Now, at the very start of busting yet another of the nasty marijuana myths, let us remind you of X-Press 2’s total hit LAZY (and please, don’t blame it on us if you end up singing this song to yourself all day long as if on repeat because it is just so darn high-ly contaminating, lol).
Does weed really make you lazy?
Like, that LAZY song-style kind of re-a-a-ally lazy? Lazy when you love; when you play; when you speak; when you dance; lazy with your girlfriend “a thousand times a day”; maybe hazy-lazy kind of “nothing, doin nada” or maybe order-some-good-food-and-never-leave-the-house-again kind of lazy; and ultimately, just as “lazy as a man can be”” ?!
If we are to believe the lazy stoner myth, depicting marijuana users as totally unmotivated to move a finger couch-locked potatoes destroying bags of chips and playing video games until their brain starts to leak out, then sure, those who consume weed are badass lazy (and a bit useless to society, if not even worse, a burden to society, ouch).
But when do you know that enough of those perverted cannabis myths being gladly and carefully fed upon your innocent consciousness is ENOUGH?
One sure way to feel that something is cooking, and that there is definitely a quite faulty perception related to the way people who use marijuana are almost by-default claimed to lack behind in their motivation and willingness to get things done, it’s when you type “does weed make you lazy” in Google Search just to end up quickly redirected to other seemingly relevant results to your search, namely “does weed make your life shorter” and (drum roll, please) “does weed make your teeth fall out.”
Without any doubt, consuming particular cannabis strain can make up for experiencing an ultimate sense of head-to-toe relaxation so sublime that at some point, one really doesn’t feel the least motivated to leave this beautiful, pain-and stress-free dimension of profoundly pleasurable laziness in its most exquisite form.
Also, there are those moments when you’ve accidentally got to consume too much cannabis than what your personal tolerance levels allow you to, so you simply end up quite overwhelmed, losing accurate perception of time, and being quite unable to move that pothead-y, lazy finger of yours not because you aren’t willing to do so but simply because it is physically impossible to do it (just blame it on the THC and/or on your greedy cannaface swallowing the entire pot-laced cookie instead only ¼ of it, then take a good sleep, and forget about the whole thing, unless you choose to repeat the same scenario over and over again, ahem, we won’t blame you anyway as we have been there before, too).
Ultimately, for the vast majority of intelligent cannabis users out there, regardless of whether it comes to medical or recreational marijuana use, laziness and cannabis do have too little in common, and in fact, even the most boring tasks, such as house cleaning, can feel so much better when you are under the influence of ganja.
So, how did the lazy stoner myth even emerge?
Is there any scientific-based evidence that points out to the almost chronic laziness-inducing properties of weed?
And vice versa, is there any solid proof on cannabis users actually being able to handle their lives successfully, and have a well-paid job and well-working relationships, provided they also happen to share a close, sincere, and deep relationship with cannabis?
The Science behind Cannabis Use and Laziness: Lower Levels of Dopamine?
It was in a 2013 study released on July 1 that revelations on the effects of cannabis use on laziness were highlighted as majorly related to the active compounds in marijuana altering levels of dopamine.
According to the results of the research, the levels of dopamine were lower in cannabis smokers who were engaged in long-term pot use, as well as in weed smokers who began consuming cannabis at an earlier age.
Conducted by experts from King College London, UCL, and Imperial College London, the findings of the study noted that long-term marijuana use does seem to be associated with the users’ bodies showcasing a tendency to producing much less dopamine than non-users.
Dopamine is an important neurochemical that is directly related to both motivation and reward. When present in poorer levels than the optimal ones, lower dopamine is linked to a particular part of the brain known as striatum, as the corpus striatum is linked to ambition and motivation rates at a neuronal level.
The researchers engaged in the study made use of PET brain imaging to find out that the striatum parts of the brain were “lowest” in individuals who were exposed to heavy cannabis use and/or who began to use cannabis at a very early age.
