acetaminophen cannabis marijuana Medical Marijuana Research pain safety Tylenol

Marijuana Or Tylenol?

One of the primary reasons that medical patients choose marijuana is for the well known benefits of pain relief. Medical cannabis, when used properly, is taken at the lowest dosage necessary to achieve the desired results, in this case relief of pain.

Just because someone might have a whole bottle of Tylenol doesn’t mean they take the whole bottle or use disproportionate amounts of it, only what’s necessary to get the relief of pain needed. And the same is true for a medicinal user of cannabis.

But Tylenol has a dirty secret that you’re probably not supposed to know about. It does something to your brain and emotions that studies haven’t shown in marijuana users.

This abstract reports on two double-blind, placebo controlled studies that demonstrated people who take acetaminophen lost their ability to be empathetic in regards to another human beings pain and painful experiences.

Empathy necessarily regulates pro-social and anti-social behavior, and this drug (Tylenol) induced reduction of empathy raises concerns about the broader social side effects. After all, nearly 25% of the US population takes this drug on a weekly basis, so what broader effects are happening in society because people are on this drug?

Have you seen any study showing that cannabis users lose empathy for their fellow human beings? Probably not.