Posted on 07/05/2003 4:39:53 PM PDT by FairOpinion
London - The increasing use of cannabis by adolescents is threatening the mental health of a generation because of the drug's capacity to trigger psychosis, a leading psychiatrist has warned.
Robin Murray, a professor at the Institute of Psychiatry, said growing evidence linking cannabis with mental disorder had failed to curb use of the drug. One study suggested cannabis users were at seven times higher risk of developing mental problems.
"In the past 18 months, a number of studies have confirmed that cannabis consumption increases later risk of schizophrenia," he told the Royal College of Psychiatrists annual conference in Edinburgh. "This research must not be ignored."
As Murray delivered his warning, doctors at the British Medical Association's annual conference rejected by a large majority calls for cannabis and other recreational drugs to be legalised.
'Prohibition does not work' Connie Fozzard, a retired surgeon, told the conference legalisation would help to cut crime.
"Prohibition does not work," she said. "Just look at the experience of the United States when it tried to ban alcohol. What arose out of that was Al Capone and armed gangs - and that is what happening now in this country."
Speaking at the psychiatrists' conference in Edinburgh, Murray said research suggested cannabis might interact with a genetic vulnerability in some people, sufficient to push them over the edge.
His review of research in Sweden, Holland and New Zealand found that cannabis use was higher among psychotic patients than the broader population. It had been thought that patients took the drug to counter the negative symptoms of the illness, but Murray said this had been ruled out by more recent research.
A Dutch study of 4 000 people found that those taking large amounts of cannabis were almost seven times more likely to have psychotic symptoms three years later.
'Just look at the experience of the United States when it tried to ban alcohol' A study in 1987 of 50 000 Swedish conscripts found that those who admitted at age 18 to having used cannabis on more than 50 occasions were six times more likely to develop schizophrenia in the following 15 years.
Research in New Zealand found that those who used cannabis at age 15 were four-and-a-half times at higher risk of developing psychosis by the age of 26.
Murray said the results held even when initial personality was taken into account. He concluded that the impact of cannabis on the mental health of young people "may not be negligible" and that reducing use among the young "may help to avoid some cases of psychosis".
The findings come as the British government prepares to downgrade cannabis from a Class B to a Class C drug next year so there will be a lesser penalty for possession. Most people caught in possession of a small amount will have it confiscated and receive a reprimand or warning.
A Home Office spokesperson said the intention was to free police time to concentrate on Class A drugs such as heroin.
This article was originally published on page 2 of The Cape Times on July 04, 2003
I don't need to see the study to tell you how the sample bias occurred in this one.
For one, weed is illegal. Any sample made up of marijuana smokers is a smaple taken from criminals, who are statistically more likely to suffer from mental illness.
For another, those who participate in studies had to come to be referred in some way. Already arrested? In treatment? How did the study aquire the names of these people? Most of the ways in which these people might find themselves involved in a government study are also strong indicators of an increased likelihood for mental problems, marijuana or no marijuana. The control group need not come from any special group, and may be drawn from the general population. Let's compare people in AA to the general population, and see what we can infer about alcohol...
For yet another, people who identify themselves as heavy marijuana users at a young age are generally part of a drug subculture which will predispose them to use stronger drugs in the future(not because marijuana causes that, but because they hang with that kind of crowd). For example, cocaine and meth both induce psychosis with prolonged intense use, and since weed is illegal, a certain increased percentage of marijuana smokers will later use those drugs, due to their increased exposure to people who use and sell such drugs.
So, I think this "scientist" has rediscovered the "gateway drug" fallacy, and falsely concluded that marijuana is causal of, as opposed to correlated with, mental disorders such as schizophrenia, depression and psychosis.
People who produce studies like this are either grossly incompetent or, more commonly, academic frauds looking to give their benefactors the results they seek.
What are you drinking?
Your comment is so full of sh!t you must be the poster girl for constipation.
I'am prety mutch a libretarien wen it komes two speling. Hoo neads anywon teling yew abowt rools an gramar an sutch.
Freedumb meens nowe rools....
My .45 says he's wrong.
Are you actually going to argue that there can be such a thing as "government" if there were no people?
Your .45 proves the statement right, if you thnk just a wee bit deeper than you are in this exchange.
As for the prior post to me, don't sweat the small stuff; there are more important things to sweat, like the destruction of the rule of law using vehicles such as the war on drugs.
Garcia died from Heroin complications yet he was a poster boy for Clinton era baby boomers. Must be ok to be a highly paid junkie making music for liberals.
If governement didn't exist, my .45, or someone else's, would create it.
Of course, anyone that has a belief in the inherent goodness of people is one IQ point from heart cessation, and should watch a school ground full of third graders. The point of my tag line is that socialists have no leg to stand on when they preach the supremacy of government over the citizens thereof. God did not create government, which in turn created people. It may be a necessary evil, but only because there are human beings to make it so.
If governement didn't exist, my .45, or someone else's, would create it.
But that .45 needs a person's hand to hold it, yes?
Why do you think pot is worse than alcohol?
I see, anyone who thinks pot laws are stupid are severely addicted. Lemme ask you a question. As disgusting as they are, do you think the KKK should have the right to exist? If so, going by your logic, you're a racist.
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