Well, better late than never.
Doubt cast on cannabis, schizophrenia link
via CBC
A British study has cast doubt on the supposed link between cannabis use and schizophrenia.
… This latest study, led by Dr. Martin Frisher of Keele University, examined the records of 600,000 patients aged between 16 and 44.
… Frisher and colleagues compared the trends of cannabis use with general practitioner records of schizophrenia and psychosis.
They argue that if cannabis use does cause schizophrenia, an increase in cannabis use should be followed by an increase in the incidence of schizophrenia.
According to the study, cannabis use in the United Kingdom between 1972 and 2002 has increased four-fold in the general population, and 18-fold among under-18s.
Based on the literature supporting the link, the authors argue that this should be followed by an increase in schizophrenia incidence of 29 per cent between 1990 and 2010.
But the researchers found no increase in the rates of schizophrenia and psychosis diagnosis during that period. In fact, some of the data suggested the incidence of these conditions had decreased.
Over the past few years the mainstream media, as well as federal politicians, have enjoyed promoting the notion that smoking pot induces mental illness. Perhaps most notably, in 2007 the MSM touted that cannabis “could boost the risk of developing a psychotic illness later in life by about 40 percent” — a talking point that was also publicly promoted US anti-drug officials. Similarly, Canadian bureaucrats alleged — just two weeks ago — that marijuana users have a “seven-fold increase” in risk of developing schizophrenia.
Given this environment, I held little hope that anyone in the MSM would bother to report on the Keele University study — which initially appeared online on the website of the journal Schizophrenia Research in late June and was reported on by NORML on July 2 — despite its obvious newsworthiness.
And for nearly two months no one did. But kudos to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and a handful of British tabloids for just now bringing these findings to light (and even acknowledging that the MSM would have arguably provided far more prominence to this story had the findings demonstrated the opposite result.)
For now, let’s score one for the good guys, and cross your fingers that the American press will also eventually take notice.
I thought that study was skanky somehow.
My feeling on the schizophrenia is everybody is just worried about being arrested and that causes lots of fear. and it just gets worse as time goes on.
The only reason I ever get paranoid is when I think someone who is against it, knows that I am high. In other words, I fear retaliation because of its illegality. Paranoia is a symptom of the drug war, not pot.
I went to the other comment forum for this article, and I found it laughable how people still try to discredit a study that reviewed over 600,000 medical records, all because of their (false) moral beliefs.
I do enjoy more and more when I go to these public news sites, and the responses are always overwhelmingly in favor of legalization.
It’s also funny to listen to the non-factual arguments made by prohibitionists calling all pot users “dumb stoners” when they are the ones who are too stupid to even use spell check. But yet those idiots are the ones the government cares about, because their stupidity keeps them in power.
I’m not going to hold my breath waiting for the MSM to start covering the positive news about cannabis. All you have to do is think about where their income comes from. Drug manufactures and corporations that want to keep cannabis in it’s current status(alcohol produces and distributors to name a few). They are not going to do anything that might upset their paying clients. It is web sites like this that are truly informing people about the facts. More and more people are turning to the web for information as the MSM is bought and paid for by the same companies that own our elected officials. The government can’t go against the money that gets them elected now can they. Until our laws are changed about who can contribute and how much they can contribute these politicians are going to do whatever they are told to by those that pay for their campaign.
Yhe Schizophrenia Link is just another ploy by the PROHIBITIONISTS with propaganda and lies being spread to to keep marijuana illegal. Sure your going to have split personality, one for msdicinal and recreational use and the other for the oppression of the mindless drug war on MARIJUANA PROHIBITION. PEACE AND HARMONY VS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OVERLORDS. We make our own choices on what we ingest into our own bodies, but the problem is GOVERNMENT TYRANNY AND THE ANTI-MARIJUANA NAZIS. All the government czars positions are taken up. 420 ALL THE WAY!
T.C.#2
I agree,People have every reason to be paranoid when using or even being around someone that has cannabis.After all, if caiught with it ,your life is ruined. People have prohibition to thank for that,otherwise People could relax and not hide from the law.
