Can't Smoke Pot, Can't Eat Bacon

Can't Smoke pot, Can't eat Bacon

Find a dealer, buy a roller, roll the substance, and smoke until you have no worries. These are the basic steps to getting high when using marijuana. Marijuana is the number one selling cash crop in the United States, with an annual market value of $35.8 billion(THC). Yet, many wonder how such a popular, harmless, enjoyable drug could still be outlawed till this day. Countless false accusations have been passed around to make marijuana seem more than it really is. Many say it kills brain cells, causes health risks, serves as a gateway drug to more powerful drugs, or is an overall danger to our nation as a whole. With this being said, numerous research has been done by experts in hundreds of different fields all over the world only to find out that this is all either a lie or the exaggerated truth.

One of the most common myths about marijuana is that it kills your brain cells. The root of this myth started with the well-known experiment conducted by Dr. Robert G. Heath. In this study Dr. Heath heavily dosed three monkeys with cannabis. Results displayed that the monkeys did indeed lose brain cells due to the excessive use of marijuana. Dr. Heath's work was never replicated but was discredited after receiving harsh criticism showing that it was a poorly performed experiment. Extensive research has been done by many skilled scientists including Dr. William Slikker of the National Center for Toxicological Research. There have also been additional studies by Charles Rebert and Gordon Pryor to further disprove this myth. Their research proved that even with daily doses of marijuana for up to a year no notable loss in brain cells were visible. The truth is there has not been a study proving cellular damage resulting from marijuana. The largest study of health effects of cannabis in 1997 by Kaiser Permanente studied health records of over 65,000 patients throughout numerous years. Data concluded that there were no significant differences between the health of people using cannabis and those who did not use cannabis. To make it even better, marijuana has actually been proven to stimulate the growth of brain cells in certain parts of the brain. This is true because the body produces natural internal cannabinoids and the brain has receptors designed specifically for them. Although many will argue that the research done by these various doctors and scientists were bias or improperly done, their findings are closely related with every major government commission report on marijuana in the last 100 years. If marijuana does not affect the brain in any way, is it really possible that it can be a health risk?

The health risks of marijuana are often misunderstood or exaggerated. Recent scientific research actually shows that marijuana poses less of a health risk than many make it up to be. The common thought that marijuana is extremely unhealthy and will cause all