Depending on where you live, Marijuana is either legal or it not or it is on the way to being legalized.Regardless there is a lot of misinformation and confusion out there about it.This information can be misleading and sometime even out right wrong. Marijuana has been seen as both a miracle drug that has helped many people as well has been called the gateway demon drug. Either way we know it can get confusing?This is why we decided to focus on the most common pieces of misinformation that is out there right now that we have all heard of that are not true, but that everybody may still believe.Oh, don’t worry, we are not going to be preaching about the use of marijuana. We are just going to be giving you facts, and nothing more than facts.Here are 10 non truths that you may have be told or heard about marijuana. Let’s get started…..
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You may have heard that 420 is a police code. This is not true in fact it is far from the truth. The fact is that 420 is a popular code for smoking pot and has a history all its own.The time 4:20 p.m. has also become the most popular time in the day for pot smokers to light up. Not only has 420 the time become popular with pot smokers, so has April 20th,( this is the 4 month of the year and 20th day of the month) it has widely become the unofficial weed smoking day in many countries.Now, many people have theorized that 420 was pulled from some official police code that stood for possession or use of marijuana. The truth it was not.The term 420 actually came from a group of friends from San Rafael High School, Northern California in 1970’s who learned about a stash of pot plants that had been grown and abandoned.This group of California high school kids planned to meet at 4:20 everyday to look for these plants.But after weeks of searching, the plants were never found.But they started to use the term 420, as did their friends and their friends of their friends, etc.Eventually, the term reached the ears of the rock band, The Grateful Dead who made it popular with their fans and it took off from there.
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You probably heard that weed is a gateway drug.We are pretty sure you’ve heard this one before.Some people think that weed is a gateway drug and that users will build a tolerance to it after using it several times,which will lead them to seek out other drugs for a more intense high,which means that they will be looking for stronger and stronger drugs to get them high quicker.But, it’s just not true.In fact, in drug studies conducted in 2015,it was found that over 34% of American students of various ages had used marijuana but only 4% of them had ever tried cocaine and only 0.6% have ever used heroin.So, truth be told weed simply does not make you want to crave stronger drugs.By that same logic, you could just as easily say that alcohol is gateway drug. Pass me a beer!
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Have you heard that weed kills brain cells.Oh, sorry dude I’m late.I smoked weed a few days ago and I forgot where I lived? Some people believe that smoking cannabis or even breathing it in second-hand is a great way to kill off your brain cells..But, believe it or not, this is actually a myth that was created by a US government-funded study by Dr. Robert G. Heath.The study, which was published back in 1974,involves forcing a group of Rhesus monkeys to smoke heavy doses of cannabis daily for almost a year while having their brains hooked up to electrodes.The data from electrodes that were wired to the monkey’s brains showed that they had suffered severe brain damage.But, in the early 1990s, two major studies one by Dr William Slikker and the other by Gordon Pry were both conducted to replicate these results but neither of these studies found any evidence or physical change in the monkeys brain activity.
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Holding in the smoke from Marijuana gets you higher.Anyone who has ever smoked pot will have heard there friends say that holding in smoke as long as possible after inhaling it will allow your lungs to fully absorb the THC and get you higher.But, its not true.A study from the University of Chicago June of 1989 and February 1997 found that any THC inhaled into the lungs is absorbed into the bloodstream almost instantaneously.The study did conclude that you do get an increased amount of carbon monoxide.So, in other words, the time that it takes you to inhale deeply and then exhale is more than enough to get the chemical into your body to get you high.Holding your breath only actually deprives your brain of oxygen, making you feel light-headed and with this lack of oxygen is why many confuse the effects of getting higher.Also, holding in breath for too long can damage your brain cells.So, don’t hold in the pot in your lungs for too long or you will just pass out.
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Smoking weed causes cancer.When it comes to health risks, smoking pot has a few.But, so does smoking cigarettes like smoking marijuana contribute to the development of lung cancer.Many people equate them to being the same thing but that is far from the truth.According to a 2006 study by the National Institute of Health there is no relation between cancer and marijuana whatsoever. That’s right, so at least in one way,it is actually healthier than smoking cigarettes.When conducting the study, Dr. Donald Tashkin,from the University of California,thought that smoking marijuana would lead to an increased risk of lung cancer which is a logical leap as its a chemical-filled smoke you inhale into your lungs.But, instead researchers actually saw that any cells that were damaged from the marijuana smoke were some how kept from turning infectious or malignant.Now, yes, smoking pot is not the best thing for your lungs due to the carcinogens in the smoke,but, it won’t lead to cancer the way cigarettes will.
