O.K., not exactly true, but I did stumble across this interesting study about the higher incidence of psychosis associated with pot usage:
http://www.reuters.com/article/i ... 079176:b31211592:z0

We had a conversation going a couple of weeks back about the virtues/harms of drinking versus pot smoking, but of course I couldn't find that damn thread again so I'm posting this here.

I hope you find this informative.  I'd stay and write more but I'm getting the munchies . . . also there's a talking monkey under my desk saying that there's naked blue alien women in the cubicle down the hall and they'll have sex with me if I take off all my clothes and run down there . . .

Here's the article's content in case the link goes tits up:

LONDON (Reuters) - Young people who smoke cannabis or marijuana for six years or more are twice as likely to have psychotic episodes, hallucinations or delusions than people who have never used the drug, scientists said on Monday.

HEALTH

The findings adds weight to previous research which linked psychosis with the drug -- particularly in its most potent form as "skunk" -- and will feed the debate about the level of controls over its use.

Despite laws against it, up to 190 million people around the world use cannabis, according to United Nations estimates, equating to about 4 percent of the adult population.

John McGrath of the Queensland Brain Institute in Australia studied more than 3,801 men and women born between 1981 and 1984 and followed them up after 21 years to ask about their cannabis use and assessed them for psychotic episodes. Around 18 percent reported using cannabis for three or fewer years, 16 percent for four to five years and 14 percent for six or more years.

"Compared with those who had never used cannabis, young adults who had six or more years since first use of cannabis were twice as likely to develop a non-affective psychosis (such as schizophrenia)," McGrath wrote in a study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry journal.

They were also four times as likely to have high scores in clinical tests of delusion, he wrote, and a so-called "dose-response" relationship showed that the longer the duration since first cannabis use, the higher the risk of psychosis-related symptoms.

A study by British scientists last year suggested that people who smoke skunk, a potent form of cannabis, are almost seven times more likely to develop psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia than those who smoke "hash" or cannabis resin.

Previous studies had also suggested smoking cannabis can double the risk of psychosis, but the British study was the first to look specifically at skunk. Skunk has higher amounts of the psychoactive ingredient THC which can produce psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions and paranoia.

McGrath said, however, that "the nature of the relationship between psychosis and cannabis use is by no means simple" and more research was needed to examine the mechanisms at work.

As part of his study, McGrath and his team looked at links between cannabis use and psychotic symptoms among a group of 228 sibling pairs and found the association still held. This suggests other influences like genes or the environment were less likely to be responsible for the psychosis, they said.

A international group of drug policy experts published a book earlier this year arguing that laws against cannabis have failed to cut its use but instead led to vast numbers of arrests for drug possession in countries like Britain, Switzerland and the United States, which cause social division and pointless government expense.

I really don't see how this research is true.   I know millons smoke pot with no real side effects.  
Someone I knew smoked it, I didn't see anything.

[ Last edited by  chewie10 at 2-3-2010 08:15 ]

the report doesn't really substantiate much, i have a bunch of guys that do it two to three times per week and they're all professionals, some even surgeons so knowing they're still actively working should provide some sense of security for those of us smoking up

What a load of scaremongering propaganda. At the very least it should quote the scientific reports and finding and deride how the testing was done. Heavy substance abuse of any drug fucks up your body. Alcohol, nicotine (tobacco), pot, Ketamine (who the fuck likes tranquilizer...), Acid etc... It's always about consuming moderation. Hell there are even some people who use coke in strict amounts and are still fine.

Education on drugs and also empowering teens to make their own judgement is key. Too many do things for the wrong reasons whether it's bowing to peer pressure, rebellion, or psychological escape.




Ugh it's always hard to decide which mary-jane to choose. I find 420 quality in Hong Kong is kinda weak (maybe I don't know where to look). Fucking brickweed and hash.

Yeah, that provides some relief for those smoking pot but not so much for the patients going to surgery!


My thought with the article was that it didn't mention a proof of causality.  Maybe people who are already psycho have a tendency to do more drugs, etc.  And of course it always sounds worse when written up than what the numbers tell you.  The incidence may be "six times greater" but if the baseline is a tenth of one percent of the population then "six times greater" is still a pretty small risk.

Anyway, like I said in the other thread, most of my drinking friends are still intelligent but most of my lifelong pothead friends are seriously fried.  Just anecdotal, so not a proof in anyway.

Now where did I put my vodka and my brownies . . .

If you smoke pot everyday all day long, then sure.  It would be equivalent to being an alcoholic and drinking just to get drunk every day.

If you do not abuse it you can smoke socially just like people drink socially.

But certain people will use anything to abuse and escape reality.  Abusing pot is much better then abusing alcohol.

Abusing anything will have a negative affect on your long term health.  I know quite a few people who smoke pot on a daily basis and I have yet to see any change in them.  I think if it is used in a controlled manner I think its perfectly fine.  I would like to see it legalized so that the government can get back some tax dollars and put in some regulations so that the users have some sort of safety.

i smoked pot everyday for around ten years. in the end it made me paranoid and i noticed that my mental health was beginning to creak under the strains of it. i gave it up a few years ago. i have tried the odd joint since then but everytime i get that paranoid feling instantly.
i guess it is like alcohol. if you experience problems with it then those problems will always be there