Posted on 07/27/2007 1:46:41 PM PDT by Bladerunnuh
A single joint of cannabis raises the risk of schizophrenia by more than 40 per cent, a disturbing study warns.
The Government-commissioned report has also found that taking the drug regularly more than doubles the risk of serious mental illness.
Overall, cannabis could be to blame for one in seven cases of schizophrenia and other life-shattering mental illness, the Lancet reports.
The grim statistics - the latest to link teenage cannabis use with mental illness in later life - come only days after Gordon Brown ordered a review of the decision to downgrade cannabis to class C, the least serious category.
The Prime Minister is said to have a 'personal instinct' that the change should be reversed, with more arrests and stiffer penalties for users.
Cannabis has been implicated in a string of vicious killings, including the recent stabbing of fashion designer Lucy Braham.
The authors of the latest study, the most comprehensive of its kind and commissioned by the Department of Health, said: 'Policymakers need to provide the public with advice about this widely-used drug.
'We believe there is now enough
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
The team did not look directly at people who used marijuana but instead conducted what is called a meta-analysis by reviewing 35 studies in search of a potential connection between psychotic illness and using marijuana.They reviewed evidence from studies ranging from one year to 27 years and only looked at research that did not include people already showing signs of psychotic illness.
The researchers also adjusted for factors -- like depression or a susceptibility to harder drugs -- that could one day lead to a mental disorder to focus more directly on the links between marijuana and psychosis, Zammit said.
"We have described a consistent association between cannabis use and psychotic symptoms, including disabling psychotic disorders," the team wrote.
But both Zammit and the Danish researchers said ultimate proof to show a direct relationship would be have to come through a randomized trial of healthy young people and long-term follow-up.
IOW, they worked until they got the result they wanted. As for this article it sounds just like the stories game we used to play as kids...each rendition gets wilder.
A 40% increase, even if true, still means you are VERY UNLIKELY to experience any ill effect.
When we smoke, our schizophrenia makes us smoke twice as much. By then there are 4 of us...
Then I’ve raised my odds by 4,000,000,000,000 per cent.
GOL (giggling out load)
I think I smoked 5 times, so it’s 200% for me.
What were we talking about?
What a load of BS
Publishing just one really stupid article proves mental illness.
Years ago on our block there was a New Years party, and the story was the young girl in the house smoked marijuana and drank all night for the first time. (She was 14). About 1 in the am they called the ambulance to the house and took her away. She eventually ended up schizophrenic as all get out, and supposedly her first psychotic “break” was that night.
She had heavy mental illness running in the family, though. And the story about “the first time” was hearsay.
Also, my thought would be that people with mental illness are usually the ones more predisposed to try illegal drugs. They self medicate.
Yeah, and it makes you dance naked on moving trains too.
British Science. Like British Journalism.
Cannabis has been implicated in a string of vicious killings, including the recent stabbing of fashion designer Lucy Braham.
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What???? So one nutjob happens to smoke a joint before committing murder and that’s a connection? I have never been anything near violent on the occassion of partaking in my youth. Sheesh. That’s like saying 60% of mass murderers enjoy McDonalds, therefore McDonald’s causes mental illness. Absolute BS.
What about us republicans who like to get stoned?
***********
What?? You can’t be a republican and like pot, beer or be a vegatarian. Don’t you know that???
Is it the pot or the carton of ice cream that you eat afterwards?
Listening to John Kerry can do the same...
“A single joint of cannabis raises the risk of schizophrenia by more than 40 per cent...”
Uh-oh, Where does that leave the 2.5 joints user?
More junk science that fails to account for causation.
Most likely, people who are prone to mental illness tend to report having at least tried marijuana.
Or people who tend to seek altered moods have tried marijuana, and tend also to try other drugs that do cause mental illness.
You’d think someone would have noticed that before, wouldn’t ya? :p
Your post reminds me of a story on local TV the other night. The anchorwoman reported that a woman was shot in the meatpacking district. All I can say is, that had to hurt.
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