TROLL said:
ahh i c..
Cannabis Use Not Linked To So-Called "Amotivational Syndrome"
Interesting if true, which is quite possible. However, have you honestly seen this in your daily life? Compare the people you know who smoke weed to the people who don't. You and I both know, the nonsmokers are generally the more ambitious and more accomplished people. There are, of course, exceptions, like my homeboy in capital who blows like Bob Marley and various other assorted groups of people.
But I don't think anyone would doubt that if you put all the dank smokers in the world vs. all the non dank smokers, the nonsmokers would clearly come out on top in terms of life achievement, quality of life, etc.
Now you COULD argue that people who have shitty lives, people who have low end jobs, ex-cons, etc. are just more likely to smoke dank anyways, which I would probly agree with. But thats a different issue.
but u cant draw a connection with potential psychoses and nervous disorders and the solo use of marijuana, unless u know something chemist's and scientists dont...
I used to smoke and sell and I could tell you a million health benefits of weed. I didn't know about that shit either until my homeboy flipped out and had to go get seen. After he came back from being evaluated he related that his psychologist told him about the link and I checked it out.
The link between schizophrenia and various assorted nervous disorders and weed has been well known for quite some time.
Depression and Suicidal Thoughts
Several recent studies have linked youth marijuana use with increases in depression and suicidal thinking.
Teens age 12 to 17 who smoke marijuana weekly are three times more likely than non-users to have thoughts about committing suicide.1
Some research shows that marijuana use can precede symptoms of depression. Girls (ages 14–15) who used marijuana daily were five times more likely to face depression at age 21. Weekly use among all teens studied doubled the risk for depression.2
A study of adults found that marijuana use quadrupled the risk of later major depression.3
A study of 1,265 children over a 21-year period found that marijuana use, particularly heavy or regular use, was associated with later increases in depression, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts.4
Past-year marijuana use has been linked to social withdrawal, anxiety, depression, attention problems and thoughts of suicide in adolescents.5
Research with twins found that the twin who was dependent on marijuana was almost three times more likely to think about suicide and attempt suicide than his/her non-marijuana dependent co-twin.6
Schizophrenia
Marijuana use has been linked to early-onset schizophrenia, and several recent studies show that marijuana use during adolescence increases the risk of psychotic disorders in adulthood.7
Heavy marijuana users are almost seven times more likely than non-users to be diagnosed with schizophrenia later in life.8
Among men suffering from schizophrenia, those who had used marijuana were much more likely to experience their first psychotic episode at an early age.9
A recent study found that that the earlier the use of marijuana (age 15 vs. age 18), the greater the risk of schizophrenia.10
A study published in 2005 found that regular use of marijuana may double the risk of developing psychotic disorders and that marijuana causes chemical changes to the brain. The study maintains that smoking marijuana causes symptoms even when other factors are taken into consideration.11
Genetic Predisposition
Recent evidence suggests that some people's genetic make-up may predispose them to be particularly vulnerable to the effects of marijuana on mental health.
An analysis of 2,437 young people found that marijuana use moderately increases the risk of psychopathology. The risk for those with a predisposition for psychopathology was much higher.12
A study published in spring 2005 found that as many as one in four people may have a genetic profile that makes marijuana five times more likely to trigger psychotic disorders.13
References
1 Greenblatt, J. Adolescent self-reported behaviors and their association with marijuana use. SAMHSA, 1998.
2 Patton, GC et al. Cannabis use and mental health in young people: cohort study. British Medical Journal, 325:1195–1198, 2002.
3 Bovasso, GB. Cannabis abuse as a risk factor for depressive symptoms. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 158:2033–2037, 2001.
4 Fergusson, DM et al. Cannabis use and psychosocial adjustment in adolescence and young adulthood. Addiction, 97:1123–1135, 2002.
5 Brook, JS et al. The effect of early marijuana use on later anxiety and depressive symptoms. NYS Psychologist, 35–40, 2001.
6 Lynskey, M et al. Major depressive disorder, suicidal ideation, and suicide attempt in twins discordant for cannabis dependence and early-onset cannabis use. Archives of General Psychiatry, 61:1026–1032, 2004.
