Debunking the common misconceptions behind cannabis

4 min readDec 8, 2020

Throughout history, cannabis has been perceived by many cultures and countries as something that only causes harm and destroys societies and people. This was seen from Nixon’s “War on Drugs” to many other political movements that happened later. Today, however, cannabis is used by millions as a form of medication and can be seen as something that helps to improve the quality of life of thousands of people. This post will aim to debunk the longstanding and unfortunate stigma and myths around cannabis due to various cultural and political reasons.

The first myth: Cannabis is highly addictive.

Cannabis is only highly addictive if consumed in extremely high quantities. One can develop problem use, as outlined by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, but that can apply to most substances beyond cannabis. This is often linked to substance or cannabis abuse but is not typically regarded as an addiction. Research conducted in 2011–2013 by the National Survey on Drug Use and Health indicated that people who are addicted to marijuana are only 3 times more likely to be addicted to heroin whereas people who are addicted to cocaine are 15 times more likely and people who are addicted to widely prescribed opioid painkillers are 40 times more likely to be addicted to heroin. This shows how cannabis is one of the least addictive substances within its class compared to others.

The second myth: A person can die from a cannabis overdose.

In actual fact, it is nearly impossible to overdose on cannabis unless one consumes it in extremely large quantities. To this date, there has not been a single death as a result of cannabis use. People may have bad reactions to the drug but it would take humongous quantities of it to actually overdose.

If we contrast cannabis with Fentanyl, widely prescribed opioid pain medication, this drug can kill a person by taking simply 5 times of its prescribed dose whereas, with cannabis, it is nearly impossible to die if the person consumes thousands of times more than what one would normally take.

The third myth: Cannabis is a gateway drug.

Scientific research has actually shown the exact opposite as there are typically many more users who try cannabis than any other drug and do not transition from it.

This notion is supported in a research report conducted more recently (from July 2020) conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which states that “the majority of people who use marijuana do not go on to use other, “harder” substances.”

On the contrary to this myth, cannabis can also be extremely useful in treating opioid addiction, helping people to stop their drug addiction. This was demonstrated by the study conducted at the University of New Mexico and Industrial Rehabilitation Clinics which showed that opioid addicts ceased opioid prescriptions in 40% cases through the use of cannabis.

The fourth myth: Cannabis has no medicinal value.

Quite contrary to the myth that cannabis has no medicinal value, cannabis has proven to have the ability to calm people down and reduce anxiety and stress that one can experience. Furthermore, CB1 and CB2 receptors, as well as endocannabinoid systems, were discovered in the human body and the interaction of the compounds within cannabis plants with this system could help to address some pathologies. In actual fact, cannabis is used to treat a lot of illnesses around the world, which range from dementia, eating disorders, depression and pain.

The fifth myth: Cannabis can cause brain damage.

Many studies have proven that frequent cannabis use over the extended period does not change brain structure and morphology. One such study concluded that “impairments were less than what is typically found from using alcohol or other drugs.” Furthermore, if we compare the effect of cannabis versus alcohol on the brain, which is what Professor Hutchinson of the University of Colorado Boulder did in 2018, we find that “heavier alcohol use led to greater declines in gray matter and declines in the quality of connections in white matter.” Whilst Professor Hutchinson noted that “we don’t see any statistically significant effects of cannabis on gray matter or white matter”.

Overall, we can see that there are many myths around cannabis which fuel the wrong perception of it to this day. Cannabis is an alternative medicine and plant-based therapy which, if used responsibly, has the power to improve thousands of more lives around the world.

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Debunking the common misconceptions behind cannabis

Written by Leafy Tunnel