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Cannabis 'causes mental illness'
UK Telegraph ^
| April 8, 2003
| Sarah Womack
Posted on 04/08/2003 3:07:03 PM PDT by FairOpinion
A significant increase in cannabis smoking is leading to serious mental health problems among the young, two leading drugs experts said yesterday.
They warned that the effect of cannabis on the body was equal to cigarettes but was "far more dangerous" on the mind.
Prof John Henry, a toxicologist at Imperial College, London, said: "Regular cannabis smokers develop mental illness.
"There is a four-fold increase in schizophrenia and there is a four-fold increase in major depression and that is something very, very different to what cigarettes do to you."
Dr Ian Oliver, independent consultant to the UN Drug Control Programme, said cannabis on the market today was 10 times stronger than that smoked by the "flower power" generation of the Sixties. "The result is doped-up kids who lose all motivation to do anything except lie in bed," he said.
Doctors in Holland have given the medical condition its own label: "amotivational" syndrome. This, say medical practitioners in the field, simply means cannabis is creating a new generation of layabouts.
Last year the Government decided to reclassify cannabis from a class B to a class C drug after hearing recommendations that it was much less damaging than other drugs.
But there were fears that the reclassification would see an increase in smoking cannabis, and Prof Henry said that use of the "soft" drug was on the rise.
"There are 13 million cigarette smokers and the numbers are going down," he said. "There are 3.2 million cannabis smokers and the numbers are going up.
"There is no Government health warning against cannabis but there are all kinds of restrictions against tobacco. People who smoke cannabis ought to be aware that it has equal effects on the body to cigarettes and worse effects on the mind."
Prof Henry and Dr Oliver were speaking at the Royal Society of Medicine conference in London.
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: addicts; brain; cannabis; drugs; illness; liberals; marijuana; mental; schizophrenia; shrunkenheads; wodlist
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To: FairOpinion
BREAKING NEWS: CART PULLS HORSE
21
posted on
04/08/2003 3:33:49 PM PDT
by
adam_az
To: FairOpinion
I can't believe there are only 3.2 Pot smokers in the U.S. Hell, I am from California and the world world puffs on the weed out there. That's why they all vote Democrat.
22
posted on
04/08/2003 3:34:05 PM PDT
by
GWB00
To: Rodney King
It does not say that the pot causes the mental illness. From what I have seen, which is not much really, your interpretation is correct. The article has the cart before the horse.
23
posted on
04/08/2003 3:36:03 PM PDT
by
RightWhale
(Theorems link concepts)
To: FairOpinion
Why do ya' think they call it dope?
24
posted on
04/08/2003 3:38:42 PM PDT
by
oyez
(I'm an old fool, but..)
To: adam_az
Geez the same people who bash the UN (rightly so) and demand our removal gobble up a propaganda laden piece of psuedo-science like it was gospel itself. Interesting and disappointing at the same time.
To: FairOpinion
This story is ludicrous. Just ask my invisible friend, Dr. KhHfompripyy-6.
26
posted on
04/08/2003 3:42:03 PM PDT
by
IowaHawk
To: clamper1797
AND it causes white women to seek sexual relations with black jazz musicians Actually, no. I think I addressed that issue quite well elsewhere.
27
posted on
04/08/2003 3:42:59 PM PDT
by
Yeti
To: axxmann
The point is that people should be aware of the risks, and consequences, don't you agree?
Schizophrenia is not a joke. Studies have shown that marijuana smoking does indeed impairs the brain, and judgement ability and now they seem to be discovering that it can destroy the brain to the extent of causing schizophrenia.
Just picture someone's nice, bright young promising son or daugther going to college, smoking marijuana and ending up with schizophrenia. I unfortunately actually know someone, whose son ended up that way and the correlation was obvious.
To: FairOpinion
Where is Ashley Roachclip, President of United Heads for Hemp, when you need a good rebuttal.
29
posted on
04/08/2003 3:44:31 PM PDT
by
shotgun
To: shotgun
I must have forgot I already posted it...
