Saturday, September 22, 2018

Dispelling the Myths That the Myth Makers Make

I wish Adam Savage was here to help me bust a few myths and blow up a few things at the same time. I was recently at my local pharmacy and read a information page about Cannabis that was provided to the pharmacy from the OMA (the Ontario Medical Association) and it is out right disturbing to say the least. The title of this document is: Clearing the Air about Recreational Marijuana (Cannabis) Use. The reason why this document is disturbing is because it directly contradicts actual scientific and anecdotal evidence that has been know about Cannabis for the last 20 years. Keep in mind there is some truth to the document, but not very much. There is no Cannabis information that I could find on their website. Nothing at all to back up their claims. I emailed the OMA and asked for some scientific data to educate myself. I have not received a reply yet. My personal opinion is that this information was written by a psychiatrist because of the way it was written and the words used to describe the information. Almost every part of this document has false or very misleading information. At the end of the article is a photo of the document I am writing about. So... let's bust some myths that they are trying to spin on us.

**Update Oct 11th 2018, The OMA did email me nice diagrams which are useless. The information I requested is the science that proves their claims IE: scientific research. I am still waiting...**

We will start with the title: Clearing the Air about Recreational Marijuana (Cannabis) Use. First off any respectable doctor or scientist would use the correct scientific word when describing pot. It's called Cannabis not Marijuana. Marijuana is slang for Cannabis. The title should be Clearing the Air about Recreational Cannabis (Marijuana) Use.

Now lets look at every paragraph and the information that this document is trying to tell us.

Myth #1 Marijuana isn't bad for you
FACT: Recreational Marijuana is associated with a number of negative health risks and is an inherently harmful substance. The health risks caused by recreational Marijuana can best be avoided by abstaining from use.

Paragraph #1 This statement is vague to say the least. What are the health risks? If there were health risks why not mention them here? How come no supporting website information to back this up? This first paragraph is a waste of your time, paper and space.

Myth #2 Marijuana isn't addictive
FACT: Canadian youth are among top users of Marijuana in the Western world. Using Marijuana when you are a teenager and your brain is still developing can lead to physical emotional impacts as well as substance dependence.

Paragraph #2 First off I am surprised they didn't say that Cannabis is addictive. This paragraph is suggesting that Cannabis is addictive because our youth are the top users of Cannabis so it must be highly addictive. Well first off there is a very good reason why our Canadian youth are among the top users of Cannabis. It is because Cannabis is the safest non-toxic, non-addictive recreational drug there is. Canada has the highest volume of Cannabis smokers per population than anywhere else in the world. So yes we will have a large portion of our younger population that uses Cannabis. Think about it like this, there is a large portion of our Canadian population that uses Tylenol for headaches. Why? Because Tylenol works good to relive pain. Cannabis is habitual, but so is eating cheeseburgers or picking your nose. A statistical fact is that the majority of regular Cannabis users stay away from alcohol and hard core drugs. Cannabis is so non-addictive that it is used to wean people off of hard core drugs. Young people aren't stupid, lets stop treating them like they are...please!!!

Yes it is true that Cannabis shouldn't be used by adolescents as it can impact their short-term memory later on in their adult years. There is science that backs this up. Studies with mice and the impact that Cannabis has on impaired learning is well know. This paragraph also plays on our emotions, making us worried that our youth will be addicted (dependent) on the so called gate way drug.

Myth #3 It's just fun, and there are no real negative effects of using Marijuana.
FACT: Users of Marijuana can develop Cannabis (Marijuana) use disorder. Symptoms of this disorder include tolerance and withdrawal, which are also seen in other addictive substances such as alcohol and tobacco. Marijuana withdrawal includes: irritability, anger or aggression, anxiety, depressed mood, restlessness, difficulty sleeping, decreased appetite and weight loss.