You are either born a nutjob or not. Im bi-polar and my shrink said i probably had it since i was born and it jus showed later on in life. Pot calms my head and allows for thoughts and everything to be closer and more orderly thatn jus my meds alone. Anyone who says pot causes mental illess is a fukin idiot of the highest degree just tryin to spread propaganda.
Hey, just a little logical gamesmanship: It’s possible that people who were schizophrenic would try to medicate themselves, anything to stop the pain, voices, whatever, and thus, might turn to cannabis. Then when they end up in mental institutions or jail, (and jails are increasingly housing people who should be in mental institutions) it comes out that they smoked weed. And voila! There’s your link between marijuana and schizophrenia: all these schizophrenics smoke weed, therefore, weed causes schizophrenia. My point is, watch out for people who would use that kind of backwards logic to set up false causal relationships.
schizophrenia is a little more complicated than just being paranoid #2. But this is good news nonetheless
PPL got to stop being afraid and RISE UP…
Im sick and tired of the bullshit that goes around in this sick country…
PPL are afraid bcause they are lazy to learn to have an open mind, a lot of ppl dont know about their rights an all the stuff that comes with it.
They are so afraid to say weed over the phone because they think the goverment is listening and will come to their house and raid their fucking asses an locked them up like some kind of rapicts or a fucking cold blooded murderer. Im sayin this because I dont know anymore, how many times I have told my family or friends or ppl that randomly meet about having organizations that support marijuana and would like your support. They say yes give me the website name and ill get in there as soon I go home but they NEVER do it. I ask them the next time I saw them but they said they forget or they to afraid and think that the cops are gonna come to their house.
I tell them about their rights an how to suppor an issue an all the other stuff you can do to bring that issue to a higher level but they still dont do it.
This country has become so ignorant, greedy, an selfish….an makes me want to throw up everytime I hear about some sex offender that got away under their fucking nose for the last 18 years or while those fucking so called “CONTRACTERS” that supposably are watching our borders are gettin so fucking drunk (ALCOHOL) an be partying in the most disturbing and disgusting way an not doing their fucking jobs. It makes me sick but what can I say life is not fair so got to learn to handle it in the most accertive way I can…so later my ppl I just wanted to get that of my chest…
An now of to read my book of MARIJUANA IS SAFER SO WHY ARE WE DRIVING PEOPLE TO DRINK. Next to my bong and my bob marly ashtray..
one question norml are there books about Marijuana is Safer in spanish version? for my ppl
Haha. Take that prohibitionists!
only thing that casts doubt on this finding is that it uses all of the people who have used marijuana as evidence and not just those predisposed to mental ilnesses, who are the only ones that the other side claims marijuana causes to develop mental ilnesses…
This studyis consistent in finding of other similar studies but of smaller scale.
I have heard that marijuana use resulted in an increased risk of schizophrenia, but I didn’t listen, as they are always talking about me anyway
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Waaaaaaaaaaaah! De’ mean ol’ librals is pickin’ on me again! Waaaaaaaaaaaah! Waaaaaaaaaaah! Dey is takin’ ‘way my helthcare! Waaaaaaaaaaaah! waaaaaaaaaaaah! Dey’ is smokin’ dopes! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! waaaaaaaaaaah! Makes ’em stop! Waaaaaaaaaaaaah! Waaaaaaaaaaaaah! Waaaaaaaaaaaaah! Librals! Waaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Waaaaaaaaaaah! Waaaaaaaaaaaah!
Cannabis consumption is dangerous. Please name even one substance people consume that is not dangerous. People can and do die from consuming water, sugar, etc. The central issue of cannabis re-legalization is not rather or not cannabis is dangerous. The crux of the cannabis re-legalization debate is rather or not keeping cannabis illegal violates God’s will for people to live in freedom with liberty as acknowledged and cited in the Constitution of the United States. As responsible adult cannabis consumption does not violate the rightful freedom and liberty of others, government has no legitimate authority to keep cannabis illegal, rather it has the duty to re-legalize cannabis immediately. The question at hand is: In a free country, who should run your life, you or the government? If the answer is you, you are totally responsible and fully accountable and live in a free country. If the answer is the government, it is not a free country, it is a slave state. Government has a legitimate role to protect our freedom and liberty from being violated, but none to even try and protect us from ourselves. Citizens of a country who allow their government to run their lives, deserve their slavery.
