Link Between Marijuana and Psychosis Goes Both Ways 358
An anonymous reader writes with news of a study out of the Netherlands (abstract) about the link between psychosis and marijuana use. The researchers wanted to examine what caused the relationship — was marijuana use leading to psychosis, or did those suffering from psychosis have a higher tendency to seek out marijuana? As it turns out, they found evidence for both. From the article:
"... using pot at 16 years old was linked to psychotic symptoms three years later, and psychotic symptoms at age 16 were linked to pot use at age 19.
This was true even when the researchers accounted for mental illness in the kids' families, alcohol use and tobacco use. Griffith-Lendering said she could not say how much more likely young pot users were to exhibit psychotic symptoms later on. Also, the new study cannot prove one causes the other. Genetics may also explain the link between pot use and psychosis, said Griffith-Lendering."
Re:Correlation not cause (Score:5, Informative)
Well, let's skip pot and talk about the HARD drugs, such as coffee :)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stimulant_psychosis#Caffeine [wikipedia.org]
Re:Wonder drug? I think not. (Score:4, Informative)
Re:It's not like it's a new drug or small sample s (Score:4, Informative)
Ironically your sarcasm just makes his point stronger.
His argument not only applies to but is based on the comparison to alcohol and tobacco, which have many well-proven side effects and long term medical issues. As he pointed out, Marijuana on the other hand does not have such clearly proven effects, and certainly none as serious as liver disease or lung cancer.
Re:Correlation not cause (Score:3, Informative)
Indeed your right, they knew it back then. Marijuana makes black men look twice at white women, what more do you need to know?
Re:So (Score:2, Informative)
Some are like that, but please don't generalise and say it's everyone. There are plenty of people who use it the way others use alcohol and live normal lives. Dumb people aren't made any smarter by pot, so they still have equally dumb ideas... Pot just happens to be what they talk about. The neuronal connections were never there in the first place.
They did not find evidence of both (Score:4, Informative)
the data was inconclusive; which means exactly that.
Re:Not related to TFA (Score:3, Informative)
Coming from somebody who suffers from schizophrenia, I'll tell you the drugs never helped kill the voices or the thoughts of paranoia. They worked as a tranquilizer, I was taking Clozapine in the end (all the milder drugs did nothing for me and in many cases made it worse). The only thing that helped was learning to cope with the voices and paranoid thoughts, and put them where they appropriately belong (in the garbage). Lots and lots of therapy.
The unfortunate reality is I lost about 6 years of my life learning to deal with it, 3 of those years spent in a hospital. I've been off drugs for several years now, I still struggle from time to time, but I'm able to actually live my life without losing control of my emotions, and I'm able to hold a steady job. The unfortunate reality is you'll be dealing with this for many years if she has any serious psychiatric problems. Patience and being her rock is all you can do, and encourage her to seek help.
Re:It's not like it's a new drug or small sample s (Score:4, Informative)
Myth.
http://www.briancbennett.com/charts/fed-data/stronger-weed.htm [briancbennett.com]
Re:Wonder drug? I think not. (Score:0, Informative)
Re:So (Score:5, Informative)
You misinterpreted her statement. The correlation is, in fact, given in the abstract (relevant quote below). What she says she cannot do, because the study did not examine it, was how likely young pot users were to exhibit psychotic symptoms later, i.e. when they were not young (they only covered between 13 and 19 years old, looks like).
Findings
Significant associations (r=.12-.23) were observed between psychosis vulnerability and cannabis use at all assessments. Also, cannabis use at age 16 predicted psychosis vulnerability at age 19 (z=2.6, p<.05). Furthermore, psychosis vulnerability at ages 13 (z=2.0, p<.05) and 16 (z=3.0, p<.05) predicted cannabis use at, respectively, ages 16 and 19.
Re:It's not like it's a new drug or small sample s (Score:4, Informative)
The myth would be the claim that it is very different.
If you look at the charts two things stand out - that the most potent commonly consumed cannabis, sensimilla, has not changed in potency since 1990, that is more than twenty years. So this product is exactly the same as it has been for a couple of decades or more.
The second is that the generic "marijuana" has over the same time inched up by 80% over the same time, less than a single doubling, and is still half that of sensimilla of 20+ years ago.
Let me put this question to you: is a Sam Adams Boston Lager very different in its health and drug abuse risks than a Sam Adams Double Bock? The latter has 80% more alcohol than the former. You will not find anyone in the alcohol abuse treatment community claiming that alcoholic proof has the slightest bit of difference in the risk and harm of alcohol consumption.