Paragraph #3 "Cannabis (Marijuana) use disorder" Is this a new disorder in the DSM 5, or is there a DSM 6 already? If these are the only side effect of Cannabis, take a look at the side effects of chemical drugs. The side effects of chemical drugs sometimes include death. The side effects of psychotropic drugs is a whole other subject here. Be mindful of the side effects when taking these drugs. If you smoke Cannabis for few years and stop all of a sudden, of course you are going to get some changes in your mood, however they are mild in comparison to other drugs, pharmaceuticals as well. This paragraph is suggesting that Cannabis is addictive "Symptoms of this disorder include tolerance and withdrawal, which are also seen in other addictive substances such as alcohol and tobacco." Psychiatrists say a drug is addictive when you crave more and more of a drug. Dependency is the need to take a drug on a daily basis. If you ask any psychiatrist about mental health medications like anti-depressants they will always say they are not addictive. Instead they say that you have a dependency on the drug which means the exact same thing.  I like being migraine headache free, so I guess I must be dependent on Cannabis. Now lets think about this in a way everyone can relate to. People that are hard core alcohol, cocaine or opiate users experience severe withdrawals if they don't have their drug of choice on a daily basis. So are they addicted to the drug or dependent on it? Cannabis users never experience severe withdrawls. The Cannabinoids from Cannabis are stored in fat cells in your body. The Cannabinoids slowly leech out of your body from the last time you smoked it. This is why it takes a month for all of the Cannabinoids to be out of your body and why withdrawls from Cannabis are so mild. Some people have more of an addictive personality than others. I think this is the reason why people view Cannabis as an addictive substance. Myself I don't smoke Cannabis every day and sometimes I take a break from using it for weeks at a time. How come I don't experience this so called Cannabis (Marijuana) use disorder? To be fare maybe I do and I don't realize it, however it has never affected me in the way it is described in Myth #3

Myth #4 Marijuana helps anxiety issues.
FACT: Marijuana use can have harmful effects on the mental health of some at risk individuals, and generally harmful effects on most users...

Paragraph #4 Cannabis is not for everyone, however it is scientifically proven to be safe and effective to most individuals who use it as an anti-depressant. If Cannabis has general negative effects on most users why are we legalizing it for? The OMA should have said, if you have mental health issues don't smoke Cannabis. I would like to know what these harmful effects on most users are. Most users of Cannabis experience a pleasant euphoria smoking it. Is this the harmful effects on most users they talking about? I think most users tolerate Cannabis well and some users do not.

Myth #5 It's okay to use Marijuana when you are young, it impacts people of all ages the same way.
FACT: There is strong evidence that shows Marijuana impacts brain development. We know that the brain continues to develop through early adulthood, until the age of 25.

Paragraph #5: It is true that or brain develops up to the age of 25. For some odd reason we seem to think that young people can handle liquor at the age of 19. If 25 is the age we are an adult and our brain stops developing then someone should change the age our youth can legally buy liquor, since it is more harmful than Cannabis. All this hype about Cannabis affecting the developing brain, is just that, hype. It doesn't mean that if you smoke Cannabis before the age of 25 you will have impaired memory or cognitive abilities. It is simply something to consider when teaching our youth about Cannabis use.

Myth #6: Smoking Marijuana isn't as bad as smoking tobacco.
FACT: No matter what, smoking harms your respiratory tract. Tar from a Marijuana cigarette harms the lungs, and smoking it increases your chance of respiratory diseases, including lung cancer.

Paragraph #6: This myth is untrue on multiple levels. First off they are trying to scare you by relating tobacco tar with the tar in Cannabis. It's absolutely true that Cannabis has about 5 times the tar that tobacco has. What is tar? Tar is oil that is heated to remove the water molecules making the oil thicker which is tar. The tar in Cannabis is not the same thing as tar in tobacco. Tobacco tar causes cancer, Cannabis tar cures cancer. The only bad properties of Cannabis is the plant material. The oil /tar in Cannabis is the good stuff. Cannabis only effects the upper respiratory tract and the worst that will ever happen, if ever, you might develop a mild case of bronchitis. Vaping Cannabis is the safest way of consuming it because you are eliminating the plant material. Here's a fun fact: People who are chronic Cannabis smokers that smoke the traditional way (pipe bong or joint), have a one fold less chance of developing lung cancer than people that don't smoke tobacco or Cannabis. It is absolutely true that Cannabis has the ability to cause lung cancer, however so is sitting in front of a camp fire. Any combustible material that results in a carbon molecule has the ability to cause cancer. The fact that Cannabis is an anti-cancer drug trumps any chance of getting lung cancer to start with. And if it is true that Cannabis causes lung cancer why would we prescribe it to sick people and especially people that have cancer...what are we F****** stupid?  Johns Hopkins University says that Cannabis does not increase your risk of developing lung and other cancers. So who is telling the truth? Cannabis has never directly caused the death of anyone. So.. if Cannabis can cause lung cancer, don't you think that at least one person (world wide and though out history) would have died from Cannabis related cancer? A few people have died from synthetic THC that the pharmaceutical companies have produced. I think I will stick to the real thing!!!!