#17. Rick
And remember, just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.
I am ready for some national action. I read every day more and more atrocities committed against people for use of a God given herb. Sick people in California are still being sent to jail and not allowed to even mention it is medicine at their fair trial. It makes them feel better. What is wrong with that???
CFJ
Medical Marijuana Patient Faces Prosecution in San Diego Court
Thursday is Donna Lambert’s Last Chance for Case Dismissal,
Advocates Criticize DA’s Pattern of Harassment
SAN DIEGO – On September 3rd in San Diego County Superior Court, medical marijuana patient Donna Lambert will have one last chance to ask a judge to dismiss the case against her. She faces seven felony counts for providing medical marijuana to another qualified patient in accordance with state law.
“I’m already fighting life-threatening illness, and now I’m fighting for my life in court,” said Ms. Lambert, a medical marijuana patient facing prosecution in San Diego . “I’m being prosecuted in state court even though I followed state law. It doesn’t make any sense. I’ve got news for San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis: medical marijuana is legal. Get over it and stop harassing patients.”
Ms. Lambert, a 47-year-old San Diego resident, began relying on marijuana to cope with chemotherapy. She struggles with a number of serious illnesses, including hepatitis C, cirrhosis, cancer and Sjoegrens Disease. She joined a collective with about ten other patients only after federal agents, with support from county law enforcement, raided and closed San Diego ’s medical marijuana dispensaries in 2006.
“Donna Lambert is a victim of District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis’s continuing blatant disregard for state medical marijuana laws. This may be politics for the district attorney, but this is life and death for Donna Lambert,” said Margaret Dooley-Sammuli, deputy state director for the Drug Policy Alliance in Southern California . “We hope the judge will see this case for what it is and dismiss all charges.”
WHERE: Department 53 at the downtown San Diego Courthouse.
WHEN: September 3rd, 2009, at 1:30pm .
WHY: Hearing in medical marijuana patient Donna Lambert’s case (#ACL004).
Background: Ms. Lambert is one of 14 people arrested in the District Attorney-led “Operation GreenRx”, which is estimated to have already cost taxpayers over $2 million. As part of that operation, as many as ten detectives spent six months becoming qualified medical marijuana patients on fraudulent grounds and then joining medical marijuana collectives. Undercover San Diego Police Detective Scott Henderson lied to a doctor to obtain a valid medical marijuana recommendation and then reached out to Ms. Lambert for help. After verifying his valid doctor’s recommendation and providing him with medicinal marijuana, Ms. Lambert now faces seven felony counts.
Ms. Lambert’s case is important for several reasons. It is one of the first cases to be tried after both President Obama and US Attorney General Holder have said it was a waste of resources to spend money undermining the state medical marijuana laws. It is also one of the first medical marijuana cases to be tried since the US Supreme Court refused to hear San Diego County’s bid to overturn California’s medical marijuana laws.
schizophrenia causes cannabis use.
They also claim MJ causes an increase in testicular cancer. One quick search finds that pesticides are the #1 cause of this cancer. Did the researchers fail to mention that unregulated MJ growers use far more pesticides than anything else we might consume.
This probably won’t change a thing in the minds of prohibitionist. They don’t understand science. They just like to control people.
I think some of the problems we face with getting our points across are the people who represent our position. The suits & ties in Washington see pot heads as your typical teenage punk that can’t spell or put a complete thought together. These types of advocates aren’t helping anything. We need more folks who are pillars in their communities. more organizations such as LEAP, and of course more news articles from respected nations that support our cause.
NeuroGenesis1:29
R.O.E
Rick Seymore/Tennessee Activist
HooterJack/Activist
Joseph “Ironman” Siller
Nesomania
KNOWLEDGE GIVES US POWER OVER OUR DEMONS.
