Fact Check: Can Smoking Too Much Weed Steal The Liveliness Out Of Your Face, Lips, And Skin? Credit: Ben Harding / iStock, https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/Sakkawokkie?mediatype=photography
As marijuana is increasingly legalized across the world for medical and recreational use, the effects of smoking too much weed are now becoming clearer to researchers.
Smoking is generally known to impact human health in numerous ways, including lung diseases, brain damage, heightened sensory perception, and even causing mental illness.
People are urged to stop smoking because it is not only bad for their brain, lungs, and other organs, but also for their skin and aging according to Dr. Papri Sarkar, a board-certified dermatologist. All body organs are better off without smoke either from weed or tobacco.
Marijuana smoke is high in hydrocarbons. When it interacts with the skin, it can damage the production of collagen, which provides structural strength against air pollution and inflammation. Damage to collagen can prematurely age your skin by causing wrinkles and loss of elasticity.
Smoking weed also causes dry mouth as it affects salivary glands, causing them to produce less saliva than is needed for a moist and healthy mouth. Less saliva causes the mouth to be too dry and in turn causes gum disease, increasing the risk of cavities and inflammation of the mouth and lips.
It could also lead to an overgrowth of the gums.
There are not many studies on how smoking weed impacts the skin due to the recent legalization, but allergic reactions like hives have occurred, according to board-certified dermatologist Dr. Lindsey Zubritsky.
“The more we purse our lips together, the more likely we are to develop smoker’s lines, those who smoke are constantly decreasing their oxygen availability, which in turn leads to aging skin,” Dr. Linsey told InStyle.
While some have claimed that marijuana can benefit the skin and keep sebum (oil-producing glands) at bay, there isn’t much research to back up these claims due to previous illegality. Legalization has opened opportunities for deep study of the effects.
