I always hated it when my father used the cannabis slang term “dope” to make it sound like ganja made you stupid. This was one of my first ever experiences with cannabis myths that I knew to be untrue. The world is awash with marijuana misconceptions, and frankly, it really makes me angry. It’s counterproductive and is essentially fake news.
But as the old adage goes, “If your throw enough shit, some sticks”. Unfortunately, that nugget of philosophy is so true. I have made it my life’s work to defend cannabis against naysayers and those who basically repeat what they’ve heard but have done zero research. Please check out my take on the 10 cannabis myths that are not true.
Let’s get this straight, cannabis only makes you lazy if you are already a lazy person. It can accentuate both what you are good at and bad at. So effectively, if you are a lazy so-and-so, cannabis will make you lazier, but that’s more about you than smoking weed itself.
I have been a highly-functioning stoner for almost 30 years, so I know a bit about this. Some of my friends smoke weed and cannot do anything. While on the other hand, myself and my other friends smoke weed and always get things done and lead productive lives. It’s all about your own attitude and disposition, to be honest. Smoking weed does not make you lazy per se, so this is one of the cannabis myths that has been debunked.
I love Cheech and Chong, but sometimes they did more harm to a stoner’s reputation than good. Everyone naturally assumes that cannabis smokers speak slowly like demented Californians in slow motion. Never once have I sounded like a Californian surfer constantly saying “dude”, “stoked” and “whoa” put together in any particular order. Quite the contrary.
In my experience, you can’t tell a cannabis smoker from a non-smoker just by listening to how they speak. It’s a common cannabis misconception that needs to stop now. It’s a dangerous stereotype that is simply not true and is insulting on so many levels.
Here is another insulting misconception that needs overhauling pronto. Thinking that only hippie-type people smoke weed is one of the biggest cannabis myths ever spoken by laymen. Some of the smartest and most together people I ever knew smoked weed on a regular. It’s just another dangerous stereotype that needs to be eliminated.
I know plenty of high-ranking business persons and even CEOs that smoke weed every night. So to act like only hippies and burnouts smoke weeds is just plain wrong.
If you don’t know what “munchies” means, you are the right person to be reading this guide to common cannabis myths. Munchies is a state of hungriness that supposedly happens to people who smoke weed. Although certain elements of the statement might be true in some circumstances, it’s not really a thing. For sure, if you don’t often smoke weed and then you take a few hits from a blunt, you might very well get a craving for food, known as the munchies.
However, people who smoke on a regular basis do not get the munchies per se. It only seems to happen to newbies or smokers who take a blast every now and then. For the purpose of parity, cancer patients undergoing chemo can use cannabis to increase their appetite, so it does have some effect on eating habits, just not for regular users.
I’m not a doctor, but I am a professional weed smoker who has over three decades of experience. That has to count for something in this argument. The scaremongering is always that cannabis causes schizophrenia, but there is no real evidence to support that theory.
For sure, some research has shown that younger people whose brains are not yet developed should not be smoking weed and that it might cause some depression and anxiety, but even that’s not a nailed-on fact. There has been no research to show how many of those people would suffer depression even if they hadn’t smoked cannabis when they were younger, so the jury is still out. Anyone under 18 years old should not smoke ganja just in case.
This is probably one of the most ridiculous cannabis myths that was ever spouted. No substance is a gateway to another one because of the effects of the said drug. It’s absolute tosh. The only correlation to such as idea is because cannabis is illegal in many countries, it’s sold by the same people who sell harder drugs like meth, cocaine, and heroin. So in effect, the dealers might be able to trick you into trying something else.
If cannabis was legal everywhere, it would be taken out of the hands of gangsters and criminals. Therefore, the drug dealers and the illegality of cannabis are to blame for the supposed ‘gateway’ theory. For example, if alcohol was illegal and was then sold on the black market by drug dealers, it would automatically become a gateway drug. It’s just a load of nonsense.
Sorry to tell you this, but you were probably stupid before you smoked weed. Don’t go blaming cannabis for your lack of intelligence… that’s on you! Some of the greatest minds, poets, writers, philosophers, and academics were chronic weed users, so how do you explain that?
Again, it’s cannabis myths like these that have propagated for decades and have become some kind of faux pas truth. Cannabis doesn’t make you stupid, lack of knowledge and common sense does.
Let’s be truly honest here, chronic cannabis users always say that ganja is not addictive, and although they are correct in some way, they are also wrong in equal amounts. Of course, cannabis is not physically addictive like heroin and nicotine, or even coffee, but it can still be mentally addictive.
You don’t suffer hunger pangs or withdrawal symptoms as you might with some other substances, but that doesn’t mean you are not addicted to cannabis. You can be mentally addicted to work or even exercise, so it’s more about you than the substance or activity, but it can still be addictive in some way.
This is one of the most dangerous cannabis myths I’ve ever had the misfortune to hear. Making cannabis legal takes it away from gangsters and doesn’t send young kids to prison for several years just for smoking a joint. Cannabis prohibition is so wrong on so many levels. It’s far less dangerous than alcohol and cigarettes and has never actually killed anyone. Keeping cannabis illegal is a really bad idea.
I constantly hear stoners saying you can’t overdose on weed. And although they have some kind of point, they are incorrect. If you’ve ever had a ‘whitey’ or ‘white death’, you’ll already know that It’s possible to overdose on cannabis.
For sure, the effects are extremely mild in the grand scheme of things, but when you do smoke too much weed, you can overdose, and it can mess you up for 20 minutes. But quickly after, everything returns to normal. It can make you vomit and feel uneasy for a while but you’ll quickly recover. It’s not like getting too drunk and needing a couple of days to recover. But to say that you can’t overdose on weed is simply not true.
Old wives’ tales should be left with the old hags to tell. These 10 cannabis myths are essentially misinformation that needs debunking. Okay, smoking weed is not exactly healthy, but neither is eating chocolate or driving your car dangerously. That doesn’t mean we should be social outcasts and leapers and get sent to prison just for blazing weed. Quite the contrary.
What there needs to be is honest research and information that is performed by independent people. No research done by pharmaceutical companies or those who have ulterior motives should be accepted as truth. I hope I’ve done my bit to dispel some of these common marijuana misconceptions in an attempt at transparency and balance. For more weed blogs and cannabis news articles, please click here.
