A real blow to marijuana legalization hopes?

Hi all,
I have seen in the press the results of a well made study on the links between use of marijuana and psychosis.

Link to the news on BBC website
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12616543

It looks like, contrary to many studies on cannabis so far, this is a properly done scientific study that could be used extensively by the anti marijuana camp.
Anyone has any insight or comments?
Thx

I've encountered plenty of people including family members that are already psychotic in legitimate ways and don't smoke pot -SERIOUSLY. What's the big deal?

agenda driven research

when was the last time you heard about any of the benefits of smoking cannabis anywhere in the media? even if it was the well know fact it stimulates appetite, thats one small benefit. and even the most die hard anti cannabis person would have a hard time refuting that. but yea the fact is you never hear anything good about it

yet they are finding new studies that drinking a moderated amount of alcohol, is good for your health.

preaching to the choir here

I think it can make people paranoid, but if it does...don't smoke it. Pretty simple.

I think this is really bad news
The lead researcher, prof. Jim Van Os works in the dutch university in Maastricht. Holland is well known to be very tolerant and it's difficult to just shrug the study off as biased.
I agree that most of the awesome properties of cannabis are not studied to the same extent and not told to the public.
But in my view the biggest argument against marijuana prohibition so far was the lack of any documented serious side effects of its use.
If this study stands then imho it will make it a lot harder for supporters to convince the public marijuana is to be liberalized.
What's the best strategy now? pointing at worst effect by other 'legalized drugs' like alcohol and tobacco?

If you're not psycho yet, you need some better shit

As long as pot doesn't make you wear a funny cop costume and go around fucking with people that have never harmed anyone, I'll take my chances with it.

those are disorders people are predisposed to you don't catch schizophrenia

Lol, a nice big story and how amyn facts and figures, sweet fuck all unless you take "significantly increase" as a legitimate measure

load of balls

And once again, who give a fuck, my body, mine.

not a big deal at all. when you watch tv and an advertisement comes on for prescription drugs the side effects are unreal haha. I cant remember which one but it was like "in studies small amounts of people have had liver failure and or sudden death." I cant say whether cannabis does anything medically because I dont have anything wrong with me I smoke for enjoyment. but god damn it cannot be worse than some of the shit these doctors give out like candy

ifm said:

Hi all,
I have seen in the press the results of a well made study on the links between use of marijuana and psychosis.

Link to the news on BBC website
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12616543

It looks like, contrary to many studies on cannabis so far, this is a properly done scientific study that could be used extensively by the anti marijuana camp.
Anyone has any insight or comments?
Thx

Click to expand...

"Three years ago the Labour government reclassified cannabis to Class B from C - against the advice of its own drug advisers who said cannabis played only a "modest" role in the development of psychotic illnesses."

And they didn't like the results so they fired the Lead scientist (Professor Nutt) and trashed the results.

"This research strongly suggests that cannabis use comes first, rather than people taking it for their symptoms."

In other words, they still don't have a direct connection between the two but they want to STRONGLY SUGGEST that cannabis is causing the psychosis. This after several studies linked cannabis to psychosis as self-medication. To treat early symptoms of psychotic episodes/depression. It boils down to this, they have a set of statistics that can be manipulated to mean anything. It's a load of horseshit.

Ok. so the answer from most is: 'so what?' or ' who gives a sh!t'
I must say at first I was a bit alarmed, but now I see that almost everything has side effects and this is the only one associated with cannabis so far, so not a real PR issue for marijuana.
Thank you all for posting your comments.

Just seems to be the same old song n dance.

ha da only reason i started smokin was to keep me from going crazy in the 1st place

[video=youtube;1d0QND_24DE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1d0QND_24DE[/video]

The answer to any and all challenges are that we should supply free mental health care for all our citizens so that we can treat all those who need it.

We need to think ahead.
Remember that for many years we were shown a study that cannabis causes brain damage and then we find the reason the monkeys had brain damage was that they strapped a gas mask on them and pumped that mask full of cannabis smoke while they didn't increase the oxygen in the mix so the monkeys suffocated.
So yes we see these news items and we have to read ahead to know the truth.

Oh has everyone noticed that the new "bad for kids" campaign is based on Pot Brownies?
I have not seen any mental health anti-cannabis stuff since I started replying we should provide free mental health care for all 21 and under as a solution to the bigger problem of mental health care.
So now I see the "Pot Brownie" story being placed as disinformation.
If a young person eats a brownie they may have a uncomfortable experience but they will not die or have some insidious mental disease happen to them.
Like with the argument that people kill people and not guns, mental health is the domain of the people not the plant.

Man fucking alcohol and tobacco can cause psychosis.

"In studies small amounts of people have had liver failure and or sudden death." Hahaa. Man this world is fucking wacky!

Plus I would argue that being a little eccentric can be considered psychotic behavior. Fuck I fit all the criteria for mild psychosis!

Anyway, to each his own and all that.

Peace

EDIT: WIKIPEDIA- "On the other hand, cannabis use has increased dramatically over the past few decades but declined in the last decade, whereas the rate of psychosis has not increased."

From Norml.
"If you use marijuana regularly, your chances of becoming schizophrenic are twice as great as someone who does not smoke marijuana. If you use marijuana before the age of 16, you are four times as likely to become schizophrenic. - Dr. Jim Van Os. It seems that in the quest to raise the THC level they bred out a chemical in the plan that buffers out psychotic effects."
This refutes you Lie.
The findings of a study published earlier this week in the Archives of General Psychiatry alleging that smoking marijuana can 'double' one's risk of psychosis or schizophrenia are in conflict with those previous reviews and ought to be interpreted with caution, says NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano.

"Despite claims that marijuana use may play a causal role in diagnosed incidences of schizophrenia, there exists no empirical evidence anywhere on Earth indicating that populations which have experienced rising rates of cannabis use have also experienced a parallel increase in rates of mental illness," Armentano said.

Most recently, a 2009 systematic review published in the scientific journal Schizophrenia Research compared trends in marijuana use and incidences of schizophrenia in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2005. Researchers reported that the "incidence and prevalence of schizophrenia and psychoses were either stable or declining" during this period, even the use of cannabis among the general population was rising.

Armentano said that a non-causal association likely exists between marijuana use and psychosis because the symptoms of mental illness often strike early in life — at a time when young people are likely to be already experimenting with cannabis. He also speculated that some people diagnosed with psychotic disorders might be turning to cannabis after the onset of symptoms as a form of self-medication.

Ultimately, however, Armentano said that even if the latest concerns about the potential adverse effect of marijuana use are to be taken at face value, then such findings support a policy of cannabis legalization and regulation – not criminal prohibition.