Deconstructing 6 major marijuana myths

(NaturalNews) Over the recent past few decades, the social stigma from the over-the-top absurdities of 1938's Reefer Madness have mostly evaporated. Millions have asserted they have at least tried marijuana without going insane and looking for stronger drugs to get "higher." Yet, today cannabis, a.k.a. marijuana, remains a DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) Schedule I drug, dangerous, addictive and without any medical merit.

Let's examine and refute some of the propaganda that puts users in prison and holds this plant as a Schedule I drug.

(1) No medical merit

In 1974, the NIH (National Institutes of Health) funded the Virginia Medical College to do studies that would determine the damaging effects of marijuana, such as immune system damage. Instead, they found that marijuana reduced brain tumor growth in lab rats. The DEA stepped in and canceled the study and forced destruction of the study documents.

Since then, there have been countless studies and testimonies proving cannabis efficacy at curing many diseases and maladies, including several cancers, effectively and without side effects.

Even patients who were told by mainstream medical doctors to get matters in order because death was around the corner managed to survive in better health than before after a few months of ingesting cannabis with THC, the compound with psychotropic effects (http://www.naturalnews.com).

(2) Marijuana dangers, pharmaceutical hypocrisy

In 1976, president Gerald Ford granted Big Pharma exclusive rights for researching cannabis while banning public research. Of course, Big Pharma's interest is to study enough of anything natural to figure out how to synthesize it and be able to patent it as a pharmaceutical for big bucks. Natural substances can't be patented or monopolized.

Big Pharma succeeded with its synthesis of cannabinoid THC, and the FDA approved Marinol in 1985 to curb vomiting and lack of appetite for chemotherapy patients. In 1992, Marinol was FDA-approved for AIDS patients to prevent anorexic wasting away.

So synthetic THC without many of the 65 other cannabinoids that provide healing was ruled a Schedule III drug with lower potential for abuse than drugs in the first two categories, accepted medical use and mild to moderate possible addiction.

Then, in 2003, another synthetic cannabis patent was approved to create drugs purportedly effective for neurological disorders, including epilepsy and Parkinson's. This patent claimed synthetic CBD content (another cannabinoid) while eliminating THC.

(3) Marijuana destroys brain cells

As part of the "War on Drugs" under Ronald Reagan, a study was done to prove that smoking pot destroyed brain cells. Monkeys were strapped into face masks connected to smoke from marijuana for hours at a time. The lack of oxygen damaged their brain cells, because the smoke was all they could breathe for long periods.

Since then, there have been studies disproving this notion, here's one (http://www.naturalnews.com).

(4) Marijuana is a gateway drug

Even alcoholic beverage drinkers believe that the first whiff of marijuana leads to your first needle as a heroine addict. This connection is mostly just not there. There have been many life-long potheads, some famous, who don't even consider those synthetic street drugs.

(5) Marijuana is addictive

Then how come there are so many who have tried or used it for a few years then stopped without interventions or painful withdrawals?

(6) Marijuana makes one lazy and unproductive

That's not the way this long-term heavy user of medical marijuana, successful stock broker/financial planner, family man and weekend volunteer sailing instructor for the underprivileged and handicapped experiences it (http://www.naturalnews.com).

The social stigma and legal restrictions are fading state by state and even Washington, DC, to allow cannabis medicinal and/or recreational use.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.alternet.org

http://www.thedailysheeple.com

http://patients4medicalmarijuana.wordpress.com

http://www.truthonpot.com

http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org

http://science.naturalnews.com

About the author:
Paul Fassa is dedicated to warning others about the current corruption of food and medicine and guiding them towards direction for better health with no restrictions on health freedom.

You can check out his many non-compromising cutting edge, non-fluff articles here https://www.naturalnews.com/Author712.html

And you can visit his blog at http://healthmaven.blogspot.com