Part 1 of 3, A History of Systematic Campaigns Incorrectly Vilifying Cannabis’s False Adverse Health Effects
For the initiated the genesis of cannabis prohibition is well know, a 90 year falsified smear campaign against the holistic herb. Prior to that it was considered the most efficacious medicine on the planet for the past 5k years and was part of the US pharmacopoeia until 1942 when it was taken off due to the racist rantings of the head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics Harry Anslinger. I will now address three specific myths about cannabis’s negative health effects.
#1 The Lie That Cannabis Consumption Reduces Sperm Count.
For this section I have already written a blog post addressing this misinformation, find it here.
#2 The Lie That Cannabis Kills Brain Cells
The origin of this lie is not only upsetting it’s appalling. The basis of the false claim that cannabis kills brain cells is based on a study done by Dr. Health from Tulane University in 1974. The following excerpt goes into detail about the study and can be found in the book The Emperor Wears No Clothes by Jack Herer as well as the documentary The Union by Brett Harvey.
“In fact, researchers administered 63 joints of cannabis in five minutes with no air in between. It is not new news that asphyxiation kills brain cells, however the study was utilized to strengthen the argument against marijuana use.”
So this piece of shit asphyxiated monkeys to death with cannabis smoke in gas masks. Upon doing autopsies on the monkeys’ corpses there was significant brain damage. This is the basis for ALL disinformation concerning the baseless conclusion that cannabis consumption kills brain cells.
New research shows that cannabis consumption actually stimulates brain cell growth known as neurogenesis; as can be found in an article from the National Library of Medicine, here.
#3 The Lie That Cannabis Causes Memory Loss
In looking at one of the first articles that comes up when searching for cannabis’s relation to memory loss online you will find an article from the National Institute on Drug Abuse an arm of the National Institute of Health, entitled “What are marijuana’s long-term effects on the brain?” Find the full article here.
Some inconclusive excerpts from the article are as follows:
“Imaging studies of marijuana’s impact on brain structure in humans have shown conflicting results”
“Other studies have not found significant structural differences between the brains of people who do and do not use the drug”
“Also, no predictable difference was found between (identical) twins when one used marijuana and one did not”
Another except in favor of the the idea cannabis does in fact cause memory loss would be this one:
“Some studies suggest regular marijuana use in adolescence is associated with altered connectivity and reduced volume of specific brain regions involved in a broad range of executive functions such as memory, learning, and impulse control compared to people who do not use.”
The devil is in the details, notice how I’ve bolded the word “suggest” a word that is open to broad interpretation. As opposed to the other quotes that are not conclusive on cannabis causing memory loss such as “have not found significant structural differences” and “no predictable difference”
So how do these three examples of misinformation pertain to CHS? When you look at the information on CHS to say there is little conclusive evidence that it is caused by cannabis is a significant understatement. The reality is there is ZERO evidence concluding that CHS is caused by cannabis; similar to the examples I’ve given on memory loss, but in those examples the evidence is simply inconclusive, not non-existent as is in the case of CHS.
The next blog post on this subject will be the conclusive, science based, factual unequivocal evidence that cannabis acts effectively as an anti-nausea aid. The third blog will address cited sources in favor of the argument that CHS is a real syndrome caused by cannabis smoking alone and how these cited sources lack science, evidence or facts that CHS is in fact caused by cannabis what so ever, and frankly the “studies” are laughable. Stay tuned.