These findings suggested what didn’t come as any form of a surprise to most, and in particular, that“stoners” who have been stereotypically viewed as lacking the much-needed motivation to work hard and to be ambitious in pursuing their dreams, are victims of laziness.
Video Source: khanacademymedicine
Being such an intricate part of the healthy function of the reward pathway in the brain, the discovery that dopamine levels were lower in regular and/or young age cannabis users does seem more than enough to close the case on pot and laziness, at least for the anti-marijuana propagators.
However, the supposedly cannabis-induced “amotivational syndrome” in pot users is a far more complex topic than what the scope of this 2013 study could possibly encompass.
Stoner Laziness: A Syndrome of Habitual Use or a Personal Choice?
Digging deeper into the science behind regular pot use and lower dopamine levels, firstly, there is, without any doubt, a strong link between dopamine activity and both of the cannabinoid receptors in the brain, namely the CB-1 and CB-2 cannabinoid receptors that make up the human body’s endocannabinoid system (aka the ECS).
Cannabis, being an exogenous substance, can pretty much take over the pre-existing receptors for dopamine, which is an endogenously produced neurochemical.
It is endogenously produced cannabinoids (endocannabinoids) that have much to do with the “runner’s high,” and in fact, they have more to do with the “runner’s high” than endorphins do, contrary to the popular beliefs.
Provided your body’s dopamine levels function perfectly, cannabis abuse can certainly lead to unwanted alternations (please, mind the word “abuse”).
But the possible alternations in dopamine levels induced by cannabis should not be looked upon as strictly negative or positive since, for a huge percent of people, dopamine levels are not really kept in good, healthy rates. Because of this, when a person is to consciously use cannabis without falling into extremes, the associated effects can actually lead to a burst in motivation and ambition, instead of the opposite. Oh, and, by the way, by “extremes”, we mean something like a full month 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. cannabis marathons that make your entire life revolves majorly around A) get some cannabis B) get some more cannabis C)I-refuse-to-do-anything-before-I-am-high-enough-on-enough-cannabis-which-is-the-time-when-I-already-feel-unwilling-to-actually-do-anything. You know, as if you become the human form of South Park’s beloved stoner character Towelie.
“I am the man that biked 19 000 miles while vaping weed to disprove the lazy stoner myth,” states the British cannabis enthusiast who remains anonymous to protect his privacy up-to-date but whose fame under the nickname HealthyStOner in reddit has already brought him global recognition.
Setting his mind to an epic feat, HealthyStOner decided to cycle for two years,or in other words, over 19 000 miles across 14 countries and three continents, all for the sake of giving an answer to the question does weed really make you lazy once and for all (thank you, Caps Lock, for always being there to emphasize what words fail to, lol).
Sharing a deep love for combining cannabis and exercise, the HealthyStOner has already started his very own youtube channel, as well as running a website of his own, showcasing that marijuana and motivation can and do go hand in hand, solely depending on the person and the intention behind cannabis use.
When love for cycling and adventures collides with the passion for cannabis and a healthy lifestyle, and there you have it: the urge to disprove the idea that stoners are lazy was conceived.
Without ever pretending that his one-man-show-style-like journey to busting the lazy stoner myth was easy, the HealthyStOner did not hide his sincere love, joy, and inspiration of being able to meet up with so many like-minded, pot-adoring individuals during his world cycle tour.
Eating delicious salads throughout Spain, veg curry throughout India, momo in Nepal and traditional porridge for breakfast on his easily portable stove, the HealthyStOner admitted to having been delighted by the opportunity to explore whatever local delicacies he had the chance to indulge in. He is currently looking for a sponsor to start an American cannabis adventure, and soon as this happens, we are pretty convinced that the lazy stoner myth will get one huge step closer to becoming a thing of the past once and for all.