30
posted on
04/08/2003 3:45:30 PM PDT
by
shotgun
To: FairOpinion
Sgt. Stedanko alert
31
posted on
04/08/2003 3:47:09 PM PDT
by
shotgun
To: axxmann
Will we never learn? Oh, God! Here come the libertokian potties to try to claim they have some kind of "right" do do what they want, so long as they mind their own business and don't hurt anyone.
Get outta tha house, ya dope fiend!
32
posted on
04/08/2003 3:47:21 PM PDT
by
Yeti
To: FairOpinion
Except that they don't really know for sure what causes schizophrenia, except that (a) there is a genetic component, (b) there is a statistical correlation with getting some childhood diseases, and (c) another statistical correlation with extra stress during puberty.
Since the structural brain changes that lead to schizophrenia are laid down during the early teen years, whether or not pot is a causative factor is unknown. It is also the case the people predisposed to schizophrenia do way more drugs than pot - "angel dust", PCP, animal tranquilizers -- in fact, pretty much anything they can get their hands on.
Which is in and of itself a possible indicator that they are indeed trying to "self medicate."
To: FairOpinion
indeed impairs the brain, and judgement ability and now they seem to be discovering that it can destroy the brain To the point that these reefer-heads can't even compose a sentence properly!
34
posted on
04/08/2003 3:49:58 PM PDT
by
Yeti
To: SubMareener
Sorry, Rodney, but this is not misinformation. This has been known for a very long time, but the pot-smoking press did not want to let you know. If you are a pot smoker, the good news is your brain is damaged in such a way that you will think you are just fine. :-) I am not saying that pot doesn't cause schizophrenia. I am also not saying that schizophrenics are more likely to smoke pot. Either or a mixture of both might be true. I am just saying that correlation does not prove causation, as this article seems to claim.
35
posted on
04/08/2003 3:51:17 PM PDT
by
Rodney King
(No, we can't all just get along.)
To: Yeti
Oh, God! Here come the libertokian potties to try to claim they have some kind of "right" do do what they want, so long as they mind their own business and don't hurt anyone. Attention Libertarians: You are not Conservative. We don't want your moral relativism in our party. Get your own webpage.
To: FairOpinion
I've seen articles on the study, and there was indeed a corelation between schizophrenia and cannabis usage, but the effect was only observed in people that were already borderline, or at risk for schizophrenia. They didn't find any evidence that it would induce schizophrenia in someone who wasn't already prone to it. As you said, it comes down to knowing the risk.
37
posted on
04/08/2003 3:56:02 PM PDT
by
tacticalogic
(Controlled application of force is the sincerest form of communication.)
To: FairOpinion
Hmmm. I'll have to keep track of this issue. I'm for legalizing pot, but if this really turns out to be true, w/pot being a causative agent in mental illness, I may have to support it for medicinal purposes only. After all, to truly be free, you need a clear head...
However, I STILL won't support the War on Some Drugs, with its lousy asset forfeiture and spying...
38
posted on
04/08/2003 3:57:14 PM PDT
by
Tolerance Sucks Rocks
(There be no shelter here; the front line is everywhere!)
To: shotgun
"Sgt.Stedanko alert"
Back in the 60s, I met the original, and very real Abe Snidanko of the RCMP Drug Squad. Snidanko was notorious for busting hippies, and became notorious through Vancouver's hippy rag, The Georgia Straight. Vancouver, B.C. was the Canadian equivalent of San Francisco at the time; still is, actually. lol!
After inspiring Saddinko, the comic strip narc, Snidanko ended up being a kingpin in the Jamaican police force.
All to the best of my recollection. ;^)
To: Rodney King
It is quite beleiveable, in fact, that people with mental illness are more likely to smoke pot.This is true. I knew someone who used to smoke pot until he was diagnosed as bi-polar and given the proper medications. The psychiatrist said he had been self-medicating. Very common.
40
posted on
04/08/2003 4:07:21 PM PDT
by
Vicki
(Truth and Reality)
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