drug information

Mythbusters - substance and substantiation

Mythbusters, a regular feature in our Matters of Substance quarterly magazine, unpicks the hype, hysteria and fictions often found around drug policy debates (especially those covered in the press).

  1. Cannabis 20 times more carcinogenic than tobacco?

    Recently, the British Lung Foundation claimed that, contrary to popular belief, smoking a cannabis cigarette is up to 20 times more likely to give you lung cancer than smoking a tobacco cigarette. This is a bold claim from an esteemed body, but is the evidence there to back them up? Mythbusters investigates.

  2. Is cannabis legal in the Netherlands?

    Mythbusters takes a closer look at the nuanced drug policy of the Netherlands and finds that, just because you might not get arrested for possession of cannabis, it doesn’t mean that it is legal.

  3. Is meth really all that bad for you?

    In November 2011, scientists from Columbia University published a study on the effects of methamphetamine use. What made this study stand out was that it not only questioned received wisdom about the damaging effects the drug has on the brain, but it also suggested meth could actually improve some brain functions.

  4. Death by withdrawal?

    Can a person chronically dependent on alcohol really die if they abruptly stop drinking? Or is this just another clever excuse not to part with their drug of choice?

    Mythbusters investigates …

  5. Dope driving: I'm a safer driver when I'm stoned - crap or fact?

    Getting behind the wheel after smoking weed is a safer alternative to driving drunk, right? And if I only have a couple of beers, then I can have a joint or two and I’ll be sweet. Besides, I slow down when I’m stoned, so I’m actually a safer driver. Doesn’t that just make sense?

    Mythbusters says, “Not so fast…”

  6. Can you have too much of a feel-good thing?

    It’s estimated more than 164,000 adult New Zealanders have tried ecstasy at some point in their lives, and around 67,000 have used it in the last year. It’s clearly a popular feelgood drug, but surely something that makes you feel so good must be bad for you?

  7. Is alcohol cheaper than bottled water?

    University of Otago research claiming that some alcohol in New Zealand is more affordable than bottled water attracted an avalanche of publicity in October last year. It made the front page of the New Zealand Herald, and appeared in international news outlets from Asia to Latin America. Yet almost as soon as this research was announced, it came under attack from certain quarters. Could alcohol really be chaper than bottled water in the Land of the Long White Cloud?

  8. Cannabis potency

    “New Zealand now has super-strength [cannabis] strains… the drug is now more than four times stronger than it was when ESR last tested it in 1996.”
    Sunday News, 2 May 2010

  9. Smoke dope and become one?

    If we are to believe recent media hype about the link between cannabis and educational failure, the future for our youth is bleak indeed. Mythbusters digs behind the headlines to weed out the truth.

  10. Does alcohol make you fat?

    Daylight saving is over, and the shorter colder days make snuggling on the couch with takeaways and a bottle of wine much more tempting than getting outside to exercise. The winter padding is setting in, and rising obesity prevalence figures suggest this padding will be permanent for many. Is our national weight gain related to changes in alcohol consumption? What effect does alcohol really have on our waistlines?

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