7 Andreasson, S et al. Cannabis and schizophrenia: A longitudinal study of Swedish conscripts. Lancet, 26:1483–1486, 1987. Fergusson, DM et al. Cannabis dependence and psychotic symptoms in young people. Psychological Medicine, 33:15–21, 2003. van Os, J et al. Cannabis use and psychosis: a longitudinal population-based study. American Journal of Epidemiology, 156:319–327, 2002.
8 Zammit, S et al. Self-reported cannabis use as a risk factor for schizophrenia in Swedish conscripts of 1969: historical cohort study. British Medical Journal, 325:1199–1201, 2002.
9 Veen, N et al. Cannabis use and age at onset of schizophrenia. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 161:501-506, 2004.
10 Arseneault L, et al. Cannabis use in adolescence and risk for adult psychosis: longitudinal prospective study. British Medical Journal, 325:1212–1213, 2002.
11 Fergusson, DM et al. Tests of causal linkages between cannabis use and psychotic symptoms. Addiction, 100, 3:354–366, 2005.
12 van Os, J et al. Prospective cohort study of cannabis use, predisposition for psychosis, and psychotic symptoms in young people. British Medical Journal, 330:11–, 2005.
13 Caspi A, et al. Moderation of the effect of adolescent-onset cannabis use on adult psychosis by a functional polymorphism in the catechol-o-methyltransferase gene: Longitudinal evidence of a gene X environment interaction. Biological Psychiatry (Article in press).
yes, however, the conclusion of drawing a correlation with a alchohol/marijuana mix and car accidents is invalid because the mixing solution 'alchohol' by itself is one in which impairs one's ability to operate a motor vehicle.. so to be able to draw the level of inability to drive in conjunction with marijuana is one which is nearly impossible to do... nobody has condoned smoking and driving, and if alchohol alone can cause an accident without the marijuana, shouldnt that be on the chopping block of legal debate as well??
It is not necessary for alchohol to be safe or benign when a public health concern is raised. Needle exchange centers are an example of this. Needles are given to addicts in order to use heroin with because the public health outcome is greater.
According to some studies dank is involved with 30% of drunk-driving accidents, which holds logically since weed and dank make you even less coordinated than either drug alone. The public health is served by the least amount of people on the road who are drank and danked out, regardless of whether or not alchohol is dangerous.
Also, the social benefits or alchohol are generally perceived to be worth the thousands of dead Americans every year. No one likes drunk driving or schoolchildren turned into pancakes, but no one wants to go back to Prohibition either.
nobody should be driving under the influence regardless if its weed or drank anyway..
True, and people shouldnt use heroin, but needle exchange programs act as a net societal benefit. You can acknowledge and seemingly validate a negative in the interests of a positive.
and weed does? im not talking about smoking in the presence of others btw.. and theres a female i know whos pops got wetbrain by drinking too much.. dood is only 47 and can no longer hold a sentence nor a rational thought... i have yet to see anybody have that side effect (or any) of that nature when marijuana is involved...
My homeboys schizophrenia got triggered by weed. He was in his second year at Stanford medical school. He's doing alright now, works at Taco Bell, livesd in an apt. with some people etc and were all very proud of him...but even if he was schizophrenic for sure, who knows if he was to have another 3 or 4 years before it came on.
WD, i kno your a smart guy, but to say that alchohol is less dangerous then marijuana is an arguement that not even the people who are against weed can admit too..
If marijuana use was as frequent as alchohol, it would be more dangerous imo, especially to children around smoking parents. (It stunts brain development in people whose brain is still developing [teens / early adolescents], which is why the hippie generations use was not a big deal, ost of them were at least 16+ when they started majorly smoking)
Not everyone is a dankhead 5000 whose shit is so fried they can smoke weed and still function. People would be doin some dumb ass shit on a regular basis if weed use increased to anything like the levels of alchohol use.
Alchohol is something that the vast majority of people can use and enjoy. People will obviously abuse it, and that is a given.
However, weed is definitely not for everyone. It can have more potential serious effects quickly, lead to large-scale stupidity and accidents among the inexperienced, etc.
The people who should and can handle weed are already smoking it. Legalization is wholly unneccessary(sp?).