Marijuana use has been a widely studied field, with resulting data support both positive and negative effects. Both perspectives provide useful information for anyone using marijuana or thinking of using marijuana should consider. That said, both perspectives have adherents who take that information as gospel and will even embellish or outright fabricate information to support their own perspectives. This is generally viewed as counterproductive practice.
Here are some of the most common marijuana myths you’re bound to encounter.
Unchecked substance use, in this case, abuse, can lead to physical dependence, psychological dependence or both in users.
Marijuana’s psychological dependency has been more thoroughly documented and supported in the scientific community. However, with the increase in higher potency varieties, physical dependence is a growing concern among physicians, researchers, and users.
According to the CDC, Some of the signs that someone might be developing or suffering from marijuana dependence include:
In those with a heavy or sustained history of marijuana use, withdrawal symptoms can emerge when attempting to stop using marijuana. This includes:
According to the American Psychiatric Association in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV), Marijuana use is regularly related to behavior that meets the criteria for substance dependence. Additionally, the manual estimates that 1 in 10 users will become addicted. When looking at samplings of those who began who begin using before the age of 18, the estimates rise to 1 in 6.4 individuals becoming addicted.
It’s been taught in US media and schools for decades that marijuana is a gateway drug. The most notable examples include the D.A.R.E. program and Nixon’s infamous 1971 beginning of the War on Drugs.
These programs asserted that drug abuse was the nation’s biggest enemy and a top priority for law enforcement. The resulting cultural perception of drug abuse quickly became a subject of contempt and shame.
Among those shameful drugs resides marijuana. While not as intoxicating and destructive as drugs like cocaine and heroin, marijuana was subject to the same scrutiny and punishment in the eyes of the law.
While descriptions of marijuana’s effects on a person were historically the subject of hyperbole and fabrication, pot gained a reputation as a soft introduction to harder narcotics.
It can be observed that marijuana users can also be users of other narcotics.
However, numerous studies have shown that a person’s inclination for hard drug use does not necessarily correlate with marijuana use. That is to say, marijuana does not cause a person to take harder drugs. Rather, a person’s use of marijuana can be considered a visible indication of a personality trait. That trait might be as inoffensive as a desire to try new things.
This one’s debatable.
While some countries may have had success with prohibition, the United States is not one of them.
We don’t have to look far to find why that is the case. Our prohibition attempts in the US have given rise to massive criminal enterprises both domestically and abroad. Our laws provide for the death penalty to drug traffickers, yet drug trafficking has actually increased over the years.
In fact, the DEA said in their 2019 National Drug Threat Assessment that, “National and neighborhood-based street gangs and prison gangs remain the dominant distributors of illicit drugs through street-sales in their respective territories throughout the country. Struggle for control of lucrative drug trafficking territories continues to fuel the majority of the street gang violence facing local communities.”
The point to be made here is that prohibition can reliably be observed to provide opportunities for organized crime to proliferate, violence to increase, and user safety to decrease.
Alcohol was once prohibited then later regulated and elevated to a level synonymous with many cultural pastimes. Citizens and organizations are actively calling for the same referendum of the country’s laws on marijuana. This way, the systems in place can make users safer and more responsible, while also generating revenue that can be used to support communal services.
As we previously discussed, cannabis users can become dependent physically, psychologically or both.
This can certainly be considered harmful to a person’s ability to properly function in society.
However, the harm is generally one that can be remedied without significant intervention.
Smoking and vaporizing marijuana can certainly be harmful to the sensitive tissues of the mouth, throat, and lungs. Another example of the potential harm inherent in marijuana use.
This one is another topic related to the research community and findings have gone back and forth over the years.
According to the Journal of Psychopharmacology research article Popular intoxicants: what lessons can be learned from the last 40 years of alcohol and cannabis regulation? “A recent expert-led comparison of the health and social harms to the user and to others caused by the most commonly used drugs in the UK showed alcohol to be more than twice as harmful as cannabis to users, and five times as harmful as cannabis to others. The findings underline the need for a coherent, evidence-based drugs policy that enables individuals to make informed decisions about the consequences of their drug use.”
When looking at the relative risks of tobacco and cannabis use, tobacco is clearly more harmful. Yet we allow people to buy cigarettes, cigars, chewing tobacco and other products in any grocery and convenience store.
According to the Journal of the American Medical Association article Association Between Marijuana Exposure and Pulmonary Function Over 20 Years, “Marijuana smoke contains many of the same constituents as tobacco smoke,6 but it is unclear whether smoking marijuana causes pulmonary damage similar to that caused by tobacco. Prior studies of marijuana smokers have demonstrated consistent evidence of airway mucosal injury and inflammation7-9 as well as increased respiratory symptoms such as cough, phlegm production, and wheeze, similar to that seen in tobacco smokers.10-12 However, analyses of pulmonary function and lung disease have failed to detect clear adverse effects of marijuana use on pulmonary function.”
From these two extensive studies, we can see that marijuana is less harmful to users and society as a whole than the two most popular, legal “drugs”. What this boils down to is a user’s ability to weigh the risks of using marijuana for themselves.
In the past, the prohibition of marijuana has been backed by law enforcement, special interest groups, and political figures. Today, states and their citizens favor legalizing and decriminalizing marijuana at increasing rates.
We’ve covered the most common marijuana myths you’re bound to encounter. By now, it should be clear that myth is rooted in truth and embellished to achieve an end. It’s up to you as an individual to get down to the root of each topic, understand what risks you are comfortable with assuming, and partaking or abstaining based on your level of comfort. For more information on marijuana and CBD, read through our archives and check our recommended providers of cannabis and CBD products.
