Cannabis link to schizophrenia

[Guest Urbanhog]

Cannabis link to schizophrenia

 

Psychiatrists are calling for caution in the move towards licensing cannabis-based medicines.

It follows research into a possible link between cannabis use and schizophrenia.

 

Two recent studies have shown that heavy use of cannabis is associated with a fourfold increased risk of developing the mental illness.

 

"There are some dangers to using high doses of cannabis that people need to know about," said Dr Deepak Cyril D'Souza, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine.

 

He said there was concern in the medical profession that people who smoke large amounts of cannabis for a long period of time are at higher risk of developing schizophrenia.

 

This needs to be kept in mind in the testing of new cannabis-based medicines, he added.

 

He told BBC News Online: "We need to do some kind of study to establish the psychiatric safety profile of these drugs."

 

Dr D'Souza presented new evidence on the link between cannabis and schizophrenia at the Institute of Psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital in London.

 

His research suggests cannabis may induce psychosis by its action on cannabinoid receptors in the brain.

 

He was speaking at the launch of the European Foundation for Psychiatry at the Maudsley.

 

Cliff Prior, the chief executive of Rethink, formerly the National Schizophrenia Fellowship, said: "We are looking for clear information and warnings on any prescriptions for this kind of medication, and for GPs to be made aware of the risks that may be involved.

 

"The use of cannabis is not thought to be a primary cause of schizophrenia, although there is strong evidence to suggest that it can trigger the onset of mental illness in some people with a prior disposition.

 

"More UK-based research is needed so that people with severe mental illness can have the best chance of recovering a meaningful quality of life."

 

Secret crop

 

Cannabis-based medicines could be available in the UK within a year following promising results in clinical trials.

 

GW Pharmaceuticals, the company granted a government licence to carry out tests on cannabis compounds, announced on Tuesday that advanced phase III trials had been successfully completed.

 

The tests, the last stage of drug evaluation before approval, showed that cannabis-based medicines can help to relieve symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

 

GW, which cultivates some 40,000 cannabis plants a year at a secret location in the English countryside, plans to seek marketing approval from Britain's Medicines Control Agency early next year.

 

Christine Jones, Chief Executive of the MS Trust, said: "We wholeheartedly agree that there is a need to investigate the psychiatric safety profile of cannabis-based medicines.

 

"For this reason, we are funding a study at the Institute of Neurology, London, evaluating the effects of cannabinoids on psychological factors in MS. Preliminary results will be available in September 2004.

 

"We are curious as to how Dr D'Souza would define 'heavy usage' and suspect that people who use cannabinoids for the relief of MS are unlikely to fall into this category."

 

BBC News - Wednesday, 6 November, 2002, 01:33 GMT

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2407027.stm

 

Umm..... honestly I know one guy I went to school with, he is mentally screwed and he claims that when he smokes pot, he feels more in control, and that 'God' is taking care of him, and all that silly mental illness stuff....

 

Anyone got opinions about this? it's been reported in the media now and then for while.....

 

Urbanhog

[Oz]

Unfortunately I can't find the article again I had last night from NORML giving a heads up warning on this very article, as it will be exploited to the full by anti-marijuana activists. I think it was also released through-out Australia's & Canada's Media

 

Here's some older article though regarding the same subject and previous studies.

Marijuana-Like Drugs Could Treat Schizophrenia, Study Suggests

 

A marijuana-like chemical produced naturally in the brain appears in higher levels in schizophrenics, a recent study of ten mentally ill patients revealed. Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, speculated that the body may be producing higher amounts of the chemical, called anandamide, to fight the disease, the Orange County Register reported.

 

"Our findings of high levels of anandamide in these patients does indicate that [it] plays an important role in the development of the disease," Daniele Piomelli, an associate professor of pharmacology at UCI, said. He noted that "many schizophrenics smoke marijuana and claim it eases some of their symptoms."

