Please note: I am NOT an advocate of recreational drug use. I do not use illegal drugs and even if they were decriminalized I wouldn’t partake. This post is written with the intent of exposing some of the misconceptions that people have about Marijuana so that we can save some of our taxpayer money from being spent on rounding up pot smokers and putting them in jail. Once you’ve read what I’ve got here you’ll probably agree that there’s much better things that the government could do with our taxes. Also Note: I borrowed a lot of these myths (rewritten and documented by me, of course) from a site called DrugPolicy.org. You can read about a lot of other marijuana myths by clicking on their link. * * * Myth #1: Marijuana Overdoses Are Fatal This myth states that smoking too much marijuana will kill you. And as strange as it sounds, a lot of people actually believe it. They’ve heard the stories of drug overdoses and assume that any illegal substance will be fatal if it’s taken in excess. The Reality: There are actually no records in the extensive medical literature of the world describing a proven, documented cannabis-induced fatality... Ever. Yes, you read this correctly, there aren’t any documented deaths that were attributed solely to consuming marijuana. Now, some marijuana users have consumed other drugs that have caused them to overdose. But there is absolutely no historical evidence that anyone has ever died from smoking too much marijuana. Alcohol, Caffeine and Tylenol are more dangerous than marijuana in this regard. Check out the chart in the following link for more stunning figures about deaths: Myth #2: Marijuana Causes Brain Damage If you grew up in the 80’s like I did, you probably saw the same drug awareness ad over and over again. The butter goes into the skillet. “This is your brain.” The egg drops over the butter and begins frying. “This is your brain on drugs. Any questions?” It was a clever little marketing campaign, really. It was quick and simple and it had a really clear message that stuck with you and a catch phrase that was hard to forget. Teachers and other educators lacked onto this phrase as well as the famous monkey experiment where these apes were given Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and lost brain activity. The combination effort lead us all to believe that marijuana was a brain cell killing machine that would make us idiots if we smoked it. The Reality: Other than the aforementioned monkey experiment, no other researcher has been able to substantiate any brain cell loss due to smoking marijuana or being exposed to THC. A recent film I watched called “The Union” documented that this famous monkey experiment was not actually what we think it was. The researchers placed gas masks of incredibly high concentrations of THC and low oxygen levels over each monkey’s mouth for an extended period of time. After analyzing their methods, most other scientists agree that the brain cell loss should be attributed to suffocation rather than THC. It was the depravation of oxygen in this experiment rather than the marijuana that caused brain damage. And in fact, in every other major research study that’s been done, marijuana usage has not effected brain cells. This is probably an example of the War on Drugs grabbing the test that proved their point rather than the actual statistics.
Well, one might say, even if marijuana doesn’t cause brain damage- smoking causes cancer, bronchitis, and emphysema. I don’t want anyone to get these diseases, first hand or through second hand smoke! So it should still be illegal. The Reality: It’s true that like tobacco smoke, marijuana smoke does contain some carcinogens and irritants. All smoke does. A burning marshmallow, or toast, or eggs, or coffee, or anything else that’s on fire and turning into smoke will contain irritants of some sort of another. The real question is whether these irritants actually cause cancer. The truth is, marijuana hasn’t been linked with cancer, and the lack of obstructions within marijuana smoker’s lungs indicates that bronchitis and emphysema aren’t very likely either. In fact, a new research article that came out in July of this year has actually linked 10-20 years of continuous marijuana use with reduced instances of cancer. Hmmm?
This myth basically says that anyone who smokes pot is at risk for becoming crazed and violent when they are intoxicated. The Reality: Hopefully, most people don’t take this myth seriously. Marijuana, in fact, has a calming effect that’s more likely to make someone sleepy than angry. Not only that, but almost every single serious study done on marijuana usage has shown that it actually decreases aggression and violence. The real trick here is that since marijuana is illegal, anyone who uses marijuana is obviously someone who the ability to break or ignore the law. That said, there might possibly be a correlation between crime and marijuana usage since those with a propensity to break one area of the law may be more likely to break other areas of the law, too. But this doesn’t mean that marijuana causes crime. It means that people who break the law are potentially more likely to break or ignore other laws. This may seem like a subtle distinction, but it’s important to understand if we’re truly going to understand the consequences of marijuana use.
