Marijuana: Legalization May Lead to Increased Psychosis
John on November 30, 2009 at 10:50 pm
There has been a subtle shift from the Obama administration toward turning a blind eye to pot aka medical marijuana. Unfortunately, pot isn’t as harmless as it may have been a decade ago. From the Daily Mail:
Ultra-potent skunk cannabis is seven times more likely to trigger psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia than traditional hash, a study has warned.
The research, by the highly-respected Institute of Psychiatry in London, will deepen concerns over the safety of cannabis amid political controversy over its criminal status.
Dr Marta Di Forti, who led the research, said: ‘Our study is the first to demonstrate the risk of psychosis is much greater among frequent cannabis users, especially among those using skunk, rather than among occasional users of traditional hash…
In South-East London, where the study was carried out, the THC content of hash is less than 4 per cent but in skunk it is 18 per cent.
In the past two years skunk has come to dominate the cannabis market, with its price dropping to under £5 a gram.
Some experts believe skunk is so potent it should be treated differently from other types of cannabis and put on a par with Class A drugs such as cocaine and Ecstasy.
Just what we need, a generation of paranoid psychotics that we’ll all have to care for once the newly legalized drug destroys their brains. Seriously, what’s the solution? Do we need a proof rating for pot?
Granted, alcoholism is a serious condition that can result from overuse of legal alcohol. However when the alcoholic is sober he is generally speaking no danger to others. Psychotic behavior or schizophrenia on the other hand would seem to be a permanent condition. Once the brain is damaged the individual becomes a danger to himself and others unless properly medicated. Obviously many alcoholics recover and go sober via self-help or 12 step groups. This isn’t an option for schizophrenics.
Addendum: Commenter Tristan doesn’t like my use of the Daily Mail as a source. Please select the source of your choice:
- BBC – Skunk ‘bigger psychosis risk’ than other cannabis types
- Guardian – Skunk users face greater risk of psychosis, researchers warn
- Telegraph - Skunk linked to huge increase in risk of psychotic disease
- ABC – Smoking Skunk Raises Risk of Psychosis, Study Finds
- BJPsych – Here’s the title page for the study itself. I’m not buying it, but you can.
Category: Health & Education |
Let me get this straight: You’re relying on the Daily Mail, a UK rag that makes the National Enquirer look like the New York Times, to objectively report a story? A story about Psychiatry, which starts burning like a vampire when people use phrases like “experiment”, “falsifiable data”, “raw data” and “transparency”. I leave it to you to Google up the NUMEROUS examples of politics and Eugenics in the history of Psychiatry. Start with Homosexuality.
So, with no cites for your readers to verify, you start spouting off about the evils of marijuana. And you hand wave about the NUMBER ONE killer drug: Alcohol. It kills more people every year than all the other drugs combined (See: http://www.cdc.gov/NCHS/data/nvsr/nvsr57/nvsr57_14.pdf) and you wander by it and declare that skunk marijuana is a more dangerous threat.
You know, take a clue form those roasting CRU: If you want to make a claim, back it up with something. A news article is not a Primary Source.
December 1, 2009 @ 3:34 amTristan,
Alcohol is legal. No doubt we could reduce those numbers if we made it illegal. The question is whether we should make cannabis legal.
As for sources, see my addendum to the post.
December 1, 2009 @ 7:12 amalthough they may have some evidence that pot does cause some form of psychosis not all of us that smoke pot are mentally challenged. im a frequent smoker, i smoke about a half oz. a day. i have a 89.98 GPA and havent failed a single class since i started smoking i have a job a finance and a stable home life. there wont be anyone taking care of me because i have chose to smoke responsibly and not a burden to society.
December 1, 2009 @ 10:28 amFirst of all, keeping marijuana illegal does NOT prevent people from smoking it – a hundred million Americans have smoked marijuana and every single day 6,000 people use it for the first time.
Secondly, if marijuana really does cause psychosis then we’d be able to observe a statistically significant correlation between the use of marijuana and the prevalence of psychosis. But we can’t. There is no correlation between the two.
And finally, by keeping marijuana illegal we’re preventing legitimate businesses from undercutting cartel prices and eliminating their marijuana incomes. According to the ONDCP two-thirds of the cartel’s incomes derive from selling marijuana in the U.S. Last year the cartels murdered more than 6,000 people in order to protect this income – many of their victims were children, police officers and politicians. This year they’re on track to kill at least 7,000 people.
Keeping marijuana illegal causes the brutal murder of thousands of people every year. Legalizing it will end these murders and make it significantly harder for minors to obtain. The respected Dr Di Forti would be sure to consider that a good thing.
And one last thing, marinol’s 100% THC and it’s LEGAL.
December 1, 2009 @ 11:14 amCongratulations John,
You have become part of the uninformed lie spreaders that facts and intelligent people are discovering the real truth about.
Keep up the great work you Tard.
December 1, 2009 @ 4:14 pmI gots to smoke my weed cuz I’s a genius. Any sucka who say it ain’t so, don’t know their butt from a hot rock. Forget science man, I’s think it be bad. Look at me, I’s smoke my reefer and my hero is still Jethro from the Beverly Hillbillies. Gots to go and smoke another bowl. Who say I’s a risk to da world? And John, stop using facts man, it be putting me on a bum trip.
December 1, 2009 @ 6:04 pmJohn,
I think you ought to read “McMafia.”
Basically, prohibition of drugs does nothing to stem supply or demand. What it does do is enrich illicit black-market actors who then use the proceeds from drug sales to buy corruption and to branch out into other areas (sexual slavery, for instance).
