7 Marijuana Myths That Are Completely False

7 Cannabis Myths You Need To Stop Believing from CannabisNet on Vimeo.

Since the early days of prohibition, stoner myths have been perpetuated by the establishment with the sole aim of deterring people from partaking of this sacred herb. Contraire to what they set out to achieve, their stoner myths for the most part has back fired and today, more people smoke marijuana regularly than when it was first prohibited.

Nonetheless, some of the myths are still lingering in the back of our subconscious brains and it’s high time that someone came out to set the record straight. That’s why today we’ll be going through seven stoner myths, some ridiculous and some not so much, and debunking the drivel that was associated with the idea.

Driving Stoned is as bad as driving Drunk

While you should never drive impaired, there is a vast difference between driving drunk and driving stoned. Drunk driving claims roughly 28 lives per day, whereas there are no statistics in relation to marijuana. In fact, recent studies have found that there was no significant increase in traffic fatalities in states that have legalized marijuana for recreational purposes, suggesting that driving while high has very little impact on impairment.

For the most part, stoned drivers tend to drive a bit slower than usual whereas drunk drivers tend to speed up.

Legalization has no impact on Drug Cartels

To be honest, the only real way to ever weed out drug cartels would be to legalize and regulate all drugs. Drug cartels only exist due to the illegality of the substance. We can already see the effects in relation to drug cartel profits regarding marijuana post legalization. In fact, the price of your typical cartel kilos dropped 65% over the past few years. You used to be able to buy a kilo for $90 USD a few years back, nowadays since the US has seen legalization on various fronts; the average price is hovering around $35.

In turn, cartel farmers are considering dropping marijuana from their crops as legalization has taken away a significant amount of business from their pockets.

Marijuana makes you unmotivated

If you’re lazy, you can’t blame the weed for it. There are many highly active people who consume marijuana daily. In fact, some people become more hyperactive after smoking and the type of marijuana you smoke has a lot to do with it. If you want a more energized high to get stuff done you typically want to stick to sativa strains.

Indicas can let you become more relaxed; however it won’t stop you flat in your tracks either. I have smoked indicas on numerous occasions and managed to get a lot of work done. Motivation is entirely up to you and while cannabis may have some effects in terms of energy/relaxation, you still have will power. Don’t blame weed if you are lazy.

Marijuana is addictive

We have heard this repeatedly throughout the years, “Marijuana is addictive!” Well, hate to burst your bubble but marijuana is about as addictive as coffee. It really isn’t habit forming and even those who do develop a psychological dependence on the substance can typically ween off quite easily.

I have smoked marijuana for more than twenty years now and if I want to go on a cleanse, I can stop smoking at any time. Now I know there is some skeptic out there saying, “Every addict says that”, however I know addiction. I was addicted to tobacco for years and there is a definite difference between “not having weed vs. not have CIGARETTES!”

Scientifically speaking the addictive qualities of cannabis is roughly 9%, which is similar to that of coffee.

Tobacco is roughly at 35%, which is right up there with heroin and cocaine. Enjoy!

Potheads look alike

The stoner stereotype used to be a “loser, lazy, good-for-nothing social vampire” that would only cause damage to his or her surroundings. Women are “looser” and men are more “depraved” under the influence of cannabis…or so they would have you believe.

However, there are roughly 30,000,000 regular cannabis smokers in the US. Roughly, half of the population has tried marijuana at one time or another. If the stoner stereotype were true, then we would see at least 1 in 10 people fit this description and the fact of the matter is that it simply isn’t true.

There are many people from many walks of life that partake of cannabis…similar to how you can’t tell “who drinks wine or beer” regularly…neither can you make this hasty generalization about cannabis.

Cannabis leads to crime

Not true! In most cases, the “criminal statistics” being cited are directly related to the action of smoking marijuana or other recreational drugs. This means that prohibition justifies the crime statistics merely by existing. If marijuana was legal and consuming it would not result in a criminal charge…then there would be no increase in crime.

Sure, there are “criminal potheads” just like there are “criminal alcohol drinkers” and “criminal lawyers”. You see what I’m getting at? A criminal is a criminal regardless of what they consume. Cannabis simply doesn’t hold the powers to turn you into a criminal.

Marijuana leads to harder drugs

Talking from the perspective of someone who has done many drugs in the past, I can most definitely tell you that “marijuana” didn’t make me do it. In fact, the first “drug” I ever tried was tobacco and quickly after that alcohol. It wasn’t until I was about thirteen when I first tried cannabis.

The subsequent drug use of mine was more out of curiosity as opposed to me “wanting to get higher”. The fact that prohibition lied to me and told me that marijuana was going to kill me casted doubt on the other drugs in question. Rather, we can say ignorance and prohibition leads to harder drugs. An informed user would know to stay away from the truly destructive drugs out there.

There are plenty more myths out there that should be debunked however, this list includes some of the most known ones out there. Post your myths debunked below in the comment section.