The stir it caused over the internet can be estimated by the staggering attention it received. His post on ‘X’ garnered over 137 million impressions and 126K retweets within 4 days, drawing reactions from the top brass of the global entertainment industry.
It seems that the 52-year-old Snoop Dogg is finally letting go of the habit. His association with weed is coming to an end after decades of ‘smoking up.’ In 2013, he revealed that he was on a ‘blunt diet,’ smoking as many as ’81 in a day.’ His name became synonymous with smoking marijuana, with numerous smoking accessories and brands that he launched in recent years. The 2001 single ‘The Next Episode,’ which sold millions of copies worldwide, ends with – “Hey, hey hey, Smoke weed everyday.” The rapper’s influence cut across national boundaries and among the most popular icons in the contemporary age.
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A large number of people are believed to consume marijuana. In India, The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment’s “Magnitude of Substance Use in India 2019” survey found that 2.83% of Indians aged 10–75 years (or 31 million people) were current users of cannabis products. Another study by the German data firm ABCD found that New Delhi and Mumbai were the third and sixth largest cannabis-consuming cities in the world in 2018, consuming 38.2 tonnes and 32.4 tonnes of cannabis respectively.
While marijuana or ganja has religious connotations and records of medicinal use in ancient literature, the ill effects of smoking weed cannot be dismissed.
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Smoking marijuana involves inhaling smoke, which can irritate the lungs and lead to respiratory problems, similar to tobacco smoking. “Weed causes much more damage to the lungs than a cigarette as the joint lacks a filter bud,” says Dr. Saurabh Raina, KGMU (Lucknow).
There’s a popular misbelief that weed smoking doesn’t cause lung problems unlike cigarettes, which is a leading cause of lung cancer. “Singularly, marijuana is more harmful than a cigarette, but the tobacco intake is more in the case of cigarette smokers. So, it is predisposed to have severe effects as compared to weed,” he adds.
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Moreover, long-term weed smoking can cause serious respiratory problems. Dr. Saurabh Raina warns, “Long-term weed intake leads to chronic respiratory disorders like asthma, COPD, and in some cases prostate cancers as well, according to some studies. Weed smoking reduces immune system capabilities.”
The decision of a globally recognized advocate for smoking up to quit weed could potentially serve as a catalyst for heightened awareness regarding the adverse effects of this widely glorified substance.
