11 cannabis myths under the microscope

Cannabis is still illegal in most parts of the world. Since the prohibition of cannabis in the 20th century, many rumors and myths have circulated around the plant. Some concern the plant's cultivation, others its consumption. The illegal status of cannabis has also encouraged urban legends surrounding the product.

Today, the media coverage of cannabis is a little stronger, and the myths surrounding it are falling one by one. So here are 11 cannabis myths confronted with the facts.

GMO cannabis

This rumour was apparently spread with the intention of projecting existing fears about GMO food onto hemp. Genetic modification of a plant involves artificially changing the genome, which is made up of 4 acids, to form blocks of DNA. These acids are «exchanged» (to simplify) with each other, to create new properties within a living being.

Italians Tito Schiva and Saverio Alberti were the first to experiment with hemp, with the surprising result that hemp was resistant to genetic modification, as attested by their publication Green Fluorescent flowers published in 2002. The study involved commercial hemp, but the same findings were made for recreational hemp.

The latest research on this subject has been compiled by Lars Fischer on his blog Sciblog. While it's not impossible to genetically modify cannabis, the manipulation is very complicated, more so than with other plants such as corn. According to Fischer, the samples analyzed in this research had no GMO properties.

There is also no evidence that Monsanto wants to get into the cannabis business. The rumor was so big that the company had to communicate on it. However, Monsanto's new owner, Bayer, invested heavily in the Sativex. It is one of the main investors in GW Pharmaceuticals, the company that developed Sativex.

So far, only one GMO company has been involved in medical cannabis. The South African company Plandai Biotechnology was awarded a contract to cultivate medical cannabis in Uruguay in 2015 and is working with the University of Montevideo on clinical trials involving cannabinoids.

The first jeans were made of hemp

The first Levi's jeans weren't made from hemp, but from Italian denim. Denim can be made from hemp, but Mr. Strauss chose cotton from Genoa.

Similarly, neither the U.S. Constitution nor the Declaration of Independence were written on hemp paper. Only drafts and working documents were. Official documents were written on vellum, a finer, nobler parchment made from calfskin.

Double-0 is hash cut with cocaine

You may have seen hash called Zero or Double-Zero in Amsterdam coffeeshops, often in the most expensive on the menu. But there's no trace of cocaine inside.

In Morocco, hash quality is determined by the number of sieves. The best hash comes from the first sifting. Depending on the farmer and the quality of the source material, weed buds can be sieved up to 6 times. The 0 or double-zero actually comes from the trichomes that the farmer harvests before sieving, just by hitting the buds. The yield from this technique is so low that most of the production remains with the farmer. The 0-0 sold in coffeeshops is therefore more likely to come from the first or second sieves. But the quality is always better than what you find on the street.

One goof, but many uses

Can you feel the effects of cannabis without actively using it? Visit theory Once consumed, unused THC is stored in fat cells and then re-enters the bloodstream during exercise, activating its well-known effects.

However, no scientific study has ever supported this obscure theory. The German Federal Constitutional Court even rejected this boomerang high theory in 2002. And in the case of sport, only anandamide, a cannabinoid naturally produced by the body, contributes to the effect. effects high the sportsman.

Hydrangea and banana peel can be smoked

While in the U.S. the rumor is more about banana peels, in France the hydrangea has been at the center of unlikely accusations. Gangs of thieves are attacking the hydrangeas in our gardens to sell them as a substitute for cannabis.

Unfortunately, the only thing a hydrangea can produce is a bluish poison, cyanide. The rumor of hydrangea's psychoactive properties was originally spread by a pharmaceutical journal, which never corrected its mistake.

In Kazakhstan, naked cannabis is harvested

Since the 1970s, the same rumor: people harvest cannabis resin by running naked through plantations so that the resinous trichomes stick to their skin (or hair, yuck).

The image may make you smile, but the method, if it existed, wouldn't really be effective. Most of the resin would remain on the plant.

For the production of charas for example, the heads are rubbed between the hands. The resin and oil stick to them, but the rest of the body is always covered 🙂

Getting high with cannabis-infused skin creams

... won't work. Cannabis-based skin creams are not psychoactive. THC is not absorbed and metabolized by the skin. The cannabis balms however, retain the analgesic and anti-inflammatory efficacy of cannabis.

Cannabis can be cut with opium or heroin

We sometimes hear that weed or hash could be cut with opium, heroin or meth. Quite apart from the fact that there's no proof of these assertions, in the form of lab analysis for example, it wouldn't really be economical to cut cannabis with more expensive substances. Customers would also be quick to switch suppliers, a bad calculation for the dealer.

Legal cannabis boosts youth consumption

Since cannabis has been legal in Colorado, the Department of Health has been recording statistics of cannabis use by minors. The market opened 3 years ago, and the number of young people who have used cannabis in the last 30 days remained stable since 2011.

Dutch statistics have confirmed a decline in teenage consumption since the 1990s.

Cannabis leads to hard drugs

Despite the fact that this argument has long since been disproved, some still haven't updated. While the DEA has just removed this item of its website, the German Drug Office explains that there is no scientific evidence to support this theory of drug escalation. The only thing is true: by buying cannabis on the black market, consumers come into contact with dealers who can offer them something other than cannabis.

The tobacco industry turns its attention to cannabis

Opponents of cannabis legalization in the United States frequently argue that tobacco companies want to enter the cannabusiness for 50 years, and use the argument of a cannabis conglomerate scenario against legalization. Tobacco companies have reportedly already registered domain names and trademarks for their future products.

Unfortunately, this is not true. Altria (formerly Phillip Morris) does own AltriaMarijuana.com and AltriaCannabis.com, but never registered them. In fact, they got them back after a copyright lawsuit against an individual. Just enough to protect its brand.

That said, the tobacco industry hasn't always been uninterested in cannabis. In 1969, Phillip Morris asked the Department of Justice for authorization to receive cannabis for research purposes, a request that has remained secret. on the initiative of Phillip Morris. The Reagan era definitively ended this interest. And today's tobacco companies are more likely to be distancing ourselves from the cannabis industry, to finance opponents of legalization.