Cannabis and schizophrenia

[icemagic]

From my understanding it's fine with adults but has the potential to affect minors whose brains are still undergoing development.

Well i still do believe an adult can do some permanent impairment if smoked excessively for example bongs for brekkie, lunch and dinner every day for 30 years strait, but weed in moderation is completely harmless, but MODERATION!

[Crunchy]

the only link between cannabis and mental illness is the effect the plant has on the ignorant people who fear it, don’t use it, and seek to punish those who do. We call it “reefer madness”. - Russ Belville

[Pickle]

I don't know about the rest of the conspiracy theory because i realy don't care if politians or sport hunters want to shoot each other or not but using a shotgun for bird shooting makes sense. It's easier to hit a flying bird with pellets that scatter to cover a wider area than it would be with say a .22. Then there's the fact that a .22 projectile would do a lot more damage than a pellet, even if more than one pellet hit the target.

[Allotropy]

ok I know alot about this topic. As I myself have had a form of psychosis. I'm recovered and luckily i'm not a schitsoprhenic which has many different types etc. Ii have a member in the family whom is a proffessor of psychiatry in the Netherlands. If anyone knows about cannabis and psychosis it's him. i've talked to him extensively about this obviously.

 

Comparing graphs and consumption rates isn't doing this topic justice.

 

Fact is: If your receptable to developing schitsophrenia. Cannabis, Speed (ice inclusive of course) and cocaine can trigger a schitsophreniform psychosis and another and then yes consequently a patient is schitsophrenic.

 

Fact: Cannabis can trigger a state called drug induced psychosis. Tthis type of psychosis fades away as the drug is metablolised some more and does not cause brain damage or schitsophrenia. drug induced psychosis from cannabis can be longer then that of aphetamines and coke becuase it takes longer to leave your system at high dose.

 

Fact: does cannabis cause schitsophrenia? No it does not. but people who are particularily receptable to developing schitsophrenia, cannabis can trigger the ilness.

 

Fact: Many people where cannabis is the trigger would have gone on to develop this illness anyway from stress alone.

 

 

Fact: If you have schitsophrenia DO NOT smoke cannabis as it can aggravate the illness and cause you more shit then good.

 

 

Fact: Cannabis is a much safer substance then alcohol and nicoteen, and even more so psychiatrically then alcohol.

 

 

 

Fact: If you ahve a mental illness your best off not smoking cannabis honestly as it masks the illness. Long term depresssion is degenerative also and can cause brain damage if masked by cannabis for years.

 

 

Be wise guys.. cannabis is a beatiful plant and smoking it is one of natures best marvels. Like any drug it can be negative. I'm sick of hearing all this pro cannabis bullshit about how it is completely safe.. this is simply not true. Do your reading.. don't believe all the goverment hype bullshit about how it's deadly.. but don't believe the pro cnnabis propoganda shit about how it's the safest substance in the world. Tthis is bullshit. Has cannnabis killed people? directly no.. but some people have died and I know people directly who have had schitsophrenia smoked pot had another psychosis then laid in front of a train. A friend of mine whom was bipolar smoked cannabis for 2 weeks and jumped off a cliff.

 

I love cannabis.. i'm more pro cannabis then against it.

 

But it can be dangerous to some people. If you have a mental illness and your reading this.. consult a psychiatrist and have a talk to them. Some of them are fuck heads. My relative is not. He works in a country where cannabis is legal.. they have done alot of studies. It is a dangerous substance to some people with mental illness and should be taken cautriously with those peopel whom have close family members who have history of schitsophrenia and other mental health problems.

[jabez]

There may be a few government studies out there that out right lie by claiming cannabis causes schizophrena, but for the most part they don't even try to claim it, they just play on peoples ignorance and prejudice by playing word games.

 

For example in the general population (world wide) about 1% of people have schizophrena. Now at the moment in the UK there saying that cannabis smokers have 2% chance of having schizophrena and if you start smoking in your early teens you have 7% chance of having schizophrena. This may be true, but the problem is even though the rate of schizophrena is higher with cannabis users the rate of schizophrena remains at 1% in the general population, since the rate of cannabis use has dramatically risen over the years, to be a 'casual' link there would need to be a clear rise in the general population of people being diagnosed with the illness. Like the casual link there is between the rate of tobacco smokers and lung cancer. No matter how hard they try no such casual link has been established with cannabis and schizophrena. Which clearly proves that people with schizophrena a prone to using cannabis and that it's not the cannabis causing the illness. Cause and effect!

