Myths & Facts About Marijuana

There are so many myths about marijuana that most users are the last ones to know the truth about “pot”, “mary jane”, “dooby-do”, “”blunts”, “ganji” or whatever the slang term for marijuana is this year. Let’s look at some:

MYTH: Marijuana is harmless.

FACT: Marijuana is more potent and harmful than ever because the THC put in it is more potent and harsh.

MYTH: Marijuana users are “mellow” – they don’t harm anyone like other drug users might.

FACT: Getting high on marijuana impairs judgment which can lead to risky decisions on issues like sex, criminal activity, or riding with someone who is under the influence of drugs or alcohol or driving under the influence yourself. This can cause the death of innocent drivers and pedestrians.

MYTH: There are no long-term consequences to marijuana use.

FACT: Smoking marijuana can and have destroyed academic or job performances, and cause long term depression and anxiety.

MYTH: Marijuana is used for cancer patients so it can’t be harmful to anyone.

FACT: Smoked marijuana is not medicine. Even advocates of legalization of marijuana and medical proponents of its use for medicinal purposes say that youngsters should never use marijuana. It causes them physical, social, behavioral and academic harm.

MYTH: You can't get addicted to marijuana.

FACT: Wrong. Youths can get dependent on marijuana. Addiction is simply untreated dependency. Each year, more kids enter treatment with a primary diagnosis of marijuana dependence than for all other illicit drugs combined.

MYTH: So what if I buy marijuana? I’m not hurting anyone else.

FACT: Not true. Demand drives supply. Marijuana trafficking is a big, violent business whether the plants are grown on foreign soil or cultivated in basements, backyards, and farms in the United States. If drug criminals didn’t have buyers, they wouldn’t have any business. If you buy, you are part of the drug business. Get it?

MYTH: Okay, so drug dealers sometimes get killed. That doesn’t harm the “good guys.”

FACT: Again, not true. Much marijuana produced in America is grown on public land like national forests and parks, areas set aside to preserve wildlife habitats, provide playgrounds for children, and to serve as natural refuges for recreation. To protect their crops, marijuana growers use fishhooks hung at eye level, crude booby traps, bear traps, punji sticks and rat traps rigged with shotgun shells on these lands. Most marijuana grown on public land in the U.S. is grown in the national forests of California by armed, dangerous Mexican drug traffickers carrying high –powered assault weapons. Hunters, campers and others have been fired upon after stumbling by accident on these illegal marijuana “farms.”

In addition, there is a long list of innocent bystanders, including children and babies, who have been shot and killed during drug disputes. If you don’t buy, no one can sell. Still think no one is getting hurt but you? If you are not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.

MYTH: Young kids aren’t exposed to marijuana.

FACT: Not true. Between 1991 and 2001, the number of 8th graders who used marijuana doubled from one in 10 to one in five.

MYTH: There's not much parents can do to stop their kids from "experimenting" with marijuana.

FACT: Not true. Most parents are surprised to learn that they are the most powerful influence on their children when it comes to drugs. BY STAYING INVOLVED, KNOWING
WHAT YOUR KIDS ARE DOING, AND SETTING FIRM LIMITS WITH CLEAR RULES AND NO-WIGGLE-ROOM CONSEQUENCES, YOU CAN KEEP YOUR KIDS DRUG FREE.

MYTH: Parents who experimented with marijuana in their youth are hypocrites if they tell their kids not to try it.

FACT: No. Times and people change. Much more is known today about the serious health and social consequences of using marijuana. One, the THC potency in marijuana, hashish/hash oil is stronger since the 1970s and quickly getting more so.