given that when going at high speeds, delaying several hundredths of a second can mean traveling several meters before being able to stop. curb.
On the other hand, this is one of the signs to know if a person smokes marijuana that takes the longest to disappear after consuming the last joint. It is common for users of this drug to feel slower than normal even a couple of days later.
4. The person has a lost gaze and has difficulty concentrating
Even among people for whom smoking marijuana generates a state of relaxation and temporary well-being, The experience of feeling “overwhelmed” by stimuli and mental processes based on imagination is usually common that are constantly happening in your head. Because of this, it is difficult for them to concentrate on something, and they even “forget” to use their eyes to focus on important elements in the environment because either they are constantly distracted, or they are focusing on introspective processes that isolate them from what is happening around them. .
5. A predisposition to paranoid thoughts appears
One of the recurring sources of discomfort produced by the action of smoking joints is the type of paranoid thoughts that this drug induces; The person may be very relaxed at one moment and, seconds later, come to an apparently delusional conclusion about something that has happened and that causes you a lot of concern For example, assuming that several people around you are undercover police officers, or assuming that at any moment you can forget to breathe. This can give rise to the phenomenon of self-fulfilling prophecy and trigger a panic attack, although there is really no high risk of death from cardiac arrest.
6. The person is in such a good mood that it doesn’t seem like them.
People who have been using cannabis tend to behave in a more extraverted manner and are more interested in laughing and making others laugh, something that gives the impression that they are in a good mood and even want to strengthen ties with people they don’t usually hang out with. relate in such a friendly way.
Why do some people hide that they smoke marijuana?
In the case of marijuana consumption, There are two conditions that can lead some people to hide the fact that they have the habit of smoking joints
On the one hand, this drug is relatively normalized, especially due to marketing strategies that have been aimed at presenting this product as something natural as opposed to tobacco, which would be “artificial”; However, it currently does not enjoy the social acceptance that alcoholic beverages do enjoy, and this means that while it is an easily accessible drug, there is still the fear of giving the image of a “drug user” person. That is to say, it is not at all complicated to develop the habit of using marijuana practically daily, but at the same time, there are reasons not to show that side of oneself to others.
On the other hand, a subculture has been generated among young people around the consumption of cannabis and its derivatives, and this includes incorporating certain strategies to hide this routine. Especially in the case of adolescents, behavior through imitation has a lot of weight in the search for group acceptance, and this involves always going to the same “discreet” places, smoking, socializing in places where it is possible to take drugs without let family members or neighbors know, etc. In other words, these group dynamics make many young people expressly reserve their moment to smoke joints for those situations in which they are in a specific place in the company of certain people, so that a predisposition to lead a kind of double life arises. .
In any case, knowing the signs to know if a person smokes joints helps to detect in time these types of behavioral patterns capable of triggering an addiction and offer help before the disorder has consolidated.
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