Canna et performances au travail ...

[daniel]

Mitch Earleywine, professeur à l'Université de Caroline du Sud et auteur de
"Understanding Marijuana" ("Comprendre le cannabis"), démonte le mythe du
cannabis qui rend apathique.

Depuis très longtemps le cannabis est accusé de provoquer apathie et
démotivation, ce qu'on appelle le "syndrome a-motivationnnel", qui n'a
pourtant jamais été mesuré scientifiquement.

Contrairement aux idées reçues, les usagers de cannabis ne présentent pas
de moins bonnes performances au travail (ou dans des études supérieures),
ni en matière de productivité, considérée en termes qualitatifs.

"Un petit mensonge à propos du "syndrome a-motivationnel" détruit notre
crédibilité. C'est un risque que nous ne pouvons prendre. La vérité est
importante. Et la vérité est : le cannabis ne cause pas de syndrome
a-motivationnel."

http://www.lindesmith.org/library/mitch091003.cfm

Marijuana and Motivation

Wed, Sept 10, 2003

Mitch Earleywine, USC Professor and author of "Understanding Marijuana,"
debunks the popular, yet scientifically unsound, argument that marijuana
leads to lethargy, or 'amotivational syndrome'.

Prohibitionists have worried that cannabis will turn adolescents into
apathetic slugs. This worry goes back to at least the Indian Hemp Drugs
Commission of 1894. Even the current head of the National Institute of
Drug Abuse makes statements suggesting she believes in amotivational
syndrome.

Data don't support amotivational syndrome. They just don't. Any chemical
that actually turned people into listless idiots would probably become
part of chemical warfare.

Yes, in a couple of studies, when people are high in the laboratory,
they are less likely to press a bar for a quarter. But the stereotype of
the twinkie-gulping stoner spending all day on the couch is not a
reality. Everybody knows one "burn out" who seems to work well below
some imaginary potential. But he is invariably the exception rather than
the rule. Odds are high that he decided to do nothing long before he
decided to smoke cannabis. A subset of depressed users may have inspired
a few case studies that report this apathy and indifference, but
cannabis does not cause these symptoms.

Cannabis use does not correlate with grades in college students. High
school students who use cannabis have lower grades, but their poor
school performance occurred prior to their consumption. Cannabis doesn't
make high school students do poorly in school, but high school students
who do poorly in school seem to like cannabis.

Cannabis users do not show worse performance on the job, more frequent
unemployment, or lower wages. One study showed that cannabis users
actually earn more money than non-users (Kaestner, 1994)! In addition,
long-term exposure to cannabis in the laboratory fails to show any
meaningful or consistent impact on productivity.

I'm sure plenty of parents and educators think "What's the harm in
telling kids this little white lie?" Suggesting that cannabis saps
motivation has two insidious negative effects.

First, people all assume that a productive life is a happy one. It
depends on what "productive" means, of course. As many of us have said
time and again, simply making piles of cash doesn't do it. Richard
Easterlin, a colleague of mine at USC, recently proved this point again.
His paper in 'The Proceedings of the National Academy of Science' shows
that quality time with loved ones is extremely important to happiness,
but acquiring wealth is not. All these concerns about motivation and
productivity may be misplaced.

Second, even implying that cannabis destroys productivity is a lie. Once
this lie gets uncovered, students wonder if other drug education was a
lie. If cannabis doesn't sap motivation, maybe all that ranting about
crack cocaine was just hype. A small lie about amotivational syndrome
destroys our credibility. It's a risk we just can't take.

The truth is important. And the truth is: cannabis does not cause
amotivational syndrome.