Anti-Lazy Stoner Myth Real Life Stories from England
In an interview for VICE, a 43-years-old, England-based lawyer who preferred to remain anonymous (after all, he is a highly respected lawyer, so it’s obvious why he needs to keep his cannabis use at bay at this point in the course of history of Great Britain), shared that he had started smoking cannabis ever since 1991 and has been doing so every single day for years without having his life negatively affected by the stigmatized stoner laziness.
As an international lawyer, he gets to earn well over £150,000 annually, without counting bonuses. Lighting up a vaporizer is what he does first thing in the morning. He highlights that it is “work ethic” inside you to keep you motivated to get things done, and he bluntly noted on lazy stoner myth reports meaning nothing but “bullshit” from his perspective and experience with cannabis. However, he also shares that kids in our modern-day society tend to be faced with “lack of education” on cannabis, and he certainly has a point on that note since heavy cannabis use from early age can really mess up the body’s natural endocannabinoids, and thus, affect levels of dopamine adversely in the long-term, leading to higher chances of cannabis abuse, possibly characterized with inability to get yourself together.
A Worcester-based head shop owner who also raised a voice among other successful stoners (what a category, huh?) interviewed on how cannabis affects their motivation by VICE’ reporter Michael Allen, admits to having started using marijuana ever since being only 11 years old. Nowadays, at the age of 30, Andrew Purvis runs his own head shop business at good profit, and he highlights that he doesn’t really get to enjoy mixing his love for cannabis with work ethics, or as Purvis himself states, he likes to keep cannabis and his business duties “completely separate.” Then he adds he uses marijuana when he feels like his body and mind have gotten into overdrive, for the sake of letting the green medication clear up his mind and ease his body. Ultimately, he wisely points out that if it hadn’t been for his love for cannabis, despite the fragile age he started smoking weed at, he would have probably never ended running his very own head shop successfully.
Why We Need to Stop Blaming Laziness on Cannabis
Quintessentially, it is only fair to state that is not cannabis alone to make one lazy but instead, it is actually bad habits having too much to do with the rise of the lazy stoner myth.
For the people who consume cannabis because of strictly medicinal purposes, it might be the case that the associated laziness which tends to occur after consuming particular cannabis strains and/or higher amounts of marijuana in general, does never get to fell as much bothersome as things tend to get for recreational marijuana users at some point of their cannajourney.
If you have been consuming cannabis for non-medicinal purposes for an extended period of time, it is highly probable you’ve already been through the phase when you start thinking to yourself that unless you stop smoking weed, you might never be able to get your shit together (which is awkward, because after all, YOU are the one to determine the amount and type of cannabis to be consumed per day/hour or within a single minute, so pot should be no obstacle for pulling yourself together, right?). But maybe, just maybe, you have also been victimized by the lazy stoner myth, so at some point of the hustle, you were pretty much forced to believe that it is cannabis to blame for your current state of being, mishaps, lack of motivation, or whatsoever on the same negative plane of mind chatter.
In fact, some of us have gone so far as to consider quitting cannabis altogether (like many of them Why I quit cannabis and you should, top vloggers on youtube).
Do not get this wrong, though, we do not insist that cannabis use is supposed to last for a lifetime, as if it is imperative to consume pot in general, and it is not. Not everybody tolerates the effects of cannabis in the same beneficial ways as other people do, so if some point you feel that you may need a break from weed altogether, then you should do it and keep up living to your fullest potential.
However, when re-evaluating our lives, we tend to get into quite some bit of unnecessary anxiety and over-thinking, and in such instances, your subconscious mind can play a very bad trick on you. If the lazy stoner myth has reached down to your subconscious mind and taken roots, then you can easily feel very comfortable blaming weed for your screw-ups in terms of lack of energy, focus, and ambition. Sounds kind of fun if you look from the bright side, right?
By the way, if you haven’t yet experienced this phase in your glorious cannabis use career, just fasten your seatbelts because it is definitely coming at some point or another. But you know what, for everybody who has experienced this, and for everybody who is just yet about to experience the blame-my-disastrous-lack-of-motivation-on-cannabis episodes, just bring it in and hug it because we are one big cannafamily now.