In our case, demons are prohibitonists i.e. moral idiologues, radical religious fundamentalists. Their agenda is supported finacially by alcohol, tobacco, pharmabeasts, and many other industries. Politicians, of course, will go with the money flow. It all seems like overwhelming odds, those opposing forces against the acceptance of cannabis. Yet: here comes 85% of We the People [in favor] of legalizing medicinal cannabis. We can only attribute this amount of resistance to “KNOWLEDGE”…and…its opposition to recognizable unfavorable ulterior motives.
Our “OBJECTIVE” is to “SPREAD THE KNOWLEDGE” to the misinformed everywhere. My point is this: You could be standing there amongst a stadium of people, and think nothing of it, until “one person” jumps out in front of you, and confronts you with their presence. Then, there is only “one person,” and the crowd becomes invisible. If we all became that “one person” to the crowd, our message would manifest itself. The only glitch in this scenario is that the messenger must be knowledgable, but more so credible. Know your stuff, spread the word, and do it under the battle flag of a hunter green polo or T-shirt, and the Green Door Referendum.
Our “OBJECTIVE” is to legalize medicinal cannabis in all fifty states as expediently, efficiently, and effectively as humanly possible. What we must consider is that “TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE,” and “BEST USE” of that time is paramount to our “OBJECTIVE.”
We can’t win the war by winning one battle. There are fifty battles in this war…13 down…37 to go.
Rebel with a Cause aka Manford Mantis [CA-GD]
One by one and two by two the claims of anti-happiness zealots fall by the wayside. Give it up, take a toke or ten, and come over to the light side.
Tear Down This Wall! Get out of my life! You will no longer make criminals of peaceful people!
Finally got my hands on a copy of “The Emperor wears no Clothes” I am loving it and recommend it to all who haven’t already read it. Its just what we need for our battle bag. lol
Th ONLY reason that pot would cause mental illness is that it tends to open the mind to what is real and what is false or manufactured TRUTH. Dwelling on illusions too long will drive anyone crazy.
My mother worked for the dept of mental health, she said 80% of her clients with schizophrenia used pot. It’s not how they got it, but they used it to control their symptoms. 90% of those who used it said it helped with the voices, hallucinations and other issues they were dealing with, with only a few saying either it didn’t help or made it worse.
I have NEVER believed that pot can cause schizophrenia. It’s not brought on by something like pot. Sure you can say those who have it many have used pot, but they also smoked or drank since most with schizophrenia have very addictive personalities.
But if you say pot causes it, then you also have to say smoking and drinking and a whole host of other things cause it too. It’s just not true.
[Russ responds: Dr. Mitch and I discuss that a lot on the Stash. With any study of marijuana users and mental health, you have to ask, “did the pot cause the mental health issue” or “do people with mental health issues self-medicate with pot?” It’s mostly the latter.]
i have an add issue. i have tried big pharms meds to no avail. smoking marijuana has been a great benefit for me. if i dont use it, my thoughts will run like mad uncontrolable. cannabis will slow those thoughts just enough to allow me to keep things in perspective and follow through rather then one thought crashing into another. no one will ever tell me their is no benefit from responsibly using canabis. it improves my quality of life.what will it take for our government to understand. a mind is a terrible thing to waste!
People who allready are pre disposed to mental illness whatever illness that may be I believe can bring on bouts of their illness through using drugs but any drugs not just weed. but they would have been mentally ill anyways. Its like saying ” I am obese and I blame Chocolate chip cookie comercials for my stupid desicion to eat too many of the damn things”. If your mentally ill its stupid to take drugs like marijuana until you have come to terms with your illness allready and can use it as a medicine not a crutch or excuse. Just like if you weigh 800 lbs supersizing your meal prob isn;t a good idea.
i just wanted to say i got schizophrenia along with manic depression and to make it clear on the schizophrenia issue if anything marijuana helps tremedouly with my illness
The only time I feel paranoia or thihnk I am hearing things is when I am baked and I see a cop. Especially when I am driving. I always hear the siren go off. This is only because I am scared of getting caught and loosing my financial aid for school. I use marijuana to relax and sometimes to study, but at time the illegalization of weed makes it difficult to enjoy when I am high in public. In other words it is not marijuana that causes paranoia, it is the fact that it is illegal that causes these symptoms.
