Cannabis 'causes mental illness'

UK Telegraph ^ | April 8, 2003 | Sarah Womack

[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.

[FairOpinion]

This explains liberals, most of them were pot smoking hippies and burned out their ability to think.

[DeuceTraveler]

I could have told them that. Most dope fiends I know end up being the laziest, dumbest people one would encounter. I'd never touch the stuff.

[SwinneySwitch]

This helps to explain the peacenik logic!

[Rodney King]

This is misinformation. The study shows that that pot smokers are more likely to have mental illness. It does not say that the pot causes the mental illness. It is quite beleiveable, in fact, that people with mental illness are more likely to smoke pot. Just as people with mental illness are more likely to engage in a whole host of other illegal and/or destructive behaviors.

[fortress]

Also would explain the Portland Trailblazers self destructive behavior

[Lysander]

Tell a big lie. Tell it often.

[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. :-)

[Maedhros]

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"amotivational" syndrome

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Funny, I seem to get that all the time.

[Billthedrill]

Didn't we beat this article to death yesterday? Maybe my short-term memory isn't all it should be...

[clamper1797]

AND it causes white women to seek sexual relations with black jazz musicians

[ModelBreaker]

So I guess Really Stupid People Who Can't Get Their A$$e$ In Gear To Do Anything are also, statistically speaking, prone to smoke pot?

[headsonpikes]

Yes, let's all rally behind the "UN Drug Control Program."

The UN is the hope of humanity.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Thur es nudding rung wid smhot pokers. I smuck fot ull da tim. Um find.

[GSWarrior]

Oh my gosh!!!!!!!!!

[Bogey78O]

Reefer MAdness Y2K+3

[clamper1797]

OHHHH the horror ......................

[VoteHarryBrowne2000]

I'd be curious if people with brain problems are more predisposed to use drugs, or if the drugs cause or exacerbate an existing condition. There is an interesting book called "CHANGE YOUR BRAIN, CHANGE YOUR LIFE" by Dr. Amen and in it he shows brain scans of drug users and others with abnormal behavior. His take is that drug users are self-medicating for a structural problem (congenital or accident induced) or brain chemistry imbalance. It's an interesting theory that may explain why we have this on going problem.

[spodefly]

"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."

So then smoking cannibis and cigarettes together should cancel each other out, right?

[shotgun]

Where is Ashley Roachclip, President of United Heads for Hemp, when you need a good rebuttal.

[axxmann]

...and alcohol causes liver damage, lets ban it. Wait, we tried that once and we had gangs with machine guns in the streets....just like now. Will we never learn?