 

Also, what they try calling "cannabis induced pyschosis" is totally misunderstood. A psychotic episode can simply be someone who's confused and overly paranoid for a few hours (in other words too stoned). Clearly 'all' drugs can cause psychosis if the person is prone to it and has either consumed to much or heavily abusing the substance.

 

There was a study put out a few years ago by the MHCA called where there's smoke, where they admitted that far more people seek professional help for psychotic symptoms who are alcohol abusers than even cannabis 'users' and also that 90% of people that use cannabis and seek help for psychotic symptoms are polly drug users, there other main drug of choice usually being alcohol.

 

Saying that people with a mental illness shouldn't use cannabis is no different than saying a person with a mental illness shouldn't drink a beer! It's a simplistic and ignorant view on a very complicated issue.

 

Cannabis may have it's poblems when abused, it can make you lazy and less confident (which is why I think it's complete BS that a person would kill themselves because they smoked to much. If someone is thinking about killing themselves of course there going to be abusing drugs, why wouldn't they, blaming the drug is just simple minded!!!), which only last for as long as you use the drug, there are no long term side effects to using cannabis. Also the effects of the drug doesn't argee with 'some' people who have a mental illness, but it's still hands down the safest drug known to man kind. I challenge anyone to name a safer drug?!?

 

 

 

http://ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19560900

[mull-ray]

Its interesting because in the UK they have noted no increase in schizophrenia while there has been a fourfold increase in mj use. What it also looks like is schizophrenia may have reduced somewhat so the claims seem to be bs. The most comprehensive study was done in NZ by Brit researchers and this is what they based the claims on. The answer is who knows - so many lies proliferated by so many in order to sustain the drug war. MR

[crank]

ok I know alot about this topic. As I myself have had a form of psychosis. I'm recovered and luckily i'm not a schitsoprhenic which has many different types etc. Ii have a member in the family whom is a proffessor of psychiatry in the Netherlands. If anyone knows about cannabis and psychosis it's him. i've talked to him extensively about this obviously.

 

Comparing graphs and consumption rates isn't doing this topic justice.

 

Fact is: If your receptable to developing schitsophrenia. Cannabis, Speed (ice inclusive of course) and cocaine can trigger a schitsophreniform psychosis and another and then yes consequently a patient is schitsophrenic.

 

Fact: Cannabis can trigger a state called drug induced psychosis. Tthis type of psychosis fades away as the drug is metablolised some more and does not cause brain damage or schitsophrenia. drug induced psychosis from cannabis can be longer then that of aphetamines and coke becuase it takes longer to leave your system at high dose.

 

Fact: does cannabis cause schitsophrenia? No it does not. but people who are particularily receptable to developing schitsophrenia, cannabis can trigger the ilness.

 

Fact: Many people where cannabis is the trigger would have gone on to develop this illness anyway from stress alone.

 

 

Fact: If you have schitsophrenia DO NOT smoke cannabis as it can aggravate the illness and cause you more shit then good.

 

 

Fact: Cannabis is a much safer substance then alcohol and nicoteen, and even more so psychiatrically then alcohol.

 

 

 

Fact: If you ahve a mental illness your best off not smoking cannabis honestly as it masks the illness. Long term depresssion is degenerative also and can cause brain damage if masked by cannabis for years.

 

 

Be wise guys.. cannabis is a beatiful plant and smoking it is one of natures best marvels. Like any drug it can be negative. I'm sick of hearing all this pro cannabis bullshit about how it is completely safe.. this is simply not true. Do your reading.. don't believe all the goverment hype bullshit about how it's deadly.. but don't believe the pro cnnabis propoganda shit about how it's the safest substance in the world. Tthis is bullshit. Has cannnabis killed people? directly no.. but some people have died and I know people directly who have had schitsophrenia smoked pot had another psychosis then laid in front of a train. A friend of mine whom was bipolar smoked cannabis for 2 weeks and jumped off a cliff.

 

I love cannabis.. i'm more pro cannabis then against it.

