Cannabis

[JOEYSHABADO]

Does cannabis damage your mental health?

[jade_pie]

yes! its just been on the news that its 60% more likely to cause mental problems later on in life. x

[silly moo]

never damaged mine!

[Scarlett]

I know nothing has been proven yet, but I know lots of adults and young adults who smoke cannabis regularly and they certainly have distinguishing features. I teach at an FE College, and regularly teach mature students who are now schizophrenic, and admit that this is due to cannabis over-use. I guess we will have to wait and see what medical trials come up with.

[ll_billym]

This question really annoys me.  Although no offence to you JOEY, I know you are intelligent enough to have your own (unposted) opinion and are just posting this for the purpose of debate. Anyway...

Cannabis is a mind altering drug therefore it has the potential to cause long term damage.  However there are over 6 billion completely unique minds on this planet and some will turn into paranoid scizophrenics after prolonged cannabis use and some will remain completely untouched and everyone else is somewhere in between.  Like LSD, some people have good trips and others have bad trips.  Research is going to be done that proves this and it is simply a man in a suit that will decide whether the percentage of people that develop serious mental illness outweigh those that don't therefore making it legal or not. 

Same goes for alcohol, valium, MDMA, prozac, you name it really and it's just a guy in a suit who decides whether we can buy it in the shops.

[Hgrove]

As teenager I did not know anyone who did not smoke cannabis and they have all had distinguished careers: lawyers, academics and the like.  I was the only one who did not smoke the stuff and I ended up as a secretary.. not that it proves anything but still..

[RevShirls]

I think it would be better to say that some research indicates that the overuse of cannabis can cause damage but it must also be said that cannabis seems to have very good positive effects in people with glaucoma, MS etc. A derivative of cannabis is used in a drug called dronabinol in some cancer treatments and is particularly good at alleviating the effects of nausea. Ii was also widely used in Biblical times as a drug for different ailments and for sacrifice and ritual. The Hebrew word קנה (kaneh) in the bible was translated to English as sweet calamus but many Hebrew scholars (including a couple of my professors when I was at university) claim it was the abbreviated form of the Hebrew kaneh bosm and referred to cannabis. I have mixed views on the recreational use of cannabis but I am very much in favour of it being used in medicine.

[jake-the-peg]

I think as a lot of people have pointed out cannabis can cause mental health problems and there are a lot of studies that back this up - but recently there was some work that pointed out that under 16's were particularly likely to be susceptible. I'd also point out that because cannabis is illeagal there is no quality control and hence you don't always know a) how strong it is and b) what it may be cut with.

Skunk in particular can be very very strong especially in Amsterdam.

Next point - cannabis users are more likely to get lung cancer - this sounds odd but it's because of the way you smoke cannabis - you tend to inhale it much deeper and hold onto it longer in your lungs where the tobacco it's mixed with really gets to work on your lungs.

It has active ingredients that are useful in MS and other diseases but it can't be used by the medical profession as is  because there is no way to measure dosage and elliminate side effects which is why there are efforts currently to turn it into a medecine that can be acurately prescribed.

My personal advice is if you must smoke it try to limit it to special occasions and don't get drawn into daily use. - You'll probably know by the way you drink whether or not you can do this.

 

  

[Englishbird]

It can totally screw up your short term memory - which is very very irritating for anyone you happen to be going out with!!!!!!

[newtron]

This question prompted me to do some quick research.  Initially, I assumed that most of the studies that supposedly show that cannabis causes mental health disorders were statistical analyses that showed a correlation between the number of people who smoked a lot of pot and people who developed mental health disorders.  I am always sceptical about these types of studies especially the ones I hear about on the news.  When dealing with statistics, you have to be careful about concluding a cause and effect relationship based on a statistical correlation, especially when dealing with a complex system with many variables.  After a little (very little I admit) research, I found tha I was right. http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/325/7374/1183 This article provides a nice overview on the different studies on this subject along with some insighful responses.  So the official answer to you question is we don't know.  Personally, I know many people who smoke marijuana on a regular basis and most of them are some the most intelligent and level headed people I know, but I also know a few wackos.  So who knows?

[OBonio]

Good point EnglishBird!  My mate's short term memory is horrendous after being a habitual toker for the last 5 or 6 years.  Drives me mad.

[JOEYSHABADO]

Thank you all for the answers (keep em coming). Especially Newtron, (precisely what I thought might be the case). However, you can make a nice equation: correlation + emotive issue = causality. People will jump very quickly to conclusions.

I'm about to say something really bad.

I think if what Newtron says is true, then it has to be seen in the broader context: and that's about weighing things up. Because, apart from helping people with diseases etc, it may be that a lot of antisocial, uptight, or aggressive people could use a good toke once in a while? My god, I think how much better my family would be with a bit of green once in a while.

My mate's a very regular cannabis user, but is scared of giving up in case he finds out he's got MS...

[jake-the-peg]

I have a friend with MS who uses cannabis to relieve pain and I can tell you that cannabis does not mask MS and frankly that is one of the most ridiculous things I've heard in a long time.

I agree with Neutron you have to be careful with statistics especially when the media get hold of them - I like to think that statistics never lie, bust statisticians are right beggers for it!

T^hat doesn't mean you should discount properly done statistical analysis - when you're dealing with large populations and things like medical trials it's the only way to actually reach any conclusion at all.

Meanwhile you might like to look at this:

http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/330/7481/11?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&fulltext=cannabis&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1111566233870_564&stored_search=&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=1

It's from the British Medical Journal so it will have been peer reviewed etc.

It concludes that Cannabis use moderately increases the risk of psychotic symptoms in young people but has a much stronger effect in those with evidence of predisposition for psychosis.

[JOEYSHABADO]

Thanks for that.

Firstly, I think my friend was joking when he said that he feared giving up cannabis use in case it revealed underlying MS

Seconly, thanks for the ref. It makes interesting reading. If I was taking cannabis (which I don't) for MS and was thinking about giving up due to psychosis risk, I'd want to read a few more articles first. To begin with, the type of self-report of psychotic incident needs to be examined. Secondly, their conclusion " [Cannabis use] has a much stronger effect in those with evidence of predisposition for psychosis.] can be slightly misleading to some, it does not mean that if you have a psychotic  pre-disposition then cannabis use will lead to a psychotic outcome. In fact, half of that ("psychotic-predisposition") cohort who did smoke cannabis did not show psychotic symptoms as a result of smoking cannabis. (Table 4)

It does begin to look slightly suspect, when you ask why cannabis use brings out psychotic symptoms in some with a predisposition, but not others.

[newtron]

I agree Jake, that statistics never lie.  It's just a matter of interpreting what they are really saying.  I also agree that you shouldn't discount a properly done statistical analysis.  BTW, thanks for that article.  It was very informative, and fairly convincing.  The authors definitely tried to account for many of the variables involved.  There are still many variables that were not accounted for.  I think that making a link on the physiological level is the key (the authors alluded to this towards the end).    

[sasserina]

I smoked every night for 10 plus years...I started to lose confidence and had anxiety and panic attacks come out of nowhere one day...I stopped smoking cannabis 6 yrs ago now and still had the anxiety until last year...Now I am fine and feel wonderful..but hey we are all different...I know people who have smoked for years and years with no problem...I know people people who smoked and are now dead... some have mental health issues...it all depends on our own bodily make up...