Taking cannabis carries risks. If you want to play it safe, don't take cannabis. If you decide to take it anyway, the information below can help you reduce the immediate health hazards.

1. Hashish and marijuana come in different strengths. If you are an experienced smoker, you know exactly when you have had enough. If what you are smoking is strong, you stop after a couple of puffs. If it is the first time you are smoking though, you can't know for sure when you have had enough and you are apt to have too much. If you don't know how strong it is, take a little puff and wait a minute or two before you take another one.
2. If hashish doesn't hit you right, you might feel sick or frightened for a while. You don't feel good, but it is not dangerous. No harm has been done. Just find a nice quiet spot and have something sweet to eat. It is usually over within an hour. If you feel you can't deal with it, consult the staff at the coffee shop or call 112.
3. In addition to affecting your mind, hashish and marijuana affect your body. Your heart beats faster, your eyes get red, your muscles relax and as soon as you stand up your blood pressure falls. The fall in your blood pressure can make you feel dizzy or even collapse. So be very careful at balconies or windows or any place where a fall might be dangerous.
4. If you eat space cake, the effects are much slower than with smoking. You feel the effects of smoking after a few minutes, but you only feel the effects of eating after an hour or an hour and a half. The effects of eating also last much longer (sometimes up to twelve hours) and can be far stronger. When you eat, always wait and see how it affects you before you have any more. You can easily have too much.
5. Hashish and marijuana are not good for your lungs. When hashish and marijuana burn, you breathe in tar and carbon monoxide. To keep from damaging your lungs, don't smoke too much. Don't inhale too deeply either. There is no reason for it. THC, the active ingredient in hashish, is absorbed right after you inhale.
6. Hashish or marijuana can cause psychological dependence. The reason you are smoking is important in this connection. If you are smoking just to have a good time or because you like it, there isn't' such a big chance of becoming dependent. But if you are smoking because you are depressed or tense or feel bad and want to stop feeling bad, there is more of a chance of becoming dependent. So smoke for positive reasons, not negative ones.
7. You can smoke hashish or marijuana pure or combined with tobacco. If you smoke them with tobacco, the relaxing effect is stronger. If you smoke them pure, they often stimulate your imagination more. Combining them with tobacco also increases the chance of your becoming dependent.
8. Sometimes smoking hashish or marijuana gives you an enormous appetite. You eat quickly and you eat a lot. You need to control your appetite though, otherwise you can get a stomach ache or feel nauseous.
9. There are situations and circumstances where it is better not to smoke. Don' smoke if you are pregnant. Carbon monoxide displaces the oxygen in the blood so your baby will get less oxygen. Don't smoke if you are on any medication. Don't smoke at school, at work or in traffic. Just smoke if you are feeling good and there is nothing else you have to do.
10. Don't combine hashish or marijuana with alcohol, magic mushrooms or other drugs. If you drink and smoke at the same time it can make you nauseous. The combination with magic mushrooms can lead to an unpredictable bad trip.
11. Smoke moderately and don't smoke every day. If you do find yourself smoking every day, try not smoking one or two days a week.

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