The Cannabis Catastrophe (Pot softens brains: Stoners don't care)

The Daily Mail [UK] ^ | January 26 2003 | Melanie Phillips

[Devil_Anse]

Ah, yes. I can almost smell the...incense.

Gee, now I'm reminiscing about when I used to glide through rooms full of fellow students sitting in circles on the floor, listening to "Bleeker Street Theatre" on KAAY...

It's better than thinking about Boone's Farm. Just the thought of it makes me want to, er, run for the border.

[Cultural Jihad]

Introduction to The Assassin Legends

"The Assassin legends, rooted in the general hostility of the Muslims towards the Ismailis and the Europeans’ own fanciful impressions of the Orient, evolved persistently and systematically during the Middle Ages. In time, these legends were taken, even by serious western chroniclers, to represent accurate descriptions of the practices of an enigmatic eastern community."

[tacticalogic]

"A direct link is indicated" is a long way from proof. I don't buy that from the environmentalists or the food police, either. I've got reason to doubt the veracity of the article, and have provided it. You haven't given me any reason to take it at face value.

[little jeremiah]

Yeah, right. Drug addicts are an emblem of "freedom". Did you notice my comment about ending the social welfare "safety net" and most drug addicts will either quit drugs or die. Add elimination of my money going to those who don't want to work, and that will go a long way to ending the drug problem.

I like my solution, druggies can still have pot and opium.

Freedom and license aren't the same thing.

[little jeremiah]

What about those of us with black thumbs?

Then learn to garden. Good for the character.

[Doc On The Bay]

"GASP!!"--

You MAY HAVE "Stumbled Upon" one of the "Great Mysteries" of Life!!

Doc

[Wolfie]

Ha! Yeah, the BS is flowing hot and heavy in the UK, due to the reclassification upcoming on Thursday. More reefer madness, but then, what can you expect?

[Land of the Free 04]

‘After a couple of weeks, I found it was addictive’, she said.

Significantly less addictive than alcohol, actually. Shall we ban that, too?

[Land of the Free 04]

I found this at the BMJ website More evidence establishes clear link between use of cannabis and psychiatric illness

"Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is the most common co-occurring disorder in people with schizophrenia."
Co-Occurring Alcohol Use Disorder and Schizophrenia
Robert E. Drake, M.D., Ph.D., and Kim T. Mueser, Ph.D.
Alcohol Research and Health, Volume 26, Number 2, 2002
http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh26-2/99-102.pdf

Shall we ban alcohol, too?

[mac_truck]

Cannibis and Mental Health:

"In the 1990s the use of cannabis increased much among young people so that it is now becoming more common than tobacco smoking in some countries.1-2 The ready availability of the drug, the increasing social disapproval of cigarette smoking, stern drink driving laws, and perceptions that cannabis is safe or less harmful than cigarettes or alcohol may explain these changes. The increase in use is of concern because cannabis may be a gateway to other drugs,3 and it may cause psychiatric illnesses. The link between cannabis and psychosis is well established, and recent studies have found a link between use of marijuana and depression."

There's a causal relationship between pot and schizophrenia. Sorry if that ruins your buzz.

[wireman]

The person cited in this ridiculous article was a loser long before weed appeared in her life.

I'm a Scotch and beer man myself, but this is pure hogwash.

[Land of the Free 04]

Cannibis and Mental Health:

You didn't answer my question:

"Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is the most common co-occurring disorder in people with schizophrenia."
Co-Occurring Alcohol Use Disorder and Schizophrenia
Robert E. Drake, M.D., Ph.D., and Kim T. Mueser, Ph.D.
Alcohol Research and Health, Volume 26, Number 2, 2002
http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/arh26-2/99-102.pdf

Shall we ban alcohol, too?

"The link between cannabis and psychosis is well established"

Bunk. The first of the citations for this claim says quite differently:

"While this study provides some of the strongest evidence for a link between cannabis and psychosis, methodological concerns have been raised. These include the temporal gap between self-reported cannabis use at conscription and later schizophrenia, the potential confounding role of other substance use (particularly as amphetamines were a major drug of abuse during the study period), the adequacy of psychological assessment at conscription, and the reliability of self-reported drug use at conscription. [...]

"A number of hypotheses have been proposed to explain the prevalence of cannabis use in schizophrenia. Apart from the causation/precipitation role, it has been suggested that cannabis is used as self-medication for psychotic or dysphoric symptoms, or to ameliorate the side effects of antipsychotic drugs. Alternatively, the relationship may reflect the common peaks of onset of schizophrenia and cannabis use (particularly as prevalence samples are seldom compared with age- or sex-matched general population controls), or the role of underlying factors such as demographic differences."

[Wolfie]

Facts are pesky things, especially for the propagandists.

[tacticalogic]

The nice folks over at HCI tell me the link between having a handgun in your home, and an increased probablility of someone in your home committing suicide is well established. They seem to think this entitles them to claim a causal affect between gun ownership and suicide. Can you tell me people should buy your arguments, but not theirs?

[Wolfie]

Obviously, some are ignorant of the meaning of the term "causal".

[CygnusXI]

My 2 cents?

I smoked pot daily when I was 17. I quit cold turkey to enter the military. I got all of the withdrawal symtoms; insomnia, lack of appetite, DEPRESSION-- Major depression.

Maybe depression was latent in me? Maybe being so young I was hit harder by the effects? I don't know.

What I do know, is that that feeling/experience of depression has always been with me since. Like a smoker of cigarettes who quits, KNOWING what smoking feels like is always there and therefore so is the danger of relapse.

Say what you will, I believe if I had never started smoking pot, I would not have had such and intense depressive episode, and would not be prone to them currently.

Am I just like that, or did pot make some connection/disconnect that could have otherwise never surfaced? No clue, but I wish I never started...

[robertpaulsen]

And Paul is barefoot and out of step with the other Beatles which means ..... HE'S DEAD!

Remember that one?

[robertpaulsen]

"A number of hypotheses have been proposed to explain the prevalence of cannabis use in schizophrenia."

No doubt. But isn't this about the prevalence of schizophrenia in cannabis users?

[Land of the Free 04]

"Perhaps the more worrying question is whether cannabis causes chronic psychosis, particularly schizophrenia."

[justshutupandtakeit]

Is he a reefer smoker?