3 Marijuana Myths, Debunked

This article was originally published on The Fresh Toast and appears here with permission.

You have heard them and they are #fakenews. Today, some of the GOP actually confirmed one was just a myth!

How they get started is one thing, but why they continue is another. Fake News has become a cry in the last few years, but some myths just continue to live in, even before the digital world.  No swimming for an hour, cracking your knocks, 24 for a missing person, etc…all out there…all long dismissed. Now, here are 3 marijuana myths that have been debunked.

Marijuana Is The Gateway To Addiction

According to science, the majority of people who use marijuana do not go on to use other, “harder” substances. Alcohol and nicotine prime the brain for a heightened response to other drugs and are, like marijuana, also typically used before a person progresses to other, more harmful substances.

Studies conducted by the federal government find that marijuana is actually no more addictive than caffeine. In fact, cannabis has a rate of addiction significantly less than alcohol and tobacco.

As for whether cannabis users will eventually go on to shoot heroin in the bathroom of a truck stop somewhere – that’s not likely either. Other studies have shown that alcohol and prescription painkillers are the real gateway drugs. Former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch says so. “When you look at someone that, for example, has a heroin problem, it very often started with a prescription drug problem. Something totally legal. Something in every medicine cabinet. Something you can have prescribed to you in good faith by a doctor,” she said back in 2016.

Marijuana Legalization Won’t Stop Drug Cartels

With 23 recreational and 40 medical states plus all of Canada, marijuana is a profit center for drug cartels. Cannabis trafficking is on the decline, according to a report from the Washington Post. To compensate, drug gangs are now slinging fentanyl, heroin and meth.

In fact, the GOP is clear it does stop drug cartels, This week four anti-marijuana legalization Republican senators admitted the policy change disrupts illegal sales by cartels. Writing to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf on Monday, Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Ted Budd (R-NC) and Bill Hagerty (R-TN) made the case for the legalization and regulation of controlled substances.

They point out in a letter urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reconsider plans to ban menthol cigarettes and set nicotine content limits, arguing that the prohibition and strict regulations could benefit illicit trafficking operations. The main point is to express concern FDA’s proposed menthol cigarette ban, which the senators said could “empower” transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) to “exploit black market opportunities that such policies could create.”

Interestingly, some reports show that American weed is now being shipped to Mexico. It seems the tides have turned, but there is still some illegal marijuana activity happening in the United States. However, these criminal acts stem only from a fluctuation in laws from state to state. The moment the federal government ends marijuana prohibition, the criminal organizations responsible will be stopped. After all, no one is out there these days turning a profit on bootleg beer.

Stoned Driving Is No Different Than Driving Drunk

There is no doubt that drinking and driving is detrimental to public safety. Alcohol is responsible for killing around over 14,000 people annually in Canada and the US. Researchers from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, who are working to create a self-assessment tool for people on the fence about whether they’re too high to drive, have been trying to find out how weed might hinder an individual’s performance. But the group is having some difficulty pinpointing the effect of the herb on “vigilance and judgment.” It seems the test subjects are “generally aware” of just how wrecked on reefer they are.

There is also evidence that longtime cannabis users are typically less impaired behind the wheel than those with a lower tolerance. It is the differences between alcohol and marijuana impairment that has made it so difficult for science to develop an effective testing device to gauge stoned driving. To this day, no device functions well.

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