 

Previous research at UCI found that the brain's nerve cells use anandamide to modify the effects of the neurotransmitter dopamine, which is responsible for stimulating movement and other behavior. Scientists believe that excessive dopamine production causes some symptoms of schizophrenia, which affects one percent of the population. Current medication for schizophrenia block dopamine production, but are not always effective and have side effects.

 

"The idea is to develop novel medicines that use marijuana as a model," Piomelli said. "We want to activate some of the cannabinoid receptors in the brain without producing the high. ... By understanding how the anandamide system works similarly to marijuana, we can explore ways to treat [schizophrenia and other] diseases more effectively."

 

Piomelli's said he hopes to expand his study to 200 patients, but warned that anandamide's effects on schizophrenia are still not well understood.

 

His findings will appear in next months issue of the journal, Neuroreport.

 

For more information, please contact Drs. Lester Grinspoon of Harvard Medical School @ (617) 277-3621 or John P. Morgan of the City University of New York (CUNY) Medical School @ (212) 650-8255.

Oregon and Washington Add Ailments To Approved List For Medical Marijuana

 

Medical marijuana boards in both Washington and Oregon have added new ailments for which patients are legally permitted to use marijuana medically.

Washington State's Medical Quality Assurance Commission this week added diseases that cause severe gastrointestinal symptoms and seizures or muscle spasms to the list of terminal or debilitating medical conditions for which marijuana can be used if the patient possesses a doctor's recommendation.

The commission rejected a request to include insomnia and post traumatic stress disorder to the list. In the past, the board has added Crohn's disease and hepatitis C to the list of approved ailments.

"They've (the commission) done more than any other state in the country in listening to patients' needs and allowing truly suffering people to have access to marijuana," said Rob Killian, M.D., who filed the petition to include the recent additions to the medical marijuana law.

Last week, Oregon's Health Division added agitation from Alzheimer's disease to its list of medical conditions covered by the state's medical marijuana law. According to the state's health officer, marijuana won't help patients with the loss of memory and other intellectual capacities associated with the disease, but it may ease patient's agitation, which is the inability to settle down, restlessness and pacing which leads to the patient's combativeness.

The Oregon board rejected petitions to include anxiety, bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, schizo-affective disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia and adult attention deficit disorder.

"Both Oregon and Washington can be commended for making an honest and credible attempt to make functional recently passed medical marijuana laws," said Allen St. Pierre, NORML Foundation Executive Director.

For more information, please contact Allen St. Pierre, NORML Foundation Executive Director at (202) 483-8751

Sources: NORML

 

Your friend is not alone, many people claim cannabis helps them with their mental illnesses.

[Dr Doug]

Why is it the media will always beef up these type of reports? There are so many mental illnesses associated with alcohol yet none of theses are reported. If cannabis used realy did cause mental illness the hospitals would be overflowing with patients.

[boe~pimp]

schizophrenia as many people know, when related to cannabis, only occurs in pre-existing conditions.

with alchohol, i've been through alchoholism, feeling how it's ruining your body, throwing your guts up when you have to go without a drink, it's really fucked up as some of you may know.

with marijuana however, i've never had withdrawels and the only mental change i've noticed is for the better, i become alot more dosile and layed back with cannabis, however without it, even before, i had a temper about as long as an ants penis.

i witnessed my best friend endure psychosis through excessive marijuana consumption and realise it is an issue, but what i think we need is more responsibility, which is alot to ask for, but if it were legilised, then i'm sure GP's could monitor such things, it's an arguement we could carry on for a million years, but what it comes down to is the vote, and the pollies i think.

just personally i think it's fucking bullshit that anyone even if your under 18 can go out and buy shitloads of grog and ciggarettes, and walk around like it's natural when they both are manufactured "DRUGS" when marijuana which poses no threat to society is as legal as heroin etc and is as natural as growing tomatoes.

i've witnessed many people even friends that have become very aggressive and hostile through excessive consumption of alchohol yet what happens when you smoke too much pot ? (if there is such a thing hehe) you get tired and sleep, thats it.

 

The government has the right idea it's just actually executing the correct policies etc to create an anti criminalised or similar inviroment.