 

But it can be dangerous to some people. If you have a mental illness and your reading this.. consult a psychiatrist and have a talk to them. Some of them are fuck heads. My relative is not. He works in a country where cannabis is legal.. they have done alot of studies. It is a dangerous substance to some people with mental illness and should be taken cautriously with those peopel whom have close family members who have history of schitsophrenia and other mental health problems.

 

 

 

this is the most down to earth post ive read.

 

Thank you for sharing your experience, and I suggest that if anyone else has had a drug induced psychosis which is temporary to share it, not to bad mouth marijuana but to encourage responsible use.

 

This can be triggered by alcohol as well and i've seen it first hand when I worked as a bartender.

in the case of alcohol it can be brought on faster, but the duration is shorter, marijuana it takes longer to bring on so I have heard and longer to leave the body.

 

Thanks dude for addressing this issue, its happened to a couple of my mates who binged seriously for months on end, went on a long break and started again but responsibly, never happened again.

[jabez]

"Down to earth"! I beg to differ.

 

Long term depression is degenerative also and can cause brain damage if masked by cannabis for years

 

Could you supply a credible source for this claim? I doubt it cause it's complete BS! I suppose you think it's alright to be using synthetic anti-depressants for depression, right? I'm still waiting for a answer as to why I'm full of shit for claiming cannabis to be the safest substance known to mankind. Even water can kill you if you drink to much!

 

I also gotta say on a personal level I think it's just spiting on a persons grave to claim they killed themselves simply cause they were abusing drugs! The most powerful instinct any living thing on this earth has is the desire to live. If someone takes there own life it's because of years of mental pain, it is just so disrespectful to go blaming the drugs they were taking to give themselves a little peace!

 

BTW, cannabis is 'not' legal in holland, if you'd actually done your research like you accuse other people of not doing you would know that.

[cybergenesis]

Hey Jabez, I want to comment on your post before refuting the previous post implicating pot in schizophrenia. I COMPLETELY agree with what you said. Wow I have over indulged and I am excessively stoned yet I was about to labor with the effort to write such a response, its like you took the thoughts out of my mind! ... Totally agree with your views, its great that someone can see reality. Shows some pot smokers are extremely intelligent people.

 

Cannabis Induced Psychosis is so dodgy. Personally I am fairly confident it does not exist, albeit a person who will otherwise suffer from psychosis in their lifetime may appear psychotic and be using marijuana. I believe in a person otherwise already psychotic and disconnected from reality, it may in a complex way interact with the delusional architecture. I think there is the possibility though that marijuana may actually change the "mood" of psychosis in some people. It might perhaps cause some psychotic people to become less aggressive and depressed. It may also aggravate their confusion. Its complex. But I have known "happy psychotics" (not manic-depressives) that smoke marijuana and while they may be disconnected from reality do not appear unhappy or aggressive. Overall I would probably suggest that people with a family history of schizophrenia do not smoker marijuana, but if they do I don't think it should be assumed to be problematic, rather evaluated to see if its sufficiently negative to warrant discouraging usage.

 

Marijuana is a very safe drug. Nobody is saying its for absolutely everyone, but it should be acknowledged for being exceedingly safe, not constantly spoken of in a tone that implies menace. It should absolutely be legalized, but seeing as I am growing it may actually profit me for it to remain illegal. Maybe for selfish reasons, I will hope it remains illegal, but with minimal repercussion to users and growers.

 

Marijuana is amazing. I am really sick of all the negativity raised about it, its like somebody backstabbing a good friend of mine. Marijuana does not even need to be mentioned in regards to schizophrenia unless you have a family history of the illness, its a small issue. Its rather like when exercise is discussed always bringing up asthma, saying exercise causes asthma. Be wary it may give you asthma (unlike marijuana causing psychosis, exercise can induce asthma in asthmatics!)

Its a shame even many pot heads I know are brainwashed about marijuana.. most the other pot smokers I know are "occasional" smokers, they do it, they often do other drugs as well, and they don't know much about pot. I know some teenagers that smoke pot (responsibly), and they are receptive to me educating them about pot. Its an hour actually.

I like this forum, get to meet other people that love to get stoned, and meet people who are truly informed and knowledgeable about marijuana!

 

Enough from me, I love going on when I'm stoned

[PERTHSTONER]

You have to be slightly nuts to begin with to go skitzo on weed!