We failed to prohibit alcohol and we’ll fail to prohibit marijuana and other drugs. We’re 30 years into the War on Drugs and drug prices are lower than ever. Frankly, I find the argument that drugs are kept illegal to enrich the prison-industrial complex to be highly credible. There’s no reason half of our prison population ought to be non-violent drug offenders.
Never having smoked marijuana, I can’t comment on its effects. But I do know that alcohol is not harmless and its consumption is correlated with violence. In fact, the biggest lobby behind keeping drugs illegal are the alcohol and tobacco lobbies.
The worst effects I’ve seen from heavy pot usage amongst people I’ve known are stupidity and laziness. Big deal.
December 1, 2009 @ 11:04 pmPR, do you have kids? Just curious. I think this is a factor on how one views this issue. I used to view this much as you do, but with a teenage son, I now appreciate the efforts of law enforcement to keep drugs off the street as much as possible. I know it’s a lost cause, and a tremendous expenditure of resources. (And a source of a lot of violent crime.)
But I fear how our society would further devolve if we openly sanction the use of dangerous and/or addicting drugs.
I guess I don’t feel as strongly about marijuana, but at the same time I’ve never met a pot smoker that’s inspired me in any way to take up their cause. And this thread has only reinforced this for me.
December 1, 2009 @ 11:27 pmI do take Tristan’s point – the Mail isn’t famous for putting accuracy above sensationalism in its reporting of science, although here they seem to have done a good job.
Isn’t the point of this article, though, about the difference between regular cannabis and skunk? FWIW, I can’t see any administration legalising cannabis.
December 2, 2009 @ 1:40 amlegalize it, dont criticize it. !!
December 2, 2009 @ 1:41 am1 due in less than 3 months.
Wait for it…
There it is.
You’ve gotta decide which you’d rather have: a money pipeline for violent criminals or decriminalization. Do you have a daughter? These guys take their drug money and expand into other operations (kidnapping, sexual slavery, etc). You’ve gotta make a choice.
Our society can’t devolve anymore than it already has. We’re at rock bottom already.
Pot doesn’t really fit the category of a “dangerous” drug. It is the major cash crop for the cartels. They’re growing it all over the place in California. Why should we let them make money through our insane drug policies.
I would agree. They’re generally brainless. “Legalize it, don’t criticize it!” LOL.
You don’t need to support decriminalization for the reasons they mention, though. Depriving violent animals of a major revenue stream is reason enough. The government can’t and won’t protect you from these people once they get more powerful. Look at Mexico now.
December 2, 2009 @ 9:34 amI think those in favor of legalization, at least in this thread, indeed do not seem to be helping the cause.
In response to Jillian:
It is legal, with a doctor’s script. But, Marinol is not 100% THC in strength. It is made completely out of a synthetic THC (perhaps this is your “100%”?) compound known as delta-9-THC. The RX doseage is only given in 24% and 8%, so it is those percentages that you should be referencing when drawing comparisons to skunk’s 18%, not the use of 100%.
I wonder if there are studies linking psychosis to Marinol? Since the 24% RX dose is stronger than skunk mentioned above, you would think we’d be able to find a correlation if there is one.
December 2, 2009 @ 11:52 amThere are some good conservatives who favor legalization. PR is right that there is an argument that we’d be better of regulating it and cutting the legs out from under the cartels.
That may be true of the less potent forms, but the whole point of this study is that the newer breed is something different. It’s like the difference between beer and grain alcohol. You can do something stupid either way, but the hard stuff gets you there quicker and may (if the study is verified) have more lasting effects.
December 2, 2009 @ 1:00 pmIn my B.C. days I smoked the evil reefer and drank booze to excess. The comparison between the two drugs isn’t even close. My gross and fine motor skills were greatly impaired with booze, not so with weed. The next day hangovers from booze were far worse than the lethargy I felt the day after smoking pot.
By the way, if I ever get cancer and have to undergo chemo, I’ll be all over the reefer like a bum on a baloney sandwich. It’s what saved my buddies life when he had Hodgin’s Disease.
December 2, 2009 @ 9:24 pmJim, I’m presuming your B.C. days were before the advent of Skunk? I think that’s the major point of this research – many parents (myself included) smoked a little weed in their youth, and would tend to view it in their own children as perhaps unwise, but nothing to crack down on too hard. What is widely available these days is a totally different thing, much more potent and dangerous than either you or I will have experienced.
December 3, 2009 @ 2:22 amValid medicinal value, it’s a victimless crime, the War on Drugs WAY too costly, too many arrests for simple possession, tax it and use the money to pay for health insurance and to reduce the deficit…Need I say more?
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December 3, 2009 @ 8:38 amRFWoodstock
PRCalDude,
I don’t have kids, but if I did, I would worry more about drinking in front of them than smoking a joint. If I had a teen who came home smelling of alcohol, I would ground them for a month. Smelling of cigarette smoke, I would ground them for three months. Smelling of weed? I would sit down and have a long heart-to-heart talk with them about the responsibility that goes along with marijuana use and how we need to respect it as the gift from God it is. I see people talk about how marijuana should remain illegal and then go home and drink themselves to a stupor and yell at their kids. What great parenting! Would this happen with a marijuana using parent? No, because marijuana doesn’t effect a person like that. It makes a person more loving and caring, while drinking makes a person think of only themselves. To everyone who has any experience at all with marijuana, the stigma attached to it’s use is a joke.
We need to release the stigma attached to smoking marijuana. Only then will we be able to open our minds enough to let the truth get in. Marijuana will and should be legal, but it’s people like you who so blatantly throw the truth off to the side only to lap up the lies and propaganda. It’s going to be hilarious fifty years from now when kids today are sitting down with their own grandchildren and telling tales of when pot was illegal and all the idiots who fought it tooth and nail when, in the end, it will end up being the best thing that ever happened to this country.
December 3, 2009 @ 2:13 pm