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 ...
Maybe they can make a gubmint drug pyramid. They do such a great job with nutrition, no doubt all this is accurate as well.
Very true. Meth is dangerous and causes violent behavior.
And the sad thing is that the people who have mental health problems cannot afford therapy because many states will not allow medicaid to cover it. Instead, these people are thrown in jail, which causes over-crowding.
It most definitely "dumbs you down" while stoned, but I must disagree with your blanket statement. Let's use me as an example: I test out in the upper 2% in I.Q. and can learn anything mechanical, theoretical, or just about anything. While not exactly proud of it, I started smoking dope at age eleven and stopped around 18. I did nothing in school, but get high, surf and work on fishing boats (a Spicolli if I ever met one).
I am certifiably sane, boringly so. My I.Q. has increased, according to tests, over the last 20+ years. I am not endorsing a THC clouded youth as the recommended way to grow up, but it is not as detrimental to sane people as the Gov is claiming. Remember, many of the kids who are getting stoned all of the time have crap parents who are not properly raising them, and who are often inflicting mental illness on these kids.
Propaganda
The Big Lie
Marijuana
Makes youu die
Like Bush said - we must lie about pot... for the children
Correct?
"Very true. Meth is dangerous and causes violent behavior."
We just had a drunken meth addict (new neighbor) break into our house and steal all of our liquor. Meth is evil. I have too many friends who are enduring their children's drug addiction. Recently a friend sent me some photos that were released by a cop that compared "tweakers" first mug shot to current mug shots. It is unbelievable! After a year or two, their eyes turn dead, their teeth fall out, they age a decade and their faces get these huge red blothes. That's from picking zits and picking the scabs until it is raw. Sometimes they think a bug crawled into the hole and they keep digging.
I agree with liberals that the war on drugs should focus on the demand and on rehabilitation. Meth is easy to make. What draws people to it in this country? The war on drugs is not working, the libertarians are right about that. I think a better approach is to appeal to teenagers' vanity by showing them before crank and after crank mug shots. Show them a crank whore after she has picked holes into her face and withered down to a skelton. I think today's programs focus on what it does to your brain, and kids don't care about that. Talk to the guys about how it causes erectile dysfunction and stunts their growth.
I was born skeptical and am not about to change, but the 1 in 4 citation intrigued me. What harm is there in reviewing the documentation?
".....When I filled out drug sureys in middle school I always said that I used heroin 5 times per day, etc..."
LMAO!!!!!!!!!
Imagine the consternation you caused in our nation's busybodies. I wish I could have done that (they didn't give us such surveys when I was in middle school, circa 1971-1973).
I'd love to see the government release a survey of the incidence of mental illness among people who started DRINKING before age 12......
Hey, a WOD post!
Can you guys wait til I get my popcorn popped!
:)
What is the chances of them running a test on homo butt sex?
Remember when you ran away
And I got on my knees
And begged you not to leave
Because I'd go berserk?
Well. . .
You left me anyhow
And then the days got worse and worse
And now you see I've gone
Completely out of my mind
And. . .
They're coming to take me away, HA HA
They're coming to take me away, HO HO HEE HEE HA HA
To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time
And I'll be happy to see
Those nice, young men
In their clean, white coats
And they're coming to take me away, Ha-haaa!
You thought it was a joke
And so you laughed
You laughed when I had said
That losing you would make me flip my lid
Right. . .
You know you laughed, I heard you laugh
You laughed, you laughed and laughed
And then you left
But now you know I'm utterly mad!
And. . .
They're coming to take me away, HA HA
They're coming to take me away, HO HO HEE HEE HA HA
To the happy home
With trees and flowers and chirping birds
And basket weavers who sit and smile
And twiddle their thumbs and toes
And they're coming to take me away, Ha-haaa!
I cooked your food
I cleaned your house
And this is how you pay me back
For all my kind, unselfish loving deeds?!!
Hah. . .
Well you just wait
They'll find you yet
And when they do they'll
Put you in the ASPCA, you mangy mutt!
And. . .
They're coming to take me away, HA HA
They're coming to take me away, HO HO HEE HEE HA HA
To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time
And I'll be happy to see
Those nice, young men
In their clean, white coats
And they're coming to take me away, Ha-haaa!
To the happy home
With trees and flowers and chirping birds
And basket weavers who sit and smile
And twiddle their thumbs and toes
And they're coming to take me away, Ha-haaa!
To the funny farm
Where life is beautiful all the time
And I'll be happy to see
Those nice, young men
In their clean, white coats
And they're coming to take me away, Ha-haaa!
Wow man, pass the bong, Dave's not here man!
If this report is infected with public money, you can be pretty much certain it's a crock.
It's what the government does - lie for power.
Wow man, pass the bong, Dave's not here man!
Most of the "growing body of evidence" is no doubt the recent "study" from New Zealand that "linked" pot use with schizophrenia. No diagnoses were made, and no causation was proved. They just submitted a questionnaire to pot smokers and asked them if the they ever felt paranoid, nervouse, etc. If the symptom they reported matched the symptoms of schizophrenia, that went down in the "pot linked to schizophrenia" column. It's junk science of the highest order, and thus perfect fodder for the Drug Warriors. As for the 1 in 4 genetic link, I have only one question: Given that marijuana is our most widely used illicit drug, where are the crazy people?
Michael Savage has been asserting this for years, much to the scorn of potheads everywhere. Once again he is proven right.
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