Cannabis is the most used illegal drug worldwide. It has health risks and a great dependence potential.
However, at the same time, scientific research on this drug has found many potential to improve people’s lives But what is myth and exaggeration in all this?
In this article I am going to talk to you about some of The most common myths about medical marijuana use (which might not be as medicinal as some people think).
Minimizing the perception of risk of consumption
Misinformation, Facebook group headlines and WhatsApp threads, dominate today’s digital world. When we like something, we tend to select and interpret the information around us to adapt it to what we already think (or that we would like to continue thinking about). There are many types of cognitive biases, but this one is often called “confirmation bias.”
When someone begins to develop dependence on smoking cannabis, they will tend to give more importance and credibility to news and information sources that talk about how “good” marijuana is for everything Although they are often exaggerations, generalizations, even complete hoaxes.
When a habitual smoker thinks that marijuana is “natural and healthy,” they will tend to consume more often and in larger quantities, due to the low perception of risk they have.
It is all the result of the exaggeration of supposed benefits But if cannabis were completely harmless, there would be no professionals helping people overcome marijuana addiction.
Smoking cannabis joints is recreational use, rarely medicinal
If you smoke a joint every afternoon or evening, it is rarely medicinal consumption.
That’s recreational consumption. Consumption to “have a good time”. Consumption to feel the “high” so characteristic of cannabis which makes you forget your problems for a while, die of laughter or have a breakdown of anguish and paranoia.
Medicinal consumption is when a doctor prescribes a medicine or a compound made from some of the active ingredients of cannabis.
And it is true that there is a lot of promising research on how some of the many substances present in cannabis can help many people combat chronic pain and many other diseases. But A serious treatment is one that is supervised by a trained professional, by a doctor with specific therapeutic objectives, doses and frequency of use personalized for that specific person according to their condition.
Smoking joints with your colleagues is not medicinal consumption, in the same way that frozen pizza from the supermarket cannot be compared to a pizza from your neighborhood Italian restaurant.
Smoking joints “for health” is like trying to kill flies with cannon fire
No one can deny that excessive cannabis consumption entails risks Cannabis is a plant, and it contains thousands of different substances, it is complex.
Among all those thousands of compounds, some can provide some effects, some completely different. And everything will also depend on the person’s genetics and metabolism, as well as their psychological characteristics.
It reminds me of the hoaxes about “a glass of wine a day being good for the heart.” That is the perfect example of hoax and generalization spread by the alcohol industry. It is paradoxical, because while it is true that some of the substances present in wine can be good for the heart in certain doses, the truth is that they are completely surpassed by the damage that alcohol does to the heart.
That is to say, The smart thing is to isolate and synthesize that specific compound in the form of a medicine and that people can drink it separately, without the rest of the “poison” that is present in the wine.
The same goes for cannabis. There are specific compounds that, separately, have been shown to help many people with different ailments.
But by smoking a joint, you take away the rest of the harmful substances that create dependency, paranoia, anxiety and irritability problems, even schizophrenic symptoms. Anything but medicinal, especially if you abuse it for a long time and with great frequency
Here is a list of the problems that many people who smoke marijuana experience (and that few want to talk about):
Genetics has a great weight in this matter, as well as the person’s environment and lifestyle. Not all people who use cannabis are going to experience problems, and even less so if they maintain sporadic and not too frequent consumption.
But what cannot be denied is that, if a person maintains extreme consumption for a long time, they will be much more likely to end up developing problems in the future. Some people take longer, others take less (genetics). But the more you play, the more likely you are to win the “prize” that no one wants.
How to overcome cannabis dependence and quit joints
Do you want to quit cannabis? I am a psychologist specialized in addictions, and I work every day with people who want to stop being slaves to a plant. You will work with me:
Contact me and I will make an appointment for you as soon as possible.
