Crystal Bonvillian
To toke or not to toke; that has
become the question across the United States as attitudes about
marijuana use continue to shift and cities and states determine whether
to decriminalize the drug.
Memphis on Tuesday became the latest
American city to take the first step toward decriminalizing marijuana,
even as the federal government earlier this month opted to keep pot
listed as a Schedule I drug – lumped in with dangerous and potentially
deadly drugs like heroin, ecstasy and LSD.
Meanwhile, support for
legalizing the drug is at an all-time high, according to a study
conducted in March by the Chicago-based Associated Press-NORC Center for
Public Affairs Research that found that 61 percent of those U.S.
residents surveyed were in favor of making pot legal.
Proponents
on both sides of the issue have all made their arguments.
Unfortunately, many of those arguments are based on myths and tall tales
that have gathered around the subject like, well, like a cloud of
smoke.
Here are seven myths that you may or may not have heard about marijuana:
Myth: Driving while high on marijuana is as bad as driving while drunk
Fact: Driving while high on pot is not as dangerous as driving under the influence of alcohol. Time reported last year
that researchers from the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration have found no evidence to support claims that drivers
under the influence of pot are significantly more likely to crash.
Myth: Marijuana kills brain cells
Fact: A study released in 2015 by the Journal of Neuroscience
debunked a previous study that claimed regular marijuana use causes
abnormalities in the brains of adolescents and adults. According to the
researchers, they were unable to replicate that study, which was
published in April 2014 by Northwestern University.
Myth: Marijuana is a “gateway drug” that leads to use of more dangerous illegal substances
Fact:The Institute of Medicine found
that, while many users of drugs like heroin or cocaine do use marijuana
prior to trying the harder drugs, there does not appear to be a causal
link. Instead, marijuana is a typical precursor to heavier drug use
because it is the most widely used illegal drug.
IOM researchers
also state that marijuana is rarely the first “gateway drug” in the
chain of events that leads to heavy drug use. That title goes instead to
underage smoking and alcohol use.
Research has also shown that,
while users can become physically dependent on marijuana, the symptoms
of withdrawal are much milder. While marijuana users who stop smoking
may suffer irritability and a slightly elevated heart rate, those who
are withdrawing alcohol, opiates or benzodiazepines could suffer
everything from elevated heart rate and blood pressure to
hallucinations, seizures and even death.
Myth: Marijuana causes more damage to a person’s lungs than cigarettes
Fact:Researchers with the University of California San Francisco and the University of Alabama at Birmingham found that,
while long-term, heavy marijuana use could take a toll on a person’s
lungs, the air-flow rate of a person’s breathing actually increases with
increased exposure to marijuana – up to a certain level.
The reason,
the researchers said, is likely due to the difference in the number of
joints marijuana smokers consume versus the number of cigarettes a
typical smoker consumes on a daily basis.
Myth: Marijuana cures anxiety in people
Fact:
While this myth might actually hold some truth for some people,
research has found that marijuana has the opposite effect on the
majority of users. A 2014 study authored by a Vanderbilt University professor found cannabinoid receptors in a part of the brain that regulates anxiety and a person’s flight-or-fight response.
The study found that, while marijuana’s cannabinoids can reduce
anxiety, chronic use “down-regulates” those receptors and paradoxically
increases anxiety
Myth: You can overdose on marijuana
Fact: Don’t believe everything you read on Facebook. Remember those cannabinoid receptors? According to the National Cancer Institute, those receptors – unlike a person’s opioid receptors – are not located on the body’s brain stem that controls respiration.
In other words, while taking too many painkillers can slow a person’s
respiration so much that they die, that cannot happen with marijuana.
Myth: The munchies are not real
Fact:
Though one argument against marijuana use for malnourished cancer
patients is that the “munchies” are a figment of the imagination,
science has proven that argument wrong. Smithsonian Magazine reported in
2014 that research has shown that THC fits into the receptors in the
brain’s olfactory bulb, a neural structure involved in the sense of
smell.
What that means for pot smokers is that marijuana
significantly increases their sense of smell and taste, which leads them
to eat more food after smoking.
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