Cannabis Use Not Linked with Psychosocial Harm

The Lancet ^ | 17 May, 2004 | Charnicia E. Huggins

[CSM]

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Various reports indicate that young people who use cannabis tend to experience psychological and social problems. However, there is no evidence that marijuana use is directly linked with such problems, according to the results of a study published in The Lancet.

"Currently, there is no strong evidence that use of cannabis of itself causes psychological or social problems," such as mental illness or school failure, lead study author Dr. John Macleod of the University of Birmingham in the UK told Reuters Health.

"There is a great deal of evidence that cannabis use is associated with these things, but this association could have several explanations," he said, citing factors such as adversity in early life, which may itself be associated with cannabis use and psychosocial problems.

Macleod and his team reviewed 48 long-term studies, 16 of which provided the highest quality information about the association between illicit drug use reported by people 25 years old or younger and later psychological or social problems. Most of the drug-specific results involved cannabis use.

One consistent finding among the studies was that young people who reported using cannabis were more likely to have attained a lower educational level than their non-cannabis using peers. Cannabis users were also more likely to report an increased use of other illicit drugs.

On the other hand, cannabis use was not consistently associated with violent or antisocial behavior, or with psychological problems.

"We are not saying cannabis is harmless, we are saying the evidence is inconclusive," Macleod told Reuters Health.

"Claims about the dangers of cannabis are often overstated," according to editorialist Dr. Franjo Grotenhermen of the Nova-Institut GmbH, Germany.

However, "there is reason to believe that cannabis can cause psychological and social harm to young people even if the causal association is not proven yet," he told Reuters Health. "Cannabis use may also cause physical harms including respiratory problems and cancer."

Still, Grotenhermen, executive director of the International Association for Cannabis as Medicine (IACM), argues against complete prohibition of cannabis use.

"Alcohol prohibition was not very successful in reducing consumption and was very harmful to society," he said. "It seems that cannabis prohibition also does not work very well."

"Cannabis prohibition does not seem to reduce consumption," he added, and it may "drive otherwise law-obeyeing young people into illegal activities."

In January of this year, Britain relaxed its laws against cannabis, downgrading the drug from class B to the "lower risk" C category, the same category used for steroids and antidepressants.

Under the new law, adults over the age of 17 who are caught smoking or in possession of a small amount of marijuana or hashish are not necessarily arrested or fined. Arrests are made for underage users, however, and penalties for growing and dealing in the drug have both been toughened to a maximum 14 years in prison.

This change in British law, "is a sensible attempt to balance the possible harms caused by cannabis and its prohibition," Grotenhermen writes.

Recent study findings indicate that marijuana use among adults in the United States remained stable in the 1990s, at about 4 percent. Marijuana abuse and dependence rose to 1.5 percent from 1.2 percent, however, possibly because the prevalence of more potent drugs.

SOURCE: The Lancet, May 15, 2004.

[BenLurkin]

BECAUSE I GOT HIGH
By: Afroman

I was gonna clean my room, until I got high
I was gonna get up and find the broom, But then I got high
My room is still messed up And I know why, (why man) 'cuz I got high
Because I got high
Because I got high

I was gonna go to class, before I got high
I coulda' cheated and I coulda passed, but I got high
I'm taking it next semester and I know why, (why man) 'cuz I got high
Because I got high
Because I got high

I was gonna go to work, but then I got high
I just got a new promotion, but I got high
Now I'm selling dope and I know why, (why man) 'cuz I got high
Because I got high
Because I got high

I was gonna go to court, before I got high
I was gonna pay my child support, but then I got high (No you weren't)
They took my whole pay check, and I know why, (why man) 'cuz I got high,
Because I got high
Because I got high

I wasn't gonna run from the cops but I was high, (I'm serious man)
I was gonna pull right over and stop, but I was high
Now I'm a paraplegic, and I know why, (why man) 'cuz I got high
Because I got high
Because I got high

I messed up my entire life, because I got high
I lost my kids and wife , because I got high
Now I'm sleeping on the sidewalk, and I know why, (why man) 'cuz I got high, because I got high, because I got high

I'm gonna stop singing this song, because I'm high
I'm singing this whole thing wrong, because I'm high
And if I don't sell one copy I know why, (why man) 'cuz I'm high,
because I'm high, because I'm high

[billorites]

In graduate school I worked in local emergency rooms doing psychiatric evaluations of ER patients.

