Cannabis Myths Quiz

Cannabis is more harmful than alcohol
- Fact
- Myth
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  Myth! In 2009 the UK’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) created a new classification system for the harm of drugs (Weissenborn & Nutt, 2012). This classification system considers the physical, psychological, and social harms both to the user of the drugs and to others (Weissenborn & Nutt, 2012). Each drug received a score out of 100, with zero meaning not at all harmful, and 100 meaning the most harmful (Nutt et al., 2010). Alcohol was found to be the most dangerous drug in the classification with a score of 72, while cannabis had a significantly lower score of 20 (Nutt et al., 2010).
  
  Nutt, D. J., Prof, King, L. A., PhD, Phillips, L. D., PhD, on behalf of the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs, & Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs. (2010). Drug harms in the uk: A multicriteria decision analysis. The Lancet (British Edition), 376(9752), 1558-1565. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61462-6
  
  Weissenborn, R., & Nutt, D. J. (2012). Popular intoxicants: What lessons can be learned from the last 40 years of alcohol and cannabis regulation? Journal of Psychopharmacology (Oxford), 26(2), 213-220. https://doi.org/10.1177/0269881111414751
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Smoking decreases the effect of the anesthesia
- Fact
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  Fact! In a study of propofol sedation, cannabis users required a higher dose to achieve and maintain adequate sedation than those who did not use cannabis (Imasogie et al., 2021). The study also found those who reported using cannabis daily required a higher dose of propofol than those who reported using cannabis on a weekly or monthly basis (Imasogie et al., 2021). It is important to share all details of your cannabis use with your medical team prior to any operation (Sadighi & Londahl-Ramsey, 2021).
  
  Imasogie, N., Rose, R. V., & Wilson, A. (2021). High quantities: Evaluating the association between cannabis use and propofol anesthesia during endoscopy. PloS One, 16(3), e0248062-e0248062. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248062
  
  Sadighi, T., & Londahl-Ramsey, V. (2021). Cannabis use: Change in screening for primary care preoperative clearance. Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 17(7), 819-822. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nurpra.2021.02.021
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- Myth
You cannot overdose on cannabis
- Fact
- Myth
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  Myth! Cannabis poisoning is the medical term for a variety of symptoms caused by the overconsumption of cannabis (Salas-Wright et al., 2019). Cannabis poisoning symptoms can include psychological symptoms of anxiety, paranoia and psychosis, as well as physical symptoms of abdominal pain, decreased blood pressure and heart palpitations (Salas-Wright et al., 2019). In a review of over 33 million emergency department observations in the United States, those who displayed cannabis-related poisoning were significantly more likely to meet criteria for a mental health disorder (Salas-Wright et al., 2019). Many of these patients displaying cannabis-related poisoning had also consumed other substances including heroin, amphetamine, cocaine, or benzodiazepine (Salas-Wright et al., 2019).
  
  Salas-Wright, C. P., Carbone, J. T., Holzer, K. J., & Vaughn, M. G. (2019). Prevalence and correlates of cannabis poisoning diagnosis in a national emergency department sample. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 204, 107564-107564. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.107564
  
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High THC potency is strongly related to increased acute and long-term problems, such as mental health problems, anxiety and tension
- Myth
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  Myth! A study conducted in 2021 that compared two groups of cannabis consumers and the strains consumed found that the THC dominant group reported a reduction in anxiety one hour post-use (Drennan et al., 2021). The same study revealed that the THC dominant group experienced increased paranoia immediately after consumption, but this feeling did not last more than one hour (Drennan et al., 2021). Drennan et al., concluded that anxiety and tension levels were low in both groups, revealing that there was no negative relation between the potency of THC and acute and long-term problems (Drennan et al., 2021).
  
  Drennan, M.L., Karoly, H.C., Bryan, A.D., Hutchison, K.E., Bidwell, L.C. (2021). Acute objective and subjective intoxication effects of legal-market high potency thc-dominant versus cbd-dominant cannabis concentrates. Scientific Reports (Nature Publisher Group), 11(1) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-01128-2
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- Fact
Weed will make you a criminal; Weed will make you violent
- Fact
- Myth
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  Myth! This myth developed in the early 1900s from the use of propaganda films that showed unrealistic outcomes of the link of consuming marijuana and violent crimes (Boyd, 2010). One study revealed that there was no association between both short- and long-term cannabis consumption and aggressive behavior, including the use of other factors such as alcohol consumption (Denson & Earleywine, 2008). Another study found that legalization of medical cannabis led to a decrease in crimes such as burglary, robbery, and larceny (Huber et al., 2016).
  
  Boyd, S. (2010). Reefer madness and beyond. In M. Deflem (Ed.), Popular culture, crime and social control (pp.3-24). Emerald Group Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1521-6136(2010)0000014004
  
  Denson, T. F., & Earleywine, M. (2008). Self-reported use of alcohol, marijuana, and hard drugs and aggression: A structural equation modeling analysis of an internet survey of long term marijuana users. Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma, 16(2), 164-180. https://doi.org/10.1080/10926770801921469
  
  Huber III, A., Newman, R., & LaFave, D. (2016). Cannabis control and crime: Medicinal use, depenalization and the war on drugs. The BE Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, 16(4). https://doi.org/10.1515/bejeap-2015-0167
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Cannabis Myths Quiz

List of questions