Common Misconceptions and Myths about Drugs
There are hundreds of crazy stories and misconceptions about drugs circulating online. However, most of these false stories come from fears and stereotypes about different drugs. How do you know which are true and which aren’t?
Everyone’s heard of them. These myths usually involve wrong information about drug use, effects, and culture. Unfortunately, these stories circulated online and gained a lot of traction because they are funny, strange, and resonate with people’s fears. At their core, these urban legends tell about incredibly reckless behavior or strange phenomena. Other stories are promoted by organizations to scare kids and young adults. That said, some of them also have a grain of truth to them. This is why they sound so real sometimes, if not downright funny.
Read on for the common false information and stories about drugs.
Misconceptions about Magic Mushrooms
- Magic mushrooms are deadly
It’s true there are many kinds of mushrooms which can be fatal when ingested. These dangerous mushrooms can cause kidney failure, coma, and even death within days of ingestion. However, the magic mushrooms that contain psilocybin aren’t among the deadly types if fungi.
This myth has spread because people fear what they do not understand. The primary effects magic mushrooms have are hallucinations, overwhelming euphoria, boost in creativity, and an altered sense of time.
Many studies suggest these effects are actually beneficial for people who take magic shrooms. Psilocybin, as it turns out, can be therapeutic for anxiety, depression, cluster headaches, and even debilitating menstrual pain.
- Magic mushrooms cause fear and anxiety
This misconception is perpetuated by movies who only highlight the worst scenarios. This films are usually filled with B-rated actors, a couple of bad comedians, and one bad comedy sequence after another.
For a filmmaker, tame drug use is not exciting and doesn’t make for good storytelling. Hence they opt for ridiculous outcomes to maximize drama. For example, people who take magic mushrooms are often depicted going on trips on a daily basis and in public places. Real shroomers know better than going on a psychedelic trip every day and a good psychedelic trip is done in spaces that are silent, comfortable, and can give you the privacy to enjoy the experience.
- Magic mushrooms cause the brain to bleed
A popular rumor is magic shrooms induce hallucinations by making your brain bleed. What you see aren’t actually psychedelic fractals but actually bit and pieces of your brain bleeding out.
This is obviously not true.
Psilocybin from magic mushrooms have a similar molecular structure to serotonin. Psilocybin overwhelms the brain with psilocybin and stimulate its serotonin receptors to create hallucinations, recreate new information pathways, until the body breaks it down and excretes it from the body.
- Magic mushrooms are red with white dots
A red shroom with white dots on its cap and an immaculately white stem is an iconic image often associated with hallucinogenic mushrooms. However, this is just one of the species of psychedelic mushrooms called Amanita muscaria.
There are close to 200 species of hallucinogenic mushrooms that contain the psychoactive compound psilocybin and they have different physical characteristics. Some can be as small as 5mm and some can grow as tall as 1 foot.
- Magic mushrooms inspired the power up mushrooms from Super Mario Brothers
The red mushrooms in the Super Mario Brothers video games give shape-shifting strengths and abilities to the two characters and were said to be inspired by magic mushrooms.
This is false.
Shigeru Mizamoto, the creator of Super Mario Bros., says the shrooms in the game were inspired by Alice in Wonderland. This famous literature saw the protagonist altering her size after eating mushrooms. Whether or not the Super Mario Brothers is actually a game about drug experiences is a different story.
- Marijuana today is 10 times stronger than the past
People love to claim this and say weed today is more dangerous than weed from years ago. This is untrue. Cannabis is not more powerful today than it used to be.
There are some modern strains which were bred just recently. However, while there are some strains bred for high THC content, there are also several strain which were bred specifically for their low THC content.
- Bruce Lee died because of weed
The martial arts god didn’t die of weed. He died of cerebral edema after overdosing on Equagesic, a painkiller. However, his autopsy did reveal evidence of marijuana in his system.
- 1 joint is equivalent to a pack of cigarettes
It’s often repeated that smoke from cannabis gives you a higher chance of developing cancer. The propaganda of weed containing the same amount of tar as 1 pack of cigarettes is probably started to turn off people from the idea of smoking weed.
Yes, smoking cannabis can lead to bronchitis and other respiratory ailments and there is little evidence that pot alone can cause lung diseases such as emphysema and lung cancer.
- Marlboro is waiting for marijuana to become legal
There is an urban legend saying Marlboro and other cigarette companies are waiting for weed to be legalized so they can sell it en masse. A similar myth is Philip Morris and Marlboro have purchased the rights to popular marijuana strains. Of course, these are untrue but that doesn’t mean they’re not planning on doing them.
- George Washington smoked weed and the U.S. Constitution is written on hemp paper
No, the founding fathers did not pass around a peace pipe after a hard day’s work. However, Washington and Jefferson did grow hemp but they allegedly only just used the fibers to manufacture rope and paper. And no, the U.S. Constitution was written on parchment, not on hemp paper.
Misconceptions about Other Psychedelics
- Attempted murder
Rumor has it that anyone caught selling LSD can be charged with attempted murder. However, this is totally bogus. No state or federal law allows for an LSD dealer to be automatically charged with murder.
- Psychedelic users are legally insane
This myth states anyone who used psychedelics more than 7 times can be declared legally insane. This fallacy was invented in the 1960s, and was parroted in an episode of a popular TV series. If you have taken psychedelics 7 consecutive times, you’re not legally insane – you’re just at a music festival.
- Spinal fluid flashbacks
People say psychedelics, particularly LSD, leave their residue in the spinal fluid many years after ingesting them resulting in a flash back. Although some drugs can be found in the spinal fluid, psychedelic compounds are not one of them.
- The babysitter and the over
In the 1960s, a babysitter was tripping hard and put a toddler into an oven. This story was never verified and there are no known cases of cooking babies in incidents involving LSD or psilocybin.
- Drug users are bad people
People who have used drugs whether recreationally or habitually aren’t all “bad people.” Some of them only underwent the experience to experience its therapeutic effects.
The next time you hear a rumor about magic mushrooms, remember they are recognized by the Global Drug Survey as the safest form of recreational drugs. In fact, you can purchase magic truffles and magic mushrooms online and you can experience firsthand how transcendent one psilocybin experience can be.
Order magic mushrooms online today!
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