Do you know about ‘FIVE MITHS’ of ‘MARIJUANA’?

A year and a half later, Dr. Casarett confident that marijuana has medical value, even

though we have a lot left to learn about it. Below, Dr. Casarett busts a few of the biggest

marijuana misconceptions out there.

1.MYTH: Medical marijuana always gets you high.

There are two main ingredients in marijuana: One is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC);

the other is cannabidiol (CBD). There are dozens of others, but those are the ones

that we know the most about. They’re present in the largest amounts, and

they’ve been studied the most. Of the two, it’s THC that has the most brain

effects. It’s THC that gets you high. If you feel euphoric, or if you're unfortunate

enough to have bad side effects (like hallucinations), those are due to THC. So,

marijuana probably will get you high as long as it’s got some THC in it.

2. MYTH: All strains are created equally.

"There are definitely wide differences in strains, most notably with respect to

their concentrations of THC and CBD. There are so many differences, and they

can be so hard to keep track of, that actually, many people advocate not paying

attention so much to what the strain is, but instead asking the dispensary to

make sure that whatever they sell is tested for THC and CBD concentrations

3. MYTH: Smoking marijuana causes severe lung damage.

"One risk that everybody I’ve spoken with thinks exists is the risk of lung damage.

They say, 'Of course, if you smoke half a joint a day for years, you’re going to end

up with lung damage and emphysema, like you do with smoking [cigarettes].'

But, it turns out that’s not true. There have been a couple of very large,

controlled studies that have failed to find any long-term pulmonary effects [in]

people who are smoking [marijuana]. There might be a few changes in lung

function, but there really isn’t any of the change that you see with chronic

smoking.

4. MYTH: You can't get addicted to weed.

"On the flip side, a risk that many people don’t think about — that I certainly

didn’t think about — that turns out to be very real is the risk of dependence and

addiction. I honestly didn’t think that marijuana addiction was a real

phenomenon, at least not in the same way that addiction to cocaine or heroin or

even nicotine is, but it turns out it is.

5. MYTH: Smoking pot causes mental illness.

"Part of the reefer madness message is that marijuana use causes mental illness

in general and schizophrenia in particular. That’s not so much a myth, but the

truth is more complicated than I thought. I think the jury is still out on this, but

what I gleaned from a fairly contradictory set of evidence and studies is that it

doesn’t seem that smoking marijuana causes schizophrenia.

“MANY PEOPLE ARE ADDI CTED TO

MARIJUANA USING CLIN ICAL

PSYCHIATRIC CRITERIA , BUT STILL

MANAGE TO FUNCTION. ” DR. DAVID CASARETT