A few days ago, a screengrab started doing rounds on Twitter and other social media platforms that had an image of dried weed and a text strip running on the bottom, “Breaking News- Weed Kills CoronaVirus.” It’s FAKE!

Boom, a fact-checking website in India received this screen grab on their helpline to verify the news. On researching the origin of this screengrab, they found that it was first shared by Vivek Agnihotri, an Indian filmmaker, on Twitter. Along with this screengrab, he appealed to the authorities to legalize weed in India.

However, as reported by Boomlive, the screengrab was the creation of a meme generating website. It must have started appearing on Google when people searched for CoronaVirus, and that’s how it started spreading on the Internet. It further alerted the readers that this is a fake piece of news and no studies or scientists have presented any results which conclude weed’s capacity to kill the CoronaVirus.

Marijuana Span appeals to its readers to not fall for such claims until it is WHO who stepped in to convey the news. Spreading fake news without confirming could not only create an environment of havoc but may also develop a mistrust between the patients and doctors.

If you are curious about CoronaVirus and an update on its treatment, we appeal you to visit the World Health Organisation website. They have a Q and A page on CoronaVirus which answers everything about the virus correctly. WHO has shared all the information possible on CoronaVirus known to them.

What does WHO have to say on the treatment of CoronaVirus?

The World Health Organisation has clearly stated on their website that there is no treatment/medicine found as of today, which could prevent or treat CoronaVirus. The patients have to receive proper medical care and treatment from the experts to relieve the symptoms of the 2019-nCoV.

Several research studies are being conducted on the same and will be only made public after running clinical trials. To prevent yourself from catching 2019-nCoV, the WHO tells you to maintain basic hand and respiratory hygiene, safe food practices, and avoid close human contact.

In case of any respiratory symptoms, you must immediately get in touch with a doctor, especially if you have travelled in the past 15 days. The common CoronaVirus symptoms are similar to that of the flu. The infected have shown symptoms such as a runny nose followed by dry cough and fever.

Along with the false claims of weed being a treatment, there are several other remedies which you must NOT believe, according to WHO.

Taking Vitamin C



Drinking Herbal Teas



Multiple Masks for layered protection



Antibiotics



These remedies DO NOT WORK.

On that note, let’s make it a point not to believe any claims unless they are issued from an authentic source. In such times when people are desperate, fake news could spread faster than ever. Let’s be responsible and call out such news instead of spreading them immediately!





