Last week the Heritage Foundation released a concise summary of seven common myths about marijuana and why each one is incorrect.
The myths Heritage Foundation addresses are:
- Myth #1: Marijuana is harmless and non-addictive.
- Myth #2: Smoked or eaten marijuana is medicine.
- Myth #3: Countless people are behind bars simply for smoking marijuana.
- Myth #4: The legality of alcohol and tobacco strengthen the case for legal marijuana.
- Myth #5: Legal marijuana will solve the government’s budgetary problems.
- Myth #6: Portugal and Holland provide successful models of legalization.
- Myth #7: Prevention, intervention, and treatment are doomed to fail—So why try?
These are common myths–many of which we have discussed on our blog in the past. One of our most popular blog posts of all time tackles questions concerning the number of people who have died from marijuana, and we recently wrote about a study released a few weeks ago demonstrating that even casual marijuana-use can cause brain damage.
Heritage Foundation writes:
“[M]arijuana is not as dangerous as cocaine or heroin, but calling it harmless or non-addictive denies very clear science embraced by every major medical association that has studied the issue. . . .
“Mental health researchers are also noting the significant marijuana connection with schizophrenia, and educators are seeing how persistent marijuana use can blunt academic motivation and significantly reduce IQ by up to eight points, according to a very large recent study in New Zealand.”
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: Marijuana may be a lot of things, but “harmless” simply is not one of them.
Click here to read Heritage Foundation’s full list of marijuana myths.
