Posted on 05/03/2005 2:39:48 PM PDT by MisterRepublican
WASHINGTON — Youngsters who use marijuana are more likely to develop serious mental health problems, the government said Tuesday. A private group said law enforcement increasingly is targeting people who smoke and deal the drug.
Past medical studies have linked marijuana with a greater incidence of mental disorders such as depression or schizophrenia. But questions remain about whether people who smoke marijuana at a young age are already predisposed to mental disorders, or whether the drug caused those disorders.
Government officials say recent research makes a stronger case that smoking marijuana is itself a causal agent in psychiatric symptoms, particularly schizophrenia.
"A growing body of evidence now demonstrates that smoking marijuana can increase the risk of serious mental health problems," said John P. Walters, director of the White House Office of Drug Control Policy.
Administration officials pointed to a handful of studies to make their case. One, from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, found adult marijuana smokers who first began using the drug before age 12 were twice as likely to have suffered a serious mental illness in the past year as those who began smoking after 18.
The ratio was 21 percent to 10.5 percent. Those who first started as teens also were at significantly higher risk.
Also Tuesday, The Sentencing Project released a report that found the government's "war on drugs" has become the "war on drug" as police agencies increasingly target marijuana.
Begun in the 1980s, the war on drugs was aimed at stopping large-scale narcotics traffickers, particularly those selling cocaine. But since 1990 more of the focus has been on catching users and low-level dealers. And more often than ever, the drug targeted is marijuana, according to the group, a national nonprofit organization that works on judicial reform and favors alternatives to jail.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Hey, man, what a buzzkill!
but which came first?
Toooooaaaatally.
And the munchies too.
People with mental illness tend to self medicate if they aren't receiving treatment. They use alcohol, pot, Nyquil or anything else available.
So9
If the government said it, it must be true.
If the government said it, it must be true.
If the government said it, it must be true.
If the government said it, it must be true.
Love & kisses,
Goerge Orwell
Yep. There seems to be a growing body of evidence from worldwide sources that pot isn't just the friendly little drug it's made out to be.
So, what's new about this? I thought we all learned from Reefer Madness and various government films of the '50s that marijuana would make us go crazy.
Bill Cosby:
"What do drugs do for you?"
They enhance your personality.
"Yeah? But what if you're an a$$hole?"
Get yer asbestos underwear on.
Yes. Like developing a complete and utter distrust and contempt for a government that rabidly employs paramilitary police forces in it's attempt to enact a policy which history has proven time and time again to be doomed to failure: namely, prohibition.
And psych scripts!
Walters is an ignoramous. He was interviewed a few months ago about the medical marijuana issue. The host asked him, "Well, what about people who are sick who say marijuana makes them feel better?" He laughed sarcastically and said, "Yeah. Just like crack makes people feel better."
yep. Pot is destructive, and alcohol can be too. Let 'em all come and justify the habbit. It won't change the facts. It's not called Dope for no reason........
When I first read the headline, I thought it read:
Government Pot Use Linked to Mental Illness.
I thought the Government was trying to explain their behavior...
Your mean freedom fighters for illegal self medicating in the name of the constitution might not like the article?
Hot damn! Sounds like I can get me a medical marijuana prescription here in California if I smoke pot and have a mental problem....
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