Reefer Madness Myths That Need To Be Put To Sleep
There are many ways to educate oneself about cannabis.
You can learn from the internet and watch YouTube videos, read up on blogs, and so much more. However, you also have to be careful about what you are consuming; there are still lots of harmful myths about marijuana that are prevalent and being spread by people who don’t want the drug to be legalized. Likely because they can benefit from prohibition.
Reefer Madness Myth 1: All Kinds of Weed Get You High
When reading up about weed, one of the myths you’ll come across is that all kinds of weed will get you high. Or, that all types of medical marijuana have the same effect: getting you stoned. Sure, using pot recreationally is associated with the fun aspect of getting high. But it simply isn’t true that all kinds of weed get you stoned.
Marijuana comes in so many different variants and cannabinoid ratios these days. If you consume weed that is high in cannabidiol (CBD), or pure hemp CBD products, you won’t get high. These products are ideal for the elderly or children, which are populations that are sensitive to the effects of THC. Many medical marijuana patients also prefer CBD simply because they don’t get high, and can function properly at work while enjoying its therapeutic benefits.
You can also buy weed in different THC to CBD ratios. Since THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is the cannabinoid responsible for getting you high, you can opt for ratios or products that have a high amount of CBD. So no, not all weed will get you high.
Reefer Madness Myth 2: Smoking Weed Kills Braincells and Makes You Dumb
When Reefer Madness debuted back in 1936, one of the many myths people spread about weed was that it caused people to go crazy, commit suicide and manslaughter, hallucinate, and just pretty much go bad. According to them, at the time, weed did bad things to your brain. Smoking it killed your braincells, and made you dumb – because only dumb people commit those heinous acts.
Fast forward to today, we know that’s far from the truth. In fact, the opposite is true: studies have shown that weed helps you grow new brain cells, and can even help your brain grow. Researchers found that cannabis prompts a process called neurogenesis, which helps new brain cells grow. This is helpful in preventing neurodegenerative disease such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, and dementia to name a few.
Reefer Madness Myth 3: Legalizing Weed Makes Teenagers Addicted
People who oppose marijuana love to fear monger and spread false narratives. One of these is that legalizing weed will cause our kids to become addicted, which is why people also claim that weed is gateway drug.
Again, the opposite has shown to be true. There have been dozens of studies showing that legalizing cannabis is the most effective way to get weed off the streets, making them far less accessible to teenagers. Studies have specifically found that there’s no link between legal marijuana and an increased risk of cannabis addiction, even among teenagers who live in states where it’s legal.
Reefer Madness Myth 4: Weed Is a Gateway Drug
Uneducated opponents of marijuana are also particularly fond of spreading the myth that weed is a gateway drug. According to the gateway drug theory, using soft drugs – marijuana in particular – make users feel like psychoactive drugs are so safe, that it’s easy to start experimenting with other hard psychoactive drugs. This may include heroin, cocaine, and meth.
While it’s true that a number of people who have drug addiction problems with hard drugs do have experience using marijuana in the past, it isn’t true that cannabis use will definitely lead to using hard drugs. Anti-legalization parties argue that in the long term, when people are introduced to marijuana, it poses a dangerous risk later on because they eventually move on to these risky psychoactive drugs.
Reefer Madness Myth 5: Legal Cannabis Causes Crime Rates To Increase
Anti-legalization advocates also argue that legalizing marijuana will only cause crime rates to increase, because of the aforementioned myths: that it causes people to become dumb and lazy, so they no longer have work and have to steal or commit crimes in order to survive. Or, that it destroys brain cells and causes people to go mad, resulting in the commission of heinous, violent crimes.
However, studies again show the opposite is true. Decriminalizing or legalizing marijuana benefits societies and economies as a whole because it takes power away from drug cartels, who benefit from the black market. Cartels and drug dealers are typically involved, if not responsible, for much of the violent crime that goes on in cities and states that have not legalized marijuana.
In addition, police authorities can focus their efforts and resources by targeting actual crimes instead of incarcerating individuals who use or are caught with marijuana. There have been several case studies reflecting how legalizing cannabis truly reduces crime rates; it does not increase it.
Conclusion
These reefer madness myths are nothing but laughable nowadays, when we have several studies and cases backing up the opposite. Of course, critics of marijuana legalization will always turn to these myths and find their own supportive arguments, but the facts and reality surrounding the benefits of marijuana legalization simply cannot be denied.
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