28 Is it true that marijuana makes you lazy and unmotivated?
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This article is from the Hemp / Cannabis / Marijuana FAQ, by Brian S. Julin verdant@twain.ucs.umass.edu with numerous contributions by others.
28 Is it true that marijuana makes you lazy and unmotivated?
Not if you are a responsible adult, it doesn't. Ask the
U.S. Army. They did a study and showed no effect. If this
were true, why would many Eastern cultures, and Jamaicans,
use marijuana to help them work harder? `Amotivational
syndrome' started as a media myth based on the racial
stereotype of a lazy Mexican borracho. The prohibitionists
claimed that marijuana made people worthless and sluggish.
Since then, however, it has been scientifically researched,
and a symptom resembling amotivational syndrome has actually
been found. However, it only occurs in adolescent teenagers
-- adults are not affected.
When a person reaches adolescence, their willingness to work
usually increases, but this does not happen for teenagers
using marijuana regularly -- even just on the weekends. The
actual studies involved monkeys, not humans, and the results
are not verified, but older studies which tried to show
`amotivational syndrome' usually only suceeded when they
studied adolescents. Adults are not effected.
The symptoms are not permanent, and motivation returns to
normal levels several months after marijuana smoking stops.
However, a small number of people may be unusually sensitive
to this effect. One of the monkeys in the experiment was
severely amotivated and did not recover. Doctors will need
to study this more before they know why.
``Behavioral and Biological Concomitants of Chronic Marijuana Use'' by
Dr. Jack H. Mendelson 1974. (US Army study)
(adolescent amotivational-like syndrome)
``Chronic Marijuana Smoke Exposure in the Rhesus Monkey II Effects on
Progressive Ratio and Conditioned Position Responding '' by Merle G.
Paule, Richard R. Allen, John R. Bailey, Andrew C. Scallet, Syed F.
Ali, Roger M. Brown, William Slikker Jr. in ``The Journal of
Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.'' Vol. 260 pp. 210-222.
ed. pub.
``Up in Smoke Arkansas Study Raises Doubts About Marijuana Risks '' by
Mara Leveritt in ``Arkansas Times'' pp. 11-12. September 16, 1993.
(use of marijuana and other drugs in a positive role in work)
``Working Men and Ganja Marijuana Use in Rural Jamaica Melanie Creagan
Dreher '' by Melanie Creagan Dreher pub. Institute for the Study of
Human Issues Philadelphia, 1982.
``The working addict David Caplovitz '' by David Caplovitz pub. M. E.
Sharpe, White Plains, NY, 1976.
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