I want to quantify my point here. Your body is one huge cell reproducing machine. We shed cells internally and skin cells externally, trillions of cells every day if I remember correctly. Cannabis kick starts apoptosis. Apoptosis is the programmed death and renewal of cells. Apoptosis works another way, by killing off damaged cells. Cancer essentially hides from apoptosis. Cannabis does not discriminate. Past the expiry date in the garbage it goes. Another reason why Cannabis is an anti-cancer medicine is because Cannabis is a very powerful antioxidant. Antioxidants help stop the formation of free radicals that cause cancer Dr. Robert Melamead Another reason why Cannabis is an anti-cancer medicine is because it is a strong anti-inflammatory drug (CBD). Anti-inflammatory drugs are known to reduce our chances of developing cancer.

If I have a cut on my arm and it is infected and I apply Cannabis oil. The natural effect of the oil will reduce swelling and kill the infection. Essentially skipping two steps to the healing process. Now think of the inside of your lungs as part of the outside of your body. Your lungs are subjected to air pressure, dirt, bacteria etc. your heart is on the inside of your body. Get what I mean so far?  When you smoke Cannabis it does the same thing in your lungs as applying Cannabis oil to the infected cut on your arm.

I would like to know what the OMA thinks about people that consume Cannabis (bud or oil) orally, do they get stomach cancer? Of course no one does or we wouldn't have a medical marijuana program at all. Here's a fun fact. There is a red dye that was taken out of rat poison because it was known to cause cancer. They took it out of the rat poison just in case another animal eats the rat that ingested the red dye. The idea here is that the animal that ate the rat doesn't develop cancer from the red dye. Make sense? If Cannabis caused lung cancer there would be warning labels on everything from Cannabis you buy at a medical producer to the Hemp oil you buy at the health food store, just like the ads on cigarette packs. Use simple logic to guide you beliefs.

Myth #7: Marijuana doesn't cause any long term harm to the body.
FACT: Smoking Marijuana is know to have negative effects on cognition. Effects include difficulties with attention, problem solving and impaired judgment, decision-making and ability to learn.

Paragraph #7: This is utter nonsense. Cannabis does not affect your brain or any of your organs in a negative way. Science has proven this time and time again. Cannabis is actually know to protect the brain, and helps all of your organs to function properly. Cannabis is know to restore cognitive abilities, the exact opposite of what they are saying in Myth #7. Cannabis filters out what isn't important, and helps you focus on what is important. Cannabis affects the way you focus. This so called short-term memory effect isn't permanent as this paragraph suggests. The short-term memory effects of alcohol are permanent. Here is something everyone can relate to. I went drinking one time (many years ago in Ottawa) I woke up in my car in the morning with no pants or underwear on. My wallet and my keys were on the passenger side seat. The only thing I could remember is that I went to the bar across the road from the apartment building I lived in. I could not find my pants anywhere, in or around my car. "Honey where are my pants?" Taking the elevator to my apartment was not an option. Needless to say it was awkward walking up 16 flights of stairs to get to my apartment with no pants. To this day I still cannot remember what happened that night. Not once did I smoke Cannabis where I did not remember what happened the previous evening.

If Cannabis has negative effects on cognition, attention, problem solving, judgment, decision-making and ability to learn, why do the most successful people in history smoke Cannabis? They smoke Cannabis because she is a teacher, and a performance enhancing drug. When I was a teen why did I ace every exam in high school when I was baked out of my mind? Food for thought..

