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Psychotic tendencies: A man wearing cannabis-leaf-design shades attends the Freedom March in central Kiev, Ukraine in May. The marchers were demanding the legalisation of the use of marijuana. Credit: AFP PARIS: The widest-yet investigation into cannabis and mental health says individuals who use marijuana increase their risk of developing a psychotic illness by more than 40 per cent. Reporting in the latest issue of British medical journal The Lancet, doctors call on health authorities to warn young people about the risk to their mind from a drug that many today dismiss as harmless and recreational. Their conclusions are founded on a review of 35 published studies that explored the frequency of schizophrenia, delusions, hallucinations, thought disorder and other psychotic illnesses among marijuana users. All in the mind The study found that those who had used the drug were 41 per cent likelier to experience an episode of this kind than people who never smoked. The risk increased relative to use, with the most frequent users twice as likely to have these symptoms compared with non-users. The study also looked at the risk of depression, anxiety and other emotional states, but declared the evidence for any link to cannabis was unclear. The authors said that, despite their best efforts, they couldn't rule out the possibility that their study was affected by "confounding factors" that typically dog research into cannabis. The biggest of these problems is whether cannabis can in fact be blamed for causing mental ill health – or whether cannabis smokers with these problems were already unwell before they used the drug. But the review says the weight of evidence has now come down clearly in favour of warning youngsters, the biggest users of cannabis, that the drug can lead to mental illness. Psychotic illness Doctors Theresa Moore of the University of Bristol in England, and Stanley Zammit of Cardiff University in Wales led the research. "Despite the inevitable uncertainty, policymakers need to provide the public with advice about this widely-used drug," the researchers wrote. "We believe that there is now enough evidence to inform people that using cannabis could increase their risk of developing a psychotic illness later in life." Their study stresses that the risk of schizophrenia and other chronic psychotic disorders, even in people who use cannabis regularly, is statistically low, with a less-than one-in-33 possibility in the course of a lifetime. Even so, "cannabis use can be expected to have a substantial effect on psychotic disorders at a population level because exposure to this drug is so common," they said. In the case of Britain, about 40 per cent of young adults and adolescents have used cannabis, according to figures cited in the study. By extrapolation, around 14 per cent of cases of psychotic episodes among young British adults would be avoided if cannabis were not consumed, the paper contends. Long-term perspective Seeking to get a long-term perspective, the pair's review excluded "transient" effects – that is, the immediate effect on the mind when the drug was being smoked – and looked only at cases that had been diagnosed as psychotic by an expert. In addition, Moore and Zammit ruled out studies that covered people with addictions or previous mental problems, medicinal use of cannabis and prison populations. The authors admitted, though, that it might be impossible to establish for sure whether cannabis causes psychosis on the basis of current methods. The big problem for researchers is that cannabis is illegal, which means that the strength and dose of active ingredient varies, in contrast for instance to the well-known dose of nicotine in tobacco, which is legally regulated. Testing cannabis on the mind would run into huge legal and ethical hurdles. So researchers are mainly left with the option of comparing groups of cannabis users against groups of non-users – with the hope that "confounding factors" do not undermine the exercise. Readers' comments
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IT'S CALLED LEARNING FROM EXPERIANCE
Here we go again, I really do feel sad that we seem to live in a society where by all we here is “A new study suggests” I come from a middle class background with two parents who grew up in the era of (Mod’ s and Rockers) and by all accounts spent most of the 60’s/70’s stoned out of there faces having a good time on this stuff, funny how we don’t have millions upon millions of crazy people running around these days seeing as millions and millions of people spent the entire 60’s and 70’s stoned.
LET’S LOOK TO THE PAST FOR ANSWERS, IT'S CALLED LEARNING FROM EXPERIANCE
You then here the argument “It wasn’t as strong in those days” no but then again they did spend every waking moment on the stuff, “enough with the cotton wool culture” I’m feeling suffocated by this Intolerable Government and the Inane Dolts that work for them in the media.
The biggest killer of Buman Beings is STRESS, All these people in the media and Government seem to want tyo do is cause stress, "Kill us"
PS. Both my parents are Barristers “doing quite well actually” and we still sometimes sit around and have a nice fat juicy spiff
LET’S LOOK TO THE PAST FOR ANSWERS, IT'S CALLED LEARNING BY EXPERIANCE
Another marijuana scare
The key point in this study is the statement: "The biggest of these problems is whether cannabis can in fact be blamed for causing mental ill health – or whether cannabis smokers with these problems were already unwell before they used the drug."
My son has had these problems and he was a big pot smoker. So was his mother, ex-hippie that I am, and I haven't had any psychosis. His grandmother, however, did and never smoked a joint in her life.
My unalterable belief – and my son's and his doctors' – is that he smoked for self-medication.
Another marijuana scare
Thank you, must admit I was on one' yesterday, your point and experiences are very poignant to me, I’m sorry for your son’s problems, but as you say many people turn to cannabis for this exact reason, I myself did the same thing as an ADHD teen and after several job sackings, I found the odd joint calmed me down and my social life and working life settled into a stable fulcrum, it’s just when to know were to slow down and keep things in moderation.
True, ture, it's always very
True, ture, it's always very diffcult to measure the influence of hidden variables/factors and jump to premature conclusions. Like in this case.
