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.