#31 Kasado Says:
September 4th, 2009 at 6:43 am
“…Dwelling on illusions too long will drive anyone crazy.”
RE:Yes,
– Cognitive dissonance
(an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously),
is what causes schizophrenia…
– Such as…
people who claim they believe the Bible is
the unerring Word of God,
YET,
deny the practical-validity of the
scripture-passages regarding the USEFULLNESS
and NECESSITY of all of the plants created for our
utilization and well-being!!!
#31 Kasado Says:
September 4th, 2009 at 6:43 am
“…Dwelling on illusions too long will drive anyone crazy.”
RE:Yes,
– Cognitive dissonance
(an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously),
is what causes schizophrenia…
– Such as…
LISTENING TO
people who claim they believe the Bible is
the unerring Word of God,
YET,
deny the practical-validity of the
scripture-passages regarding the USEFULLNESS
and NECESSITY of all of the plants created for our
utilization and well-being!!!
Getting to maters that mater is something we seem to be able to get down to humbly; I would like to share this with you. This from my life experience is a true connection to the ties of races through our own sex laws which have been built on misconceptions and myth.
The Supreme Court just ruled on sex offender laws where some factions of our government think by some inert reasoning that sex offender should be quarantined like some virus steaming from draconian/Islamic law sex offenders should be executed. I have seen for myself, video taken in another country where a sex offender is placed on a pole much like the Catholics use to use a pyramid shaped object and have them sit on it and spin, the pole travels through the body looking for the throat but if not found its ok cause the sharpened end of the pole will come out somewhere. The heritage of the act is in its self a throwback to troglodyte’s who are so obsessed with sex they can find that the way to deal with the issue is as revolutionary, as war, and two wrongs don’t make a right but has in fact called up deep rooted issues of people who have had to put up with this kind of “hierarchy” of historic hysteria far to long. A word taken from hysterectomy, hysteria is tied to castration used to make animals less threatening right? Good old Monty Hall. Well no wonder it’s wrong, right?
Anyway we are supposed to be the most advanced nation and we still have a death penalty when the rest of the world except for nations we are still warring with, {think!} While other nations went home our weapons dealers and torture lovers delighting in support for the death of people they don’t know or want to simply because they don’t know how to get money with out taking it from someone by force, is that supposed to includes mutilations? In my humble opinion that alone are terrorist activities as much as severed hands, ears, heads, or making a case with nothing more than an obsession justified by lies.
The truth about the sex offender registry will come out soon enough. When it does, People will see how the use of the registry was created, and by exactly who and why and the devastation it has created and the worthlessness of the use of it. It’s origin in the Crow laws that brought disgrace to our nation allowing thieves and murderous societal bigots who have trashed any shot at making good of a program in its design to make money destroying our nation and its people. We can not play god and we can not survive using this behavior model because we are compounding the problem.
It’s a ruse designed by people who are getting rich off the castration/hysterectomy/health care/physic care of people through sex laws that have gone wild. What about the people who are being used by the Medicare programs that requires these mutilations for both men and woman after they take their means of support? Can’t you see? You have created the model and it is worthless! Why don’t you just indiscriminately kill people you don’t know that’s statically the next sex offender because over 90% of all new offences are people not on the sex offender registry and the numbers are increasing not decreasing so as a behavior model the chumps put together is really screwed up and they were told before they tried it. So what is the use of such laws as the sex offender registry other than to terrorize people? With the murder of so many sex offenders and the continued disregard for life by the use of the registry it’s just a mater of time before the federal government will be held liable for the deaths through federal court.
In a nation where a statement may have a double or triple meaning and our entire linage can be traced through mud, guts, and beer it’s nice once in a while to get the picture of what is meant instead of what some thinks someone may have implied. So it is from the trenches to the hill. Remember the game where someone says something in someone’s ear then passes it the same way to the next; the person advocating such destructive laws are the ones who need to be section 8 by simple brake down of the issue not sex offenders. Best regards