Top 7 Marijuana Myths Debunked

      As we grow up, we are taught to believe certain things, and these beliefs are usually implied upon us as children, but is everything you are told necessarily true? The facts surrounding the use of marijuana are often misconstrued, so before you believe misinformation about the substance, lets look at the facts.

1. Myth - Marijuana is More Harmful than Tobacco - Many people think that smoking marijuana is just as harmful or dangerous as smoking tobacco, but this could not be further from the truth. The buds of a marijuana plant contains a third of the amount of tar as tobacco, and not one case of lung cancer has ever been reported from smoking marijuana. Moderate smoking of marijuana poses minimal danger to the lungs, like tobacco smoke marijuana smoke contains number of irritants and carcinogens, but marijuana users typically smoke much less often than tobacco smokers, and over time, inhale much less smoke. And unlike tobacco users, marijuana smoke does not cause any obstruction of the small airways in the lung.

2. Myth - Marijuana is a Gateway Drug - We were always taught in school that people who use marijuana eventually turn to harder drugs, usually with the implication that marijuana is highly addictive like drugs such as coke or meth, but these claims are based on studies that are close to meaningless. A recent study by CASA claims that marijuana users are 85 times more likely than non-marijuana users to try cocaine, but this study used figures from the NIDA's 1991 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse which only calculated the number of cocaine users who used marijuana previously, the high risk-factor obtained is a product not of the fact that so many marijuana users use cocaine but that so many cocaine users used marijuana previously. The obvious statistic not publicized by CASA is that most marijuana users - 83 percent - never use or have used cocaine.

3. Myth - Marijuana is Highly Addictive - Most people who smoke marijuana only smoke it occasionally, and a small minority of of Americans - less than 1% - smoke it on a daily basis, with an even smaller minority developing a dependence on marijuana. National epidemiological surveys show that the large majority of people who have had experience with marijuana do not become regular users. Many of those who smoke marijuana on a daily basis can stop without difficulty, since marijuana does not cause a physical dependence. If anyone does experience withdrawal symptoms at all, they are always reported to be very mild. Compare this to a truly addictive drug, such as the nicotine in smoked tobacco with a 90% addiction rate, and the argument for possible marijuana addiction starts to sound very silly.

4. Myth - Marijuana Causes Brain Damage/Mental Illness - There is absolutely no convincing scientific evidence that marijuana causes psychological damage or mental illness in either teenagers or adults. The most celebrated study that claims to show brain damage is the rhesus monkey study of Dr. Robert Heath, done in the late 1970s, but Heath's work was sharply criticized due to it's insufficient sample size (only 4 monkeys) as well as its failure to control experimental bias, and the misidentification of normal monkey brain structure as "damaged". Actual studies of human populations of marijuana users have shown no evidence of brain damage. Some marijuana users do however experience psychological distress following marijuana ingestion, which may include feelings of panic, anxiety, and paranoia. Such experiences can be frightening to some, but the effects are temporary. With very large doses, marijuana can cause temporary toxic psychosis, but this occurs rarely, and almost always when marijuana is eaten rather than smoked. Marijuana does not cause profound changes in people's behavior.

5. Myth - Marijuana is More Potent Today then Ever - This myth is directly related to the result of bad data. When today's youth use marijuana, they are using the same drug used by youth in the 1960s and 1970s. A small number of samples were seized by the Drug Enforcement Agency and these samples were not representative of the marijuana generally available to users during this era. Potency data from the early 1980s to the present are much more reliable, and they show no increase in the average THC content of marijuana. Surprisingly the most potent recorded form of marijuana was generally available and was sold legally in the 1920's by the pharmaceutical company Smith-Klein under the name, "American Cannabis". Even if the potency in marijuana were to increase, it would not necessarily make the drug more dangerous, becuase marijuana that varies quite substantially in potency produces similar psychoactive effects regardless.

6. Myth - Marijuana Damages the Reproductive System - This claim is based chiefly on the work of Dr. Gabriel Nahas, who experimented with tissue (cells) isolated in petri dishes, and the work of researchers who dosed animals with near-lethal amounts of cannabinoids (i.e., the intoxicating part of marijuana). Nahas' generalizations from his petri dishes to human beings have been rejected by the scientific community as being invalid. Any studies of actual human populations have failed to demonstrate that marijuana adversely affects the reproductive system in any way.

7. Myth - Marijuana has No Medicinal Value - Marijuana has been shown to be effective in reducing nausea induced by cancer chemotherapy, stimulating appetite in AIDS patients, and reducing intraocular pressure in people with glaucoma. There is also appreciable evidence that marijuana reduces muscle spasticity in patients with neurological disorders. A synthetic THC capsule is available by prescription, but it is not as effective as smoked marijuana for many patients. Pure THC may also produce more unpleasant psychoactive side effects than smoked marijuana. The FDA actually claims that cocaine and methamphetamine as having more medical value than marijuana, which is grouped with heroin and LSD as having "no currently accepted medical use." science, common sense, and simple human decency dictate. Recent research leaves no doubt that our government's war on the sick and dying must end immediately.

Source for Article:
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- Weiser and Noy. “Interpreting the association between cannabis use and increased risk of schizophrenia.” Dialogues in Clincal Neuroscience 1(2005): 81-85.

- "Cannabis use will impair but not damage mental health." London Telegraph. 23 January 2006.

- Andreasson, S. et al. “Cannabis and Schizophrenia: A Longitudinal study of Swedish Conscripts,” The Lancet 2 (1987): 1483-86.

- Degenhardt, Louisa, Wayne Hall and Michael Lynskey. “Testing hypotheses about the relationship between cannabis use and psychosis,” Drug and Alcohol Dependence 71 (2003): 42-4.

- United States. Dept. of Health and Human Services. DASIS Report Series, Differences in Marijuana Admissions Based on Source of Referral. 2002. June 24 2005.

- Kandel, D.B., et al. “Prevalence and demographic correlates of symptoms of dependence on cigarettes, alcohol, marijuana and cocaine in the U.S. population.” Drug and Alcohol Dependence 44 (1997):11-29.

- Drug Enforcement Administration. U.S. Drug Threat Assessment, 1993. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, 1993.

- leiman, Mark A.R. Marijuana: Costs of Abuse, Costs of Control. Westport: Greenwood Press, 1989. 29.

- Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. “Legalization: Panacea or Pandora’s Box.” New York. (1995): 36.