My favourite example is the study that showed connection between number of storks per sq. km and birth ratio. One might say that it's the storks that bring children ; ) My explanation would be that you have higher number of storks in rural areas where also you can find bigger multigenerational families with large number of children etc...but who would care about that when you've got some stats at hand and easy to obtain results. Other example is the study that shows that the higher number of fireman the higher arson rate etc.
Hydro and loss of purpose
Be careful not to put all users in the same group as your hippy parents. I'm glad to hear they are doing well and that you get together to enjoy a huge party joint from time to time. Perhaps I'd be on the nay side too if that were my experience. It's not.
I've watched helplessly as my son has destroyed his brain over the past seven years. He started on hydro at 14 and has smoked it for hours each week since then. He says bush just doesn't give him the same hit.
I've seen this poison create depression, seizures, memory loss, destruction of his confidence, and difficulty communicating. He hasn't had a girlfriend for three years because he "doesn't have anything to say to a woman" - not surprising when he spends all his free time stoned.
Recently, my two best girlfriends both lost a child - one to an epileptic seizure (18 year old son) and one to cancer (22 year old daughter). Neither drug related. Weirdly they were 'coincidentally' buried beside each other and it's hard to get the picture of their graves out of my mind.
The loss of two bright young people who had so much to give just makes it more difficult to watch the slow death of my own child who has nothing to give anyone.
The hydroponic marijuana
The hydroponic marijuana mostly available today is far more potent than during the hippie era. My son is usually off his face on pot most days and is sinking into paranoia and mental health problems that are smashing my family to smithereens. It can be a VERY dangerous drug to those prone to genetic mental health problems. The worst part is that unless you have private health insurance, there is NO HELP available. Peace man? Not for this family.
what you attempt to keep down will one day bite you in the ass
i am a woman who has experienced acute marijuana psychosis in it's most terrifying form. while it hurts and confuses those around one, the person undergoing the most trauma is the one inside the actual psychosis.it is rare to find people who know how to communicate about the realness of the actual experience and don't turn cannabis-induced psychosis into a sole blaming-of-the-drug rationalisation. we tend to look at people outside of ourselves that are psychotic and do our very best to control our never having to become them. rather than seeing such people as a potential reality of our own that we need to be comfortable with. craziness has real relevance. there are definately powerful elements of growth that exist in an experience of `otherworldliness'. to negate the realness of the worlds people occupy when in a psychotic state only further isolates the experiencer and continues to develop a type of psychoanalytic language that is lacking in its scope. i am not afraid of marijuana. i am not afraid of craziness. all potentiality for losing one's way always has and always will lie within ones own hands. i am pro full freedom of choice, pro stigma removal and pro communication around the realness of psychosis.bring on legalisation.
smoking dope
every body does it and so do i its about knowing when to smoke it. u need to be around people u are comfortable with and do not smoke it in times of learning ie; school or work. then u can quit easeyley go throw your life smoking say every weekend with no problems at all.
It sounds like your son is
It sounds like your son is on some other stuff besides some good old ganja. It is true that it is more potent today then back in the 60s but marijuana doesn't increase your risk for mental health issues and in fact has been shown in studies to decrease aggression. Also, since it is not addictive all a person has to do is stop using it for a few weeks and see if the mental health issues go away. But remember that if we took every medical study seriously we would probably be a lot worse off than if we just used good judgement and moderation with the health issues that came along. Remember Atkins?
Mental, yes it is...
I know many people whom have used and still use pot daily for nearly their whole lives. With being with them and watching what goes on when "high" on pot, the only mental strain is whether to eat nacho cheese chips or pop corn. The paranoia that is experienced is because the pot is SO looked down upon that it is fear of being discovered with it that's the mental issue.
Brain Damage
Marijuana is psychoactive because it stimulates certain brain receptors, but it does not produce toxins that kill them (like alcohol), and it does not wear them out as other drugs may. There is no evidence that marijuana use causes brain damage. Studies performed on actual human populations will confirm these results, even for chronic marijuana users (up to 18 joints per day) after many years of use.
In fact, following the publication of two 1977 JAMA studies, the American Medical Association (AMA) officially announced its support for the decriminalization of marijuana.
In reality, marijuana has the effect of slightly increasing alpha-wave activity in your brain. Alpha waves are generally associated with meditative and relaxed states, which are, in turn, often associated with human creativity. (see http://www.askmen.com/sports/health/20_mens_health.html)
That is just one of the many sites that counter the cheap shot to cannabis. I'm good friends with a user that has been "high" for 13 years straight but he quit about 2 weeks ago..cold turkey, mind you; has no withdraw symptoms or signs of GOIN CRAZY MAN WAHHHHH! The thing that makes the patients mental is the fact that they are used as lab rats rather then studied in their natural environment. (Bong in hand and some chill music playin)
I must say that you people almost sound convincing but lack experience. 40%? you must mean .000040% IF you think you're addicted, IF you think it's a gateway drug, IF you think it ruins relationships, IT'S all in your head; only you can determine if it is any of those. But in all reality, if you have any will power at all or any mental grasp then you will realize that only YOU can make it addicting.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/medical-marijuana/GA00014
http://www.webmd.com/news/20030829/medical-marijuana-slowly-gains-ground
http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/medical-marijuana.shtml
Check those sites out too if you like.
Why aren't we working toward making cigarettes illegal or alcohol, the things proven to kill you and make you mental??