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Have you heard that weed is addictive?Okay, this one comes down to the difference between the terms addiction and physical dependence.Cannabis itself is not an addictive substance.As there are no highly addictive compounds added to it,unlike nicotine in cigarettes.However, heavy users do have a 9% chance to develop a physical dependency on the drug. Addiction is classified as having strong and uncontrollable craving to use a substance even if the user is harming themselves or others.So,without the intense mental cravings,there is no addiction.If there are any symptoms it is likely from a dependency for the drug.This is characterized by your body gaining a tolerance for a substance and creating a chemical imbalance when it does not receive it,causing withdrawal symptoms.Some weed smokers may display an addict-like tendency but is is certainly not comparable to the addictions of cocaine,heroin or even cigarettes.
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Weed makes you more creative. I can not wait to paint the greatest murals that the world has ever seen or write that novel.Just let me take a hit from this bowl first.There are so many authors, painters, and musicians that swear that marijuana is their muse,claiming that being high on it enhances their creativity and gives them direction while creating their masterpiece.However, a study by Leiden University on October 7th, 2014,found that the consumption of marijuana,even pot with a high THC content,does not improve creativity at all.In fact, the study actually found that it had the complete opposite effect,making it harder for creative people to come up with ideas.Additionally, it was revealed that even though they were not actually more creative,the effect the marijuana had on them made them think that they were.A lot of high people believing that they had amazing ideas while they were high is likely where this rumor got started.So, if you had any plans to try this or already have,just know that a sober brain is much better at coming up with ideas.It is just that your stoned brain will be a lot more impressed with any ideas good or bad that you do come up with. next level.
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Weed makes you less ambitious.When you think of a stoner,you probably picture some dude laying on a couch half asleep and wearing a hoodie with a Marijuana leaf on it,maybe, motionless, eating pizza and nachos,watching TV. It kind of sounds like a good time to me.Well, you would not be alone.In many people’s minds,smoking weed has always seemed to be linked to utter laziness.But, while it may make you feel relaxed,it does not necessarily make you lazy or unmotivated.Many toker’s have gone on to achieve amazing things,like Barack Obama for example,you know he was the president of the USA. No big deal right.Yes, he used to smoke in his younger days and even Microsoft founder Bill Gates smoked it. The rap legend, Snoop Dogg,can be seen smoking blunts.But that’s not all.Other notable toker’s include Hugh Hefner, Rhianna, Joe Rogan, and Stephen King and many more..Just because stoners enjoy relaxing under the clouds of pot smoke,does not mean that they lack ambition or a drive to be successful.
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Weed is all the same.There is a widely believed theory that no matter what type of marijuana you purchase it will simply get you high in the same way and that all those fancy strains and bizarre names are just for marketing purposes.However, this could not be further from the truth.Cannabis strains fall into three basic categories, indica, sativa, and hybrid strains. Indica weed gives you a strong relaxed body high that makes you calm and sleepy.Sativa gives you a more mind high with uplifting and energetic effects.Then there is the hybrid strains which include mixtures of both indica and sativa strains and are a little more custom-tailored to the effects that the user wants out of them.Each strain also has different medicinal properties with indicas helping pain relief and insomnia,while sativas help with depression, ADD, and fatigue.
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You can overdose on marijuana.Okay, this one is huge.Some people think that if you smoke too much weed you can overdose and wind up in the hospital or worse, dead.See, the thing is there is absolutely no record of anyone ever having died from smoking too much weed.According to numerous doctors,doing so would be damn near impossible. Unlike opioid drugs, marijuana does not affect the parts of your brain that control breathing,so it’s literally impossible to overdose.But, just for argument’s sake,even if you tried to overdose on pot,it has a therapeutic index of 40 thousand to one.So what does that mean?That literally means that you would have to smoke 40 thousand joints in order to kill yourself Let’s face it, you be asleep holding a bag of Doritos by five.Even if you tried to consume the weed in brownies or cookies,you would be more sick from the amount of chocolate or breads that you consumed long before the weed physically hurt you.
So, those were 10 non truths about marijuana that you probably have be told or heard about marijuana. What do you think about marijuana now? Do you think it is dangerous?Or do you think it is not that big of deal? Either way you should do you own research about the effects, medical and personal uses of marijuana to understand it.