What has convinced some researchers that the risks of heavy cannabis use now warrant public health campaigns to warn people of potential harm?
How real is the risk of psychosis among vulnerable users of the drug?
And why has the number of young people receiving treatment for cannabis-related problems seemingly been on the rise in the UK?
Ian Sample is joined by Sir Robin Murray, professor of psychiatric research at King’s College London, Suzi Gage, senior research associate in the MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit at Bristol University and Ian Hamilton, a mental health lecturer at the University of York.
Causality is hard to establish. From what I understand, it might cause permanent cognitive impairment when it comes to limited areas of brain function, but that’s it.
likely, likely. but I bet it’s no more harmful than a state lottery, economically. another way for the government to collect revenue from people who can afford it the least, but at least they get something out of it with weed.
The big question that needs answering is: Does pot make people stupid or is it just something that attracts stupid people? Your average hardcore weed user is thick as a brick and they get worse with age and use, so I’m betting on a combination of the two.
There have been studies that show the cognitive effects of weed disappear in a few weeks / a couple of months after stopping. I’m too lazy to search for them right now. I’m betting it doesn’t really make you stupid (apart from when you’re high, that is), it just makes you lazy, which again probably has a small effect on intelligence over time.
Risk is getting higher if there are more gene mutations leading to more people being at risk of said-genes “activating” mental illness. My recent discovery about the research on the human genome deteriorating has caused me to rethink my perspective on the risk with THC. I’ve never seen anything that suggests THC makes people dumber when sober, except for people who have been high nearly all the time for years, I think that psychological experience alone can make a person “off”. But I’ve never seen anything like that in people who smoke casually. However I do agree there is risk for someone with mutated genes that could lead to mental illness, now just how much that risk exists in the public is another thing. But again the research I recently combed through suggests that it may be greater than I originally thought.
Some people are convinced that cannabis is totally safe. A poster on another forum claimed no one reports negative effects and those that do are poly substance abusers.
Cannabis isn’t harmless. I’ve seen it do damage. I think it depends on the person how badly it harms them. Some people are impaired by it, and some aren’t. It’s like smoking cigarettes. Some people can do that with no harm to themselves, but many can’t. Personally, I never enjoyed the high of marijuana. Alcohol is my drug of choice, God help me. Some guys just love weed, though. They can’t get enough of it. I think marijuana can trigger psychosis in people who are prone to that.