Saw a tremendous number of cocaine and crack cases, lots of heroin, pills, methamphetamine, you name it.

And always, tons and tons of drunks.

Never did anyone present where the primary problem was cannabis intoxication. Now many people were stoned on pot, but something else was the primary reason that they came to the ER.

I suspect that the pot heads are so passive that they don't do the things that get them arrested and brought to the ER.

They're probably crashed on the couch eating Oreos and watching Pokemon.

[George Smiley]

See!

I TOLD you that marijuana wouldn't cause...

uhh....

err...

ummm...

What was the question again?

[zook]

I was going to post a rebuttal to this whack job of a study, but after I read yours there was no need! Thanks.

[Unknowing]

No matter WHAT it takes, we have got to get the psychosocial harm OFF THE STREETS!

[Steve_Seattle]

"Currently, there is no strong evidence that use of cannabis of itself causes psychological or social problems . . ."

"There is a great deal of evidence that cannabis use is associated with these things, but this association could have several explanations," he said.

Waffle time.

[Phantom Lord]

Pot heads, unlike drunks never start a sentence with "Hey guys, watch this!"

[BenLurkin]

"Dave's not here man!"

[ClearCase_guy]

If the question is: "Does Cannabis use lead to psychotic breakdowns, or directly cause ER visits?" Then, you are correct, it does not seem to do this.

Psychosocial harm? If the question is: "Does Cannabis use decrease ambition and drive? Does it reduce the user's social skills? Does it correlate to missed classes or days at work, thereby contributing to lower social status and earning power?" I'd say this sort of psychosocial harm is rampant. But, no, ER visits do not correlate.

[tbird5]

Pot is such a boring drug, in no time the user looks for something else.

[Wolfie]

Marijuana abuse and dependence rose to 1.5 percent from 1.2 percent, however, possibly because the prevalence of more potent drugs.

No. They simply began counting more people (namely, anyone arrested in connection with marijuana).

[haywoodwebb]

KEEP SMOKIN' THAT STUFF
AND YOU'LL BE LIVIN' IN A VAN
DOWN BY THE RIVER!!!

[tallhappy]

The source for this article is not the Lancet. This is a Reuters news article from the British Reuters site about an article published in the Lancet.

But rest assured, I'm sure that being a clueless dope unable to comprehend or sort out even simple things, such as what web site and article you've been to and read, is not a psychosocial problem.

[BenLurkin]

[TheSpottedOwl]

I've read where drug use indicates a pre existing condition, and the user is subconciously attempting to self medicate.

Having said that, pass the nachos!

[VisualizeSmallerGovernment]

You mean those people were going to act the exact same way WITHOUT pot? Scary.

[marty60]

Maybe a visit to some RAL pot heads "homes" would sober your thought processes up a little. Filthy children, filthy homes, job jobs(min wage ofcourse). Yeah their passive alright. to passive to even live a half way decent life. Looking for the next bag.

[kjvail]

Come visit the prison I worked in for 2 years or the work release center I work in now and tell me t doesn't cause any psychosocial harm'

Potheads love their dope. They will concoct all kinds of rationalizations and defenses to justify their use. I know, I was one for many years now I work with addicts of all stripes daily and have for 6 years.

[marty60]

And candidates for the POT Hall of Fame, Bill Clinton, Brother Clinton (oh yeah, I hear he's a dead beat DAD out in CA., John Kerry et al. Don't you just love it, that passive BJ Thing brought us obl and the war on terror, and now that passive J FinKerry wants to finish us off. Toke away man.