How many times have you heard someone say, “You can only get cancer from smoking cigarettes. Name one person that’s died from smoking weed…I’ll wait”? This along with countless other beliefs are the reason for this back and forth about marijuana being healthier than cigarettes. As Black people continue to suffer from lung cancer at alarming rates, the need to dispel the myths about smoking marijuana are much needed.
One thing is true, medical marijuana has shown promise in a number of diseases. Take sickle cell disease (SCD) for example.
Many sickle cell disease patients use marijuana for its medicinal benefits, according to an anonymous survey by researchers from Yale New Haven Hospital and Yale University.
Acute pain is one of the main symptoms of SCD, a genetic blood disorder. Numerous episodes of acute pain can lead to chronic pain in these patients. According to the authors, SCD patients seek out and use marijuana to either avoid opioid use or because other medications are ineffective in relieving their pain.
Of the total study population, 42% reported using marijuana within the past two years. Most of these patients used it for medicinal purposes to help with pain, anxiety, appetite, mood, and sleep and touted its useful effects.
Some smokers have ditched their daily pack of menthols in favor of a pulls of the Mary Jane. With marijuana being slowly becoming decriminalized across the nation, and of course it being considered medicinal in some states, marijuana use is seeming like the thing that everyone is doing. But what can it do and what can’t it do? The truth behind these myths may offer some food for thought.
Myth: Smoking marijuana makes you focus more.
Fact: Studying high won’t get you high grades like the movie “How High” and countless other stoners say. Research has shown marijuana usage affects the short term memory, aids in memory loss, lowers productivity and makes you procrastinate.
Myth: Marijuana isn’t addictive.
Fact: According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, using marijuana can lead to the development of marijuana use disorder, a severe form of addiction. People who smoke weed can develop withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, irritability and insomnia. Some people also develop a sort of dependence on it to be social, kind of like how people can only have fun if they drink, except this time it’s weed that feeds the feeling.
Myth: Smoking weed is a way healthier than smoking cigarettes.
Fact: Marijuana has the greater ability to expose the lungs to more tar based on the way it is smoked. When people smoke marijuana they take deeper and longer inhales, thus exposing them to more tar per breath. It doesn’t matter what form the smoke comes in, it’s still damaging. Carcinogens are released into the air anytime wood, marijuana or tobacco is burned. Marijuana smoke has been shown to have many of the same carcinogens and toxins as cigarette smoke. Contrary to popular belief, that “choke” you get from a pull of marijuana doesn’t necessarily mean you found the sticky icky. Smoking marijuana is damaging your lungs in a major way. It can lead to wheezing, acute bronchitis, phlegm production and chronic coughing.The immune system is also compromised by smoking marijuana.
Myth: Marijuana isn’t a gateway drug.
Fact: Depending on which research you subscribe to, marijuana can potentially be a gateway drug for alcohol abuse, nicotine addiction and other forms of substance. However, according to the Marijuana Research Report most users don’t go on to harder drugs.
Myth: Getting caught with marijuana isn’t a big deal.
Fact: On Election day, seven states legalized the use of medical marijuana. However, in most of the U.S. marijuana is still an illegal substance. Possession of marijuana is considered a misdemeanor, and delivery (or intent to deliver) marijuana within 1,000 feet of a school is considered a class B felony. Penalties range in the thousands of dollars up to 10 years behind bars.
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