And a huge drag on the healthcare system (such as it is).
Yes.
This is correct.
Obesity is actually a bigger drain on the "healthcare system" (such as it is) than marijuana. It is bad for your health and shortens your life. I causes major illnesses.
Obesity is linked as a root cause of a variety of ailments which bog down the "healthcare system" (such as it is)while cannabis smoking has yet to really be shown to cause much trouble for said healthcare system(such as it is). And believe me, if the data was remotely therre, we'd be hearing about it day and night. But the data ain't there.
It is for obesity though.
Obesity places strain on healthcare system (such as it is)
Obesity currently accounts for 9.1 percent of all medical spending, up from 6.5 percent in 1998.
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The bulk of obesity spending, the researchers said, is not devoted to treatments such as bariatric surgery, but rather to treating obesity-linked diseases. Excess weight, they noted, is the best predictor of developing diabetes, which costs 191 billion dollars each year.
"If not for obesity, these costs would be much lower, as would costs for other conditions caused by excess weight," the authors said. "The connection between rising rates of obesity and rising medical spending is undeniable."
The American Diet has to be largely to blame, followed by the sedentary lifestyle to which many Americans are accustomed. Eating terrible food (McD's) watching TV all the time, playing video games, NOT exercising, smoking tobacco and drinking too much alcohol all contribute to the alarming rise in obesity and the epidemic of diabetes.
Pot smoking, on the other hand, something regularly enjoyed by tens of millions of Americans ISN'T having remotely this sort of negative impact on society or the "healthcare system" (such as it is). There are not millions of people referred for medical care from illnesses caused by smoking the evil weed. LOTS of referrals for tobacco smokers and those who have gained too much weight.
Let me be clear - I am NOT "picking on fat people". This is a medical issue and the relationship between obesity, poor health, and overt medical problems is clear and inarguable.
Obesity in America is due, as I said, mainly to improper diet and a lack of exercise. I see overweight children and worry about their long-term quality of life. I am concerned about grossly overweight adults who think the they are "free" to get so fat knowing that eating a better diet or altering their low-exercise lifestyle (driving everywhere, parking close to buildings, doing ANYTHING to reduce their physical effort).
This is a side-effect of what I call the Consumer Society: Americans have been encouraged to consume more than any other culture in the history of time. We have been barraged with heavy foods, processed foods, HFCS - you name it - for 4 generations. Fast food, heavy food, "comfort food" all combined with a real resistance to physical exertion has made America the fattest country on the planet. The joke goes "China has 4 times the people but America still outwieghs them".
Why do I link this to pot smoking?
Simple: Pot smoking is horribly and erroneously demonized as a terrible thing to do and there's almost no data to back up this assertion. Its not like tobacco or alcohol where EVERYBODY KNOWS what havoc they wreak. Nobody calls for new studies to try and show LESS damage from tobacco or alcohol. It's a moot point.
Eating poorly and gaining to much weight should get the same scrutiny pot smoking does given the strains it places on people and the "healthcare system" (such as it is).
Add tobacco-related illnesses to obesity related illnesses and ask yourself how much of the strain on the "healthcare system (such as it is) is entirely preventable.
Don't you think we'd be deaf from hearing about it if this data was actually available? There is so little data they simply make stuff up about cannabis, none of it true or "provable".
So, there: obesity is far more dangerous than pot smoking. Your bad diet is worse for you then pot smoking. And it's costing everybody in terms of increased healthcare spending.
I am not saying you SHOULD go smoke pot - I am unsure where folks get such an idea: all I am saying is that it is not remotely as detrimental to your health than allowing obesity to creep up on you or your child.
I am saying you should review your diet, what you eat, and consider your health.
Pot smoking is unimportant in this light.