How to Avoid Getting your Motivation Negatively Affected by Pot Use
Blaming all of your bad habits on cannabis won’t get you out of the swamp of mental and/or physical despair. And never will the lazy stoner myth prove right on this plane of existence because temporary laziness (blissfulness, to be more precise about the type of laziness induced by some forms of cannabis and cannabis use), has nothing to do with your poor financial responsibility, or with your anger management issues, or with your anxiety, or with your lack of exercise and dietary discipline, or with your success or lack of such.
Just face the truth and take your responsibility, that’s how you stop being a victim of the lazy stoner myth.
It is NOT cannabis that forms your habits. It is YOU to form your habits. Lazy? Unproductive? That’s not determined by cannabis! Cannabis is a plant, and you are the human who gets to celebrate life by using the plant. Your habits? They are your responsibility.
Then all you have to do is to prioritize your actual responsibilities over cannabis use. Get stuff done, then reward yourself during your spare time by blazing up the dankest joint and sink into the couch without having a single care in the world in this very moment and this very place, for just a fraction of timeless time, where tension, pains, stress, and procrastination disperse into a dimension of pure serenity. Oh, and now, let them call you a lazy stoner, who cares? Forget the ugly stigma and know your worth as an intelligent human being free to use an ancient plant in whatever ways desired as long as you do harm to none (including yourself).
Guess what? It is not cannabis, it is the man in the mirror (or, respectively, the woman). It is you. Willpower? That’s your responsibility, not a responsibility of cannabis. Cannabis is there to help you relax after putting in so much of your willpower for achieving your dreams. Resistance to self-discipline? cannabis does not determine your discipline, YOU do, my muchacho.
Conscious Cannabis Use: The Three Golden Rules
The three golden rules for never falling victim of stoner laziness and making up for the trustworthiness of such ridiculous myths as the lazy stoner myth can be pretty much summed down to being honest with yourself, creating your very own limits on when to consume cannabis and when not to, and ultimately, you need to set a budget so that you stop spending a small fortune on cannabis and deprive yourself of other amazing assets that money can buy (such as that long-dreamed trip to Jamaica, my man or that awesome bike to get some more physical activity into your life).
Honesty will help you settle your own limits with cannabis use. Just be honest to yourself. Do you really enjoy consuming cannabis, or it has just turned into a bad habit? Maybe you want to change that habit altogether, or maybe you want to approach it with a better understanding, which is exactly what sets your own limits is all about.
Limits with cannabis mean that you get to acknowledge when cannabis makes you more productive and when it does exactly the opposite. For instance, some people can write fantastic stuff while high but others can find it absolutely impossible to focus on writing when under the influence of pot. Although only a simple example, this is how figuring out your limits with cannabis as not to become the lazy stoner loser works out in real life. The point is, instead of becoming just another stereotypical stoner, once you realize what type of tasks you can get done while high and which not, you will easily understand when to simply avoid your indulgence for later. By the way, setting limits with cannabis, for instance, making peace of mind with not consuming pot prior to completing all of your important tasks for the day, can actually skyrocket your productivity instead of affecting it adversely.
Setting a weekly/monthly budget to spend on cannabis is the last gemstone in the anti-stoner laziness syndrome crown. Before you even realizing it, chances are big that you spend a whole lot of money on cannabis. It might be surprising to get out of your cannabis-spending-obsessed lifestyle and try to cut down your expenses on weed, and/or you can also try out the benefits of growing weed from seed, as long as you are lucky to live in a state/country where doing so is legitimate. Indica or Sativa? Autoflower of Regular? Short posture? Check. The dank aroma in flowering? Check. Yield? Up to 350 grams. Check. Now, check out how much you spend to satisfy your cannabis tooth and calculate your savings (without counting in the benefits, just the numbers).
