Marijuana makes you CRAZY! No shit! (hack hack cough)

[Philosoraptor]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19980923/

LONDON - Using marijuana seems to increase the chance of becoming psychotic, researchers report in an analysis of past research that reignites the issue of whether pot is dangerous.

The new review suggests that even infrequent use could raise the small but real risk of this serious mental illness by 40 percent.

Doctors have long suspected a connection and say the latest findings underline the need to highlight marijuana’s long-term risks. The research, paid for by the British Health Department, is being published Friday in the medical journal The Lancet.

“The available evidence now suggests that cannabis is not as harmless as many people think,” said Dr. Stanley Zammit, one of the study’s authors and a lecturer in the department of psychological medicine at Cardiff University.

[Mythsaje]

1. Interesting to note

I've never known anyone who was schizophrenic. And I've been around pot and pot smokers my whole life.

Anxiety issues, yeah. I've seen that. But I'm not sure which causes which.

[wicket]

20. I've known 1

And weed actually seemed to help him, especially with all of the pharamceuticals he was on.

[Blue_In_AK]

2. ROFL

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Richard Steele]

3. I've known assloads of smokers, and a few genuine psychotics- the groups have never overlapped. nm

[fizzgig]

4. someone needs a lesson on correlation vs. causation

:eyes:

The researchers said they couldn’t prove that marijuana use itself increases the risk of psychosis, a category of several disorders with schizophrenia being the most commonly known.

There could be something else about marijuana users, “like their tendency to use other drugs or certain personality traits, that could be causing the psychoses,” Zammit said.

and since when do 'personality traits' cause psychoses/mental illness?

[Philosoraptor]

5. Dammit Dr. Zammit, I'm a pot head not a crack head!

[SpiralHawk]

9. Reefer Madness

[havocmom]

24. And don't forget, listening to that rock 'n roll music will get you pregnant!

If they are gonna trot out the oldies, they might as well go for the gold! ;)

[Minimus]

11. Yet the MSNBC home page titles the article "study links pot to psychosis"

as if it is a definite cause.

[Prophet 451]

6. This was on the Beeb too

Really, it's just a restating of what was already known: That pot use, even in small amounts, can lead to mental instability in those with a pre-existing inclination to mental illness. That's not new or even very surprising, any perception altering substance could act as a trigger for someone with a tendancy toward mental illness.

[ixion]

7. as could any number of non-psychoactive stimuli

such as stress, for example.

[Prophet 451]

12. Sure

It's a pointless distinction really. Any numbers of things can lower someone's connection to reality.

[ixion]

13. yep, agreed.

[H2O Man]

17. Well said.

It is indeed an individual thing. For many years, I worked with the MICA population (mentally ill, chemical abusers). The majority of people (at least in this county) under the age 50 who have a major mental illness have also, at some time or another, smoked pot and/or consumed alcohol. And maybe other substances. And for most of them, substances such as alcohol or pot do not enhance their ability to remain stable, and live independently in the community. It would not be safe to attempt to make the case that this holds true for any/every other group of adults in the 18 to 50 age range.

I also remember one fellow, who was highly intelligent and who also had a major mental illness, who used to buy large quantities of the leafy stuff that the local "growers" in his hamlet would have otherwise discarded. He smoked some of it daily and, along with his other medication, it kept his on track. Those few times when he did not have his pot, he became psychotic. Thus, even among the high-risk population, there are individual differences.

[madokie]

8. no problem I'll just start blaming my being nutts on my 39+ years of toking

even though I was born that way :-)

[Heidi]

10. Wouldn't it be nice if big pharma's psychoactive drugs

and other government-approved means of medicating (alcohol, for example) had been studied as long and and with as much skepticism as marijuana has been studied?

(Edited for clarity)

[cgrindley]

14. What a surprise

Pot's the dumbest god damn drug in the history of drugs. Dirty hippies. Be gone vile time wasting drug from the 60's, your time is long gone.

[0007]

15. Smoked grass for fifty some years and been around a ton of

smokers and never seen anyone with the behavior of the Neocons, and those that back these assholes.

I think the doctors should study these type of war criminals, 'eh?

[spanone]

16. so that's what has caused my current deraingment.

[mainegreen]

18. Contrary to that, I wonder how many psychotics the drug sooths?

I bet you that's a much larger number. (I know at least 1).
That's a study they won't do.

[rucky]

19. No shit. It's called self-medicating. n/t

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

21. This Is One Of The Most Worthless Studies I've Ever Seen.

The conclusions are beyond reckless.

How can they possibly conclude with such conviction that marijuana is worse than thought and just NEEDS to be taken seriously now due to it's causing of psychosis, yet in the same breath state that they can't rule out that it has nothing to do with marijuana but instead is just due to other factors that would've been a partial cause for the person using marijuana to begin with?

This is literally one of the most stupid articles of its kind I have ever read. No scientific evidence whatsoever; just anecdotal stupidity.

[havocmom]

22. Certain church organizations seem to be more troublesome re making folks mentally ill.

Just an observation. Pot heads can be annoying, not take things as seriously as I wish they would, but fundy zealots (of any religion) are more likely to be out of touch with reality.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

23. Tell that to the millions upon millions of Americans that smoke or have smoked!

:rofl:

[havocmom]

25. Observation: Pot heads not easy to anger, tend to laugh at stressors

Hmmm, pot smokers must not be affected by "Terra Terra Terra" the way the powers that be would like the masses to be affected and rendered dumb... or just plain rendered.

[Odin2005]

26. Correlation does not equal causation

It could just as easily be the other way around, being at risk of being schizophrenia for some reason makes you more likely to choose to use pot.

[Kazak]

27. Meanwhile, alcohol continues to cause temporary madness in every single person with every singe use.

:shrug: