There are thousands of stories about weed and unfortunately, most of them are untrue and steeped in misconceptions. These stories are partially accountable for the fact that many states and countries are reluctant to legalize cannabis, be it medical cannabis or recreational.
Here are some of the stories you shouldn’t give too much credence to:
- Marijuana is addictive
Of course… This is a result of the drug-scare that started in the ‘60s when hippies smoked weed everywhere. At the time, marijuana was associated with lowlifes and people who didn’t want to have anything to do with a “normal” life.
Sadly, that misconception endured to this day. Smoke weed in public and you’ll be immediately branded as scum. It goes without saying that cannabis isn’t addictive.
Why isn’t it addictive? Because it’s not a drug. It’s a medicinal plant. If more people would understand that, we wouldn’t have any trouble with legalizing it all over the world. You can read A Brief History of Medical Weed.
The stories with titles like “Testimony from a weed-addicted teen” and “The dark side of marijuana use” are just propaganda and 100% untrue.
- Once you’ve done weed, you’ll start doing hard drugs
No, you won’t! Again, cannabis isn’t a drug. Subsequently, it can’t be a gateway drug either. The worst thing that can happen once you’ve smoked marijuana is to raze your fridge and sit on your couch for a few hours.
- It’s bad for you
It destroys your lungs, it makes you dumber, it gives you hallucinations, it destroys your cognitive capacity – how about no? Weed doesn’t do any of these. Quite from the contrary.
For instance, those who “practice” weed smoking have healthier lungs than those who smoke nicotine. They’re more optimistic, their intelligence is sharpened and all in all, they have a great time.
Medical marijuana is used in treating a huge variety of conditions, too, so how could anyone say it’s bad for you is beyond us.
As a refutation you can read How Marijuana Helped a 6-year Old.
- It makes people jump out of balconies
The same thing was said about LSD… It’s true that you can get a panic attack the first time you smoke weed, but that’s because you’re not used to it and you feel like something’s terribly wrong. As a refutation you can read How Medical Weed Helped Me with Depression.
Rest assured you won’t get so agitated as to jump out of your balcony. That’s more propaganda and it’s 100% untrue. Once your body gets used to the weed effects, you’ll develop a tolerance, therefore you’ll feel increasingly better.
This is without a doubt, the most outlandish story about cannabis out there.
Final Thoughts
There are stories about this plant that are so insane that you can’t help but laugh. However, they’re not a laughing matter because they’re responsible for the fact that many people would rather believe in misconceptions written on the Internet rather than the truth.
The ones who use weed, recreational or medical, know that these things are nothing but ramblings. There is no other plant with as many health benefits as cannabis, so perhaps we have to change a lot of people’s minds.
