Posted on 03/20/2019 8:54:13 PM PDT by george76
Alex Berenson .. people who think marijuana is medicine and a safe alternative to alcohol are fooling themselves...
The industrys money and political influence, along with the medias acquiescence, have obscured the scientific links between marijuana and mental illness...
The problems are real and right in front of people, he told a crowd at the History Colorado Center in Denver on Wednesday. It was his third Colorado talk in two days to discuss his new book, Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence.
Its like we all need glasses. ... The connection to psychosis is real.
...
Berenson cited a new study published in The Lancet Psychiatry journal that found people who use cannabis daily are three times more likely than non-users to eventually have a psychotic episode. Those who use high-potency pot are four times more likely, and those who starting getting high before age 15 carry even more risk, the study found.
This is more evidence that the link between cannabis and psychosis matters, Krista M. Lisdahl, a clinical neuropsychologist at the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, told National Public Radio.
Berensons book makes the case that not enough has been done scientifically to explore whether pot poses serious mental health risks for its users, especially younger ones.
The author, a father of two and husband of a forensic psychiatrist, said the data tells him that pot could lead to psychosis and schizophrenia for heavy users.
...
I was a pretty good investigative reporter, because I often saw the way companies would deceive, especially when theres money on the line, he said. I mention that because I think this story of cannabis legalization is a story of deception, but its also sort of self-deception.
(Excerpt) Read more at gazette.com ...
The short answer is that smoked or ingested POT is NOT a "medicine". Like alcohol whatever good it might do is far offset by the harm it does. The ONLY medicine that is derived from pot IS Marinol (and to be frank I'm not sure that they don't use synthetic THC for that). So there is no NEED for pot to make ANY medicine. So your question is moot and based on nothing but desire to pretend that pot is medicine.
So only the most effective drug for any given condition should be legal?
The short answer is that smoked or ingested POT is NOT a "medicine".
Still no answer to my question (in boldface above).
The Lancet Psychiatry journal
Does it seem odd to anyone else that the
journal of Psychiatry is called the Lancet?
Considering just the last century, and all that faith, drowning in rivers of blood, we're going to have to stumble along without trying to second guess Him.
By all means, you keep on keeping on, but...
I don’t have a choice. Except that I ‘love my brother’ as instructed, I - we! - wind up in the position of dealing with individuals based upon a chaos of many very subjective opinions of their worth . (Your worthless drug addict is somebody else’s beloved daughter, son, father, etc. - and who knows what they may mean to God?)
Better to assume that it’s our duty to help troubled people when we can and continue to try and order a society where they receive help, improve, and find meaning.
I wonder if it’s really all the drug, or if there’s also a powerful psychological habituation to a *perceived* comfort, and especially to the rituals surrounding it.
Things can be displaced. A lot of people have had success with nicotine gum, and then weaning themselves off of the gum with regular chewing gum.
The people I’ve known who have used patches or oral varenicline have had bad nightmares; and some became very forgetful and lost concentration. I haven’t heard stories like that with regard to the gum.
(Disclaimer: this is all anecdotal - I’m not a doc, and to the best of my memory I’ve never stayed in a Holiday Inn :-)
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