Cannabis use increases risk of psychotic illness - 27 July 2007 - New Scientist
I'm not sure what to think of this. My first thought was "Duh! - they smoke BECAUSE of the mental condition", but they cover this in the study. I guess I wouldn't be surprised if there was a worsening of a condition due to heavy marijuana usage. And if it was proven that heavy marijuana use actually CAUSED a mood disorder I wouldn't be too surprised. But there's too many axes to grind where illegal drug studies are concerned. Too much grant money to prove things one way or the other. But it does get a person thinking.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Cannabis Use Increases Risk Of Psychotic Illness?
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10 comments:
I believe this to be true. Marijuana kills the brain cells..well, who needs Pot when Bipolar kills the brain cells alone.
Combine pot and bipolar and your brain becomes obselete.
Same with alcohol....it is not good for people with bipolar.
Although, pot is good for cancer patients as it helps with chemo and physical pain - it is not good for us bipolars...unfortunately..ha ha ha ha :) :)
~Tery (AKA Dreamwriter)
I'll wait for more study before I believe it. Look how the religious right folks have alleged scientists telling them shit about creationism and denying global warming.....
I use to kill chronic pain and to "escape" sometimes.......
There are plenty of explanations for the results of this metastudy other than cannabis use causing psychotic disorders.
The explanation could be quite simple: perhaps persons with psychotic disorders are slightly more honest (on average) in revealing their past cannabis use than the general population.
Or perhaps the explanation is more complicated, maybe involving gene interactions that are as yet unknown.
There is a good podcast here where one of the scientists gives a good summary of this new metareview and what its implications are. The discussion begins five minutes into the podcast.
DD - the medicating properties are indisputable. It's like a Seroquel that only lasts an hour. I have heard of links between marijuana and bipolar mania, but haven't experienced that.
Lee - everyone has an axe to grind, don't they? And be careful of the Paraquat down there ;-) (For those of you under about 45, Paraquat is an extremely strong herbicide that was used to completely crush Mexican marijuana production in the seventies. Mexican pot was cheap and plentiful. If I recall, it sold for about $15 an ounce. Once the Paraquat spraying program got established, Mexican grass went away and you had to pay three times as much for South American pot.)
Anonymous - I'll listen to the podcast. But once again, on this topic everyone has an axe to grind.
Cannabis is a plant , Lithium is a salt, Seroquel is a man made chemical. Pacific Yew trees are protected by the Government for cancer healing ability. Nature provides relief for ailments, Pharma provides chemicals. It's an either/or choice sometimes.
As far as pot grown for medical use and pain killer affects, I am all for it.
Cymbalta has been widely prescribed for pain use beside depression. I think I'd take pot vs. that any day if I had pain to deal with[like MS, cancer}.
If you want some good humor re: pot, watch the movie "saving grace", it's hilarious.it might need special order or an amazon search to find.
Stephany - I do understand your argument. I used to put a lot of faith in the natural argument myself. Then I started thinking about all the dangerous natural things also: Heroin (and opiates in general), trans fat, lead, mercury, waste products - the list is endless. I don't think chemistry is bad, it's working for me in the way of Lamictal.
Oh I believe in many things, and have a broad view, personally I take Lamictal. Chemical.
I have a friend w MS who needs pot. So its not really an arguement.
its a supportive open-minded discussion.what works for some doe for others etc and what I like to see is an open choice system. we dont have that now.
Its Pharma paradigm medications for all, and we all know that.
I feel to have a "real" choice, would be to have a doctor offer medical marijuana or cymbalta and allow the patient to have what we all REALLY want-freedom to choose treatment options.
Once people close their minds to other alternatives, their is no hope beyond co-pays and FDA/Pharma.
Thought leaders w the most publications. I think we all want more than that, especially if what the basic system ends up not working for us.
Lets say Lamictal poops out.Seroquel, etc. doc says alternatives may help.In the 11th hour, what would a person choose?
Life? or choice? or 1/2 life? or?
In the end, the one walking on this planet smiling and the happiest wins. A life. If someone saw me in the mall for instance, I appear the same as them.
How I got there, is different.They dont know it.Why do we care who does what? [sorry for the rant, but hey, this is the topic right? wellness at any cost?]
Oh and dont get me wrong, ive had a friend die from meth abuse and lots of stuff, not in the dark here, but will never stop promoting open minded thinking--could be a west coast thing.dont know.
"In the end, the one walking on this planet smiling and the happiest wins."
Beautiful.
oh and the "west coast thing" was my dry humor showing up. i have some mid west relatives that dismiss me a lot with "she is from the west coast" . must be a bad thing. haha.
I have heard of links between marijuana and bipolar mania, but haven't experienced that.
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Andrew William
http://www.marijuanaaddictiontreatment.com
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