So, how about investing some of your spare time and efforts into expanding your knowledge about cannabis, getting to witness the Miracle of Life of the tiny cannabis seed up until the harvesting point (and boy, oh boy, all that joy when you get to proudly cut down your green ladies, dripped in sweet resin and sending you their blessing, ah!), and becoming a better person by expanding your relationship with such a gorgeous living creature like the cannabis plant?
There are certain things in life that have no price and no price tag but in any case, a dollar not spent is a dollar saved, so save your money for other meaningful things than giving it all up to the pot industry (although we love you, pot industry, and we want to keep seeing you flourish and making every bud buddy out there happy, deal?).
Of course, as far as curbing down the chances of experiencing laziness after cannabis consumption is concerned, you can greatly benefit from simply choosing the right strain to consume! Several of our favorite energy-, motivation-, and focus-boosting cannabis strains include but are not limited to Jack Herer, Dark Angel, OG Kush, Strawberry Cough, CB Diesel, and CB Dream.
Does Weed Really Make You Lazy: Busting the Lazy Stoner Myth: Final Notes
Ultimately, does having sex automatically imply that you are a sex maniac? Does enjoying a glass of wine make you an alcoholic? Certainly, NO, and in a similar sense, whether cannabis use will affect your motivation, ambitions, and ability to pursue your dreams and live a decent, successful (whatever “successful” is supposed to mean in this line of thinking), happy life is not to be twisted from some sick forms of biased anti-pot perspectives.
Above all, there is quite some subjectivity involved when it comes to depicting the image of the lazy stoner, and not the least, putting cannabis users in particular frames is lacking any common sense, as well as any logical scientific validation. Pot consumption alone is not the leading cause for one’s chronic laziness, reaching as far as the a motivational syndrome, although cannabis abuse can surely make up for increased chances of experiencing episodes of lack of willingness to move a finger, and these episodes can turn into a way of living and being if to be experienced continuously.
If you catch yourself stuck into a scenario where your cannabis consumption habits make you fail at completing your tasks instead of exactly the opposite, then gather all your inner strength and get yourself together, because cannabis can’t do this for you. You know, no more pre-workout workouts spoiled because of hitting that blunt and scrolling down your social media feed instead. Act smart. Play hard. Then puff, puff, and pass, as much as you want. If anyone is to blame his/her problems with chronic, choking-to-death laziness, to cannabis, then it is high time to look in the mirror and see for yourself who is to be 100% responsible for your ways, and your life? Ahem, it is the person in the mirror (just an elegant hint, lol).
Now that you have acknowledged the reality of truth and watching the lazy stoner myth gets busted, you can celebrate your steep journey to becoming a canna-adult with whatever form of cannabis makes your heart sing with joy.
Does weed really make you lazy, you ask? You’d better wake up and realize that we are writing history together, bud buddies. As Lizzie Post shares in “The Higher Etiquette,” when we talk about the truth of cannabis, we talk “about freedom.” The freedom to be able to receive relief from shame “openly,” and to be granted the sacred right to participate in establishing the greener, better world of the future, by being able to “be who we are,” and to feel fine with being part of the cannabis community, despite ugly and bitter myths like the lazy stoner myth.
Let’s make STONER stand for Strong, Talented, Open-minded, Non-conformist, Educated, Resilient.
Outdated cannabis myths need to be busted more than ever before, as doing so allows people to be who they are without shame or associated stigma, and because this freedom is empowering people, which is something extremely important right now when we are making crucial decisions about ocean protection, the end on plastic pollution, air pollution, wildlife extinction, and the climate crisis.
Does really weed make you lazy? to urge you into taking responsibility for your life, and responsibility for the global cannabis community, by getting out of the vicious spiral of the anti-marijuana talk and starting to treat cannabis as the mighty spiritual, physical, and mental health tool that it is and has always been ever since times unknown, for it is mostly human negligence and greed to blame for the rise of the lazy stoner myth.