Cannabis use leads to psychosis

[Cloud]

weasels! weasels! get them off me!

[Sheldonrs]

Originally Posted by Cloud

weasels! weasels! get them off me!

Didn't you mean to post this in the "Relationships" section?

[Undertoad]

http://www.newscientist.com/article/...s-do-harm.html

Healthy volunteers were given the molecules intravenously for two sessions. They received the same amount of THC during each session; the only difference was whether they received CBD as well. Thirty minutes after injection a consultant psychiatrist interviewed the volunteers and rated their experiences. Overall, volunteers were rated as being significantly less psychotic after being given THC and CBD compared to THC on its own. The implication is that the presence of CBD in cannabis counteracts THC's tendency to trigger transient psychosis.

The authors believe that acting psychotic is a precursor to having the mental illness of psychosis. This does not ring true to me. If you regularly drink alcohol, you will not wind up permanently acting drunk.

To help find out, the Beckley Foundation is setting up a research project in collaboration with University College London and a leading medical marijuana dispensary in California which supplies over 30,000 patients. The study will analyse different strains of cannabis for their THC and CBD content. Patients will be asked which strains they find most effective, how they compare with conventional drugs, and to rate other effects, both beneficial and negative.

As for street cannabis, the Beckley Foundation hopes that this research will be used to make it safer. Skunk, with a typical THC content of 15 to 19 per cent and a CBD content of zero, has come to dominate the street market.

I am pretty sure we will come to find that not just CBD, but literally hundreds of other similar chemicals called cannabinoids are very much present in "street weed", because medicine has isolated THC and put it into a pill form and the effect of it is different than the effect of plain old weed.

Meanwhile if you look at the medical marijuana being produced, you will find that there are many different "strains", which people report as having drastically different results. Some are better as medicine than others -- some better for nausea, some better for pain, etc. and this can be explained by different levels of many different cannabinoids, some of which are more narcotic (for some people) than others.

[Clodfobble]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

The authors believe that acting psychotic is a precursor to having the mental illness of psychosis. This does not ring true to me. If you regularly drink alcohol, you will not wind up permanently acting drunk.

I don't know... if you are a regular alcoholic, I do think there is a certain amount of long-term damage to the brain, even if you later get sober. Memory loss, for example. What about acid flashbacks? The LSD is no longer in the system, but the brain is still having psychotic episodes years later. Probably not going to sustain that kind of damage off a few hits in college, of course, but I can certainly see how sustained, intense use of (a particular strain of) marijuana might also lead to permanent effects.

[piercehawkeye45]

Acid flashbacks are the release of tiny amounts of LSD that has remained in your body. I believe LSD can remain in the body from 1 to 20 years. Although I do agree with your main argument Clodfobble.

To break down my logic:
1) I consider weed a weak psychedelic as opposed to LSD and others which I consider strong psychedelics. When I used to smoke particular strains of weed, especially after taking LSD, I noticed that some of the visual and psychedelic effects are similar but on a much weaker level. I have also once taken a weed brownie so strong that two friends and I basically had an acid trip for five hours. For about three of those five we completely forgot it was weed and thought we were on acid. Although, three other friends, taking the same brownies, did not have the acid trip effect.

2) I believe there is enough evidence to make a legitmate connection between strong psychedelics and schizophrenia. I personally know someone whose uncle is permanently in a mental hospital after accidentally absorbing a sheet of acid when attempting to sneak it across the US-Mexico border.

As I mentioned earlier, every legitimate article I've read on the topic has stated that if psychedelic drugs are related to psychosis or schizophrenia, the relation is increased probability. For example, if you have a 30% chance of becoming a schizophrenic, smoking weed or LSD will increase the probability of that happening.

UT's arguments are strong and may prove to be true but at least until more evidence is shown, I believe there is a connection.

[capnhowdy]

So THAT explains the voices.....