This myth states that even if all the other things about marijuana are false, smoking pot is a slippery slope that will eventually land users in bed with “hard drugs” like crack and heroine and therefore should remain illegal. The Reality: Yes, in some regards Marijuana is a gateway drug. But it is BECAUSE it is illegal that it’s a gateway drug. If the only way to get a hold of marijuana is on the black market, then of course people who purchase it will be more likely to purchase other illegal substances. After all, they’re engaging in illegal activities and interacting with drug dealers who also have cocaine, speed, PCP, XTC, and Heroine on them. Since marijuana isn’t addictive, it’s not really as profitable for the black market and so you’d better believe that the intention of every drug dealer is to get their clients hooked on something “harder” that will keep them coming back day after day. Thus, cocaine and heroine and PCP and all sorts of other illegal drugs are “offered” along with the bag of marijuana. But when you walk into a 7-Eleven to buy a case of beer, the guy behind the counter isn’t trying to get you to smoke crack, too. He may offer a bag of chips or a Slurpee, but he’s not selling hard drugs. And when you pick up a Percocet prescription at the pharmacy, the woman behind the counter isn’t there trying to peddle Codeine to you as well. You get what you came for and you leave. The truth is, most researchers, economists, and average human beings realize that marijuana would be a lot safer and less likely to lead to harder drugs if it were legalized and regulated like tobacco and alcohol.
According to my “accurate” sources over at Wikipedia, there have been over eight million cannabis arrests in the United States since 1993 including 872,721 in 2007 alone. 88% of these arrests were apparently for possession alone. That means that over 7 million people have been arrested in the United States for having a plant on their person or in their home that is non-fatal, causes no brain damage, bronchitis, or emphysema, reduces cancer, isn’t correlated with other crimes, and is only linked with harder drugs because of its illegal nature rather than an inherent trait within the substance. Now, I’m not sure how much it costs to make 7 million arrests, but I’m guessing it’s at least a thousand dollars per incident (taking into consideration the salaries of police officers, detention officers, and anyone else involved in processing). That means that at the very lease we’ve spent 7 billion dollars arresting marijuana users. And these 7 billion dollars, of course, are paid by taxpayers like you and me. Call me crazy, but considering the growing deficit problem we’ve got in our government and the programs that keep getting added, I think it’s time to rethink our Federal policy on marijuana restrictions. Why are we spending all this taxpayer money and putting our police force in danger over a plant that’s illegal because of misinformation? Comments08/20/2009 10:09:51 Marijuana itself may not be fatal, but it definitely contributes to vehicular and depression related fatalities. 08/20/2009 10:53:20 Hey Mr. Salk! Good point about accidents. 08/20/2009 13:03:21 William Burroughs noted (Junky) that the most dangerous side-effect which weed has is disturbing your sense of time and spatial relationships, so driving is inadvisable. 08/20/2009 13:26:19 Actually, now that I think about it... you're right. 08/20/2009 19:42:15 Are you actually curious about why marijuana is illegal while alcohol and tobacco are not, or is that a rhetorical curiosity? Alcohol is legal because Prohibition was such a colossal failure. Tobacco is legal because it was used by proper white gentlemen and has huge corporate interests. Marijuana became illegal because it was used by unwanted persons of Mexican origin, and it remains illegal because it has huge government interests (DEA, police departments, etc.). 08/21/2009 06:38:23 Thanks Chad! 08/21/2009 12:25:22 There is nothing BUT rhetoric on both sides of the Marijuana legalization debate. 08/21/2009 12:59:22 I guess my only thought about that is this: Leave a Reply | Follow Me Nathan Recommends
Micah Tillman |
