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The Swedish study showed that the incidence of schizophrenia among conscripts who were "heavy" and "chronic" users of marijuana was six times higher than it was among those who had not smoked.

When they ban dry cleaning fluid because .002% of rats that are bathed in it get cancer, this finding of a 500% increase is stunning. Of course the potheads will deny it, while saying, hey, I can quit any time I want, I just don't want to right now... Been there done that, don't want the T-Shirt. Pot sucks(your life away)

"...The Swedish study showed that the incidence of schizophrenia among conscripts who were "heavy" and "chronic" users of marijuana was six times higher than it was among those who had not smoked. "

"...When they ban dry cleaning fluid because .002% of rats that are bathed in it get cancer, this finding of a 500% increase is stunning. "

Well, perhaps. But it is also misleading.

The claim's not new. Brendan Nelson, the former head of the Australian Medical Association, now a conservative member of parliament, has been saying this for years.

But the issue that he has never addressed, and the issue that this report does not address, is cause-and-effect.

In fact, many other medicos believe that the connection between schizophrenia and marijuana is simpler to explain: many schizophrenics self-medicate, using marijuana heavily to mask the symptoms.

By that, I mean that in an effort to make their condition more bearable, schizophrenia sufferers dope themselves up on a regular basis.

Whether the use of marijuana then exacerbates the underlying condition is open to question .. research I've seen suggests that it _may_.

But it may also be that by self-medicating, sufferers are less likely to use more recognised pharmacological remedies ... meaning that the worsening in their condition is not caused by marijuana - merely masked by it.