Myth #8: Using Marijuana and then driving isn't as bad as using alcohol and driving.
FACT: While the effects differ from alcohol, it similarly impairs reaction times and the ability to concentrate on the road. When a person consumes Marijuana, his/her heart rate increases, short-term  memory is impaired and attention, motor skills, reaction time, and the organization of complex information are all reduced. All of these impacts are crucial for driving as motor vehicle.

Paragraph #8: I have no idea why this is even an issue. Sadly I did talk to a psychiatrist a little over a year ago about Cannabis and he told me "The only thing that is stopping the psychiatry community from accepting Cannabis as a viable medicine is the fact that we don't know if you can drive a motor vehicle properly while high." If you are impaired on pharmaceutical medication you shouldn't be driving either. This is why we have impaired driving laws. You can relate Cannabis to alcohol, even though the effects are different and not similar as this paragraph suggests. The difference between alcohol and Cannabis is, the Cannabis user is more focused on the task at hand. Cannabis is a stimulant not a depressant like alcohol. A well known effect of Cannabis is it makes you more careful. Cannabis makes you slightly dizzy, but in a good way. Your brain compensates because of this dizzy effect which makes the user more careful. This anti-dizzy effect of Cannabis is what relives nausea. This is why Cannabis is prescribed to people that are going through chemo therapy that experience extreme nausea.

Cannabis users are know to drive way too careful and slow. Driving too careful can be bad thing....or could it? Colorado legalized Cannabis 2012. In 2014 The Washington Post said "Since marijuana legalization, highway fatalities in Colorado are at near-historic lows." I think this is because more people are switching from alcohol to Cannabis. If you drink alcohol and drive it does not mean you will get into a traffic accident and the same goes for Cannabis. Cannabis is a stimulant not a depressant. in general our reaction time slows with depressants not stimulants. I don't think anyone should get really high and drive, however the chances of a really stoned driver getting into a traffic accident are almost nil. A really high user is more careful as I mentioned earlier. Cannabis doesn't make you violent and brave like alcohol. Cannabis makes you cautious and slightly timid. Time to pop another real world situation on you. Do you think the most successful rock musicians in the world can play the way they do if Cannabis impaired their cognitive abilities or coordination? Yes they use other drugs as well and maybe at the same time as Cannabis, however there are many musicians that are just plain old pot heads. Playing guitar takes a huge amount of coordination and driving a car is easy in comparison.

My dad told me when I was eight not to believe everything I see on TV and I guess he meant CBS as well. CBS News Caught Blatantly Distorting Cannabis Study, Says Legal Pot Doubles Fatal Car Crashes. And Forbes says New Study Suggests Marijuana's Impact On Crash Risk Has Been Greatly Exaggerated. I could add links here all night. Do some research for yourself and never trust just one source of information. Keep in mind you will find information sources that say the exact opposite of what I am saying here. It all boils down to whom you rather believe. Always remember there will always be people that have an agenda to keep Cannabis illegal.

If you condense this whole document into the factual information, it would be a few sentences.
Warn teenagers to not smoke Cannabis at too early of an age. If you have a history of mental health issues, don't smoke Cannabis. Don't smoke and drive.

One thing that is a concern that should have been mentioned by the OMA if they are so concerned with teenagers smoking Cannabis is, that some recreation concentrates like shatter, have almost no CBD. Simply speaking CBD stops you from having a bad experience. I tired Green Crack shatter and it wasn't for me. I had a very bad experience. The problem isn't that Cannabis is bad, the problem is that teens may not have the proper knowledge to use Cannabis wisely and when to stop using it if they have bad experiences. The OMA should have mentioned that if you don't smoke Cannabis on a regular basis or you have no experience using it, start slow. Smoke Cannabis that has a low amount of THC ie: 10% THC instead of 25% THC. A good comparison is if you have no experience drinking alcohol.

Here is a picture of the OMA document. click on it to view full size.

Here is some unbiased information.

Johns Hopkins University PDF
Cannabis Reverses the Aging Process in Mice
Cannabinoid Research 
More Cannabis Research

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