Is this the 'tobacco moment' for cannabis?

[sarita]

Absolutely correct.

 

[Ceres]

Animal Models of Schizophrenia

Animal studies have their limits when it comes to testing the real efficacy of medicines meant to treat mental illness in humans...

Recent work on the central nervous system (CNS) effects of cannabinoids in rats indicates these compounds have effects that could potentially contribute to psychosis, including a complex modulation of dopaminergic transmission that can lead to an enhanced sensitization of dopamine neurons

If that is true in humans then it absolutely does warrant further investigation into a direct link between THC during adolescence and increased risk of psychotic disorders.

It's common sense anyway that taking psychoactive drugs a lot while your brain is still developing could cause permanent changes.

 

[Inso]

It's horseshit - the independent turned against cannabis after their silly fucking "lets legalise it, oh fuck no, lets make it class B again". Silly bastards.

Yeah what's with that? I saw the article headline on the front of the hard copy in sainsbury's today and was really surprised since I remember them being very pro-legalisation last year.

The thing about overall schizophrenia rates is most telling.

 

[Ismene]

I wouldn't be too quick to assume the rat research is worth a low-quality wank. Remember their "research" into rats on Ecstasy - what they do is inject massive quantities (far more than any human could possibly consume) DIRECTLY into the rats brain EVERY 4 hours for 5 or 6 days in a row, then they cut the rats brain open, look at a few synapses and then claim "There you druggie cunts, see what E does to you?"

Now anyone serious about research would give the rats ORAL doses - why? Because i've never heard of a human yet injecting Ecstasy directly into his brain.

I imagine even if they had abused the rats on such a gargantuan, ridiculous scale, if they simply let them live, within a week they would back to normal and utterly indistuingishable from any other rat. These wankers generally have a political purpose - ie you only get funding if you come up with something negative about drugs. Come up with research that says they're safe and your research money disappears.

 

[Busty St Clare]

Mental health isn't black and white, it's many shades of grey. People react differently to cannabis, I for instance lose my appetite and find it difficult to sleep. Rather than make me lethargic I am usually supercharged. Many people get anxious and paranoid. It is a stretch to call this schizophrenia but it is difficult to argue that these symptoms are healthy brain activity.

I don't doubt there is a strong link, but it affects a relatively small minority. By far the biggest harm is inflicted by the criminal justice system as punishment for smoking a relatively benign drug. Moderation is the key. Rather than prohibition I would prefer we concentrated on identifying and educating those who are more susceptible to mental health problems and guide them to steer clear of cannabis. When was the last time you told a mate they should cut down or that a particular drug doesn't appear to suit them? Too often we as a community take the easy way out and let our friends fall I'm afraid.

 

[Ismene]

Yeah what's with that? I saw the article headline on the front of the hard copy in sainsbury's today and was really surprised since I remember them being very pro-legalisation last year.

It was a fucking joke - they launched this massive campaign to drop cannabis to class C then about a year later they had a front page saying "We were wrong - cannabis is deadly".

 

[charlie clean]

Jacqui Smith is on 5Live tonight or tomorrow after 11pm explaining why she is a cunt.

Note the listener friendly time. For druggies I guess.

Jacqui sure likes the attention, maybe she's a bit schizo herself. Wish she'd return to the obscurity to which the corruption enquiry and the electorate wished her. Cars are responsible for plenty casualties but nobody suggests banning them. Legalise cannabis, stick a health warning on every packet and free up the police to chase criminals. Let that be the end of the matter, you know it makes sense.

 

[Ismene]

It is a stretch to call this schizophrenia but it is difficult to argue that these symptoms are healthy brain activity.

Doesn't the latest research suggest schizophrenia is caused by a gene?

 

[Ismene]

free up the police to chase criminals.

Well, free them up to walk round tescos for an hour in their stabproof vests and then drive to a nice quiet corner and munch on a fucking doughnut for half the shift more like.

 

[StoneHappyMonday]

Good day at work Ismene?

 

[Ismene]

Bit rough to be honest shm!

 

[Ceres]

Doesn't the latest research suggest schizophrenia is caused by a gene?

Genetics is a factor, schizophrenia can run in families, but I'd assume there are plenty of other ways to create the same or similar abnormalities in the brain behind schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.

 

[Ceres]

Well, free them up to walk round tescos for an hour in their stabproof vests and then drive to a nice quiet corner and munch on a fucking doughnut for half the shift more like.

So it's not just the local bobbies where I live then? It's either tescos or parking on double yellow lines so they can go to the chipshop.

 

[Inso]

Jacqui sure likes the attention, maybe she's a bit schizo herself. Wish she'd return to the obscurity to which the corruption enquiry and the electorate wished her. Cars are responsible for plenty casualties but nobody suggests banning them. Legalise cannabis, stick a health warning on every packet and free up the police to chase criminals. Let that be the end of the matter, you know it makes sense.

It makes sense to anyone who has read up on the subject and possesses two brain cells. Critical thinking ability is horrible lacking generally though - I blame X Factor.

People react differently to cannabis, I for instance lose my appetite and find it difficult to sleep. Rather than make me lethargic I am usually supercharged. Many people get anxious and paranoid. It is a stretch to call this schizophrenia but it is difficult to argue that these symptoms are healthy brain activity.

Weed certainly affects people differently. The sterotypical 'lie around lazily doing nothing' image is not the case for many. I for one get really hyperactive after smoking up always wanting to do things and go to places, it actually takes me longer to get to sleep usually because my mind is alive with thoughts. I still eat everything in site though hehe.

I've also had periods where weed made me intensely anxious but that was when I was going through a very traumatic time regardless. I was so heavily addicted that I carried on smoking huge amounts for months even though it made me feel really panicky

I guess the point is cannabis is only one factor among many in the complex array of factors which make up one's current mental state.

 

[Kronos]

Too true Inso & Busty, i know alot of people who smoke reguarly like 90% of the uk do and it makes some incredibly lazy, some are fine, some downright paranoid and somewhat delusional. For me if i had a big spliff of the high grade purple panda apple berry kush, i'd be lying in bed feeling bordeline psychotic. Even a spliff of mediocre hash or thai just makes me feel uncomfortable, and eat until i cant anymore (which actually came in useful the other day when i had no appetite and hadnt eaten for a few days). Solution? I don't smoke weed at all, yaay simple

Pro- and anti-cannabis campaigners have furiously disputed the dangers of taking cannabis. Proponents of decriminalisation claim it is no more risky to health than junk food. But doctors and nurses treating the mentally ill in Britain have long noticed that a very high proportion of their patients are serious users of the drug

Very true, it can really mess with peoples minds when there is an underlying problem, people who were okay had a complete mental relapse after just a spliff. But they were already sectioned and already had a variety of issues. But like people in this thread have said, eg

Big problem with this is there has been no change in schizophrenia rates over the last 100 years - if anything they have fallen.

Now how the fuck do you square that with the fact that for the last 50 years people have been caning cannabis like it's been going out of fashion. At the very least you would have seen a massive explosion in the number of people with schizophrenia.

It's horseshit - the independent turned against cannabis after their silly fucking "lets legalise it, oh fuck no, lets make it class B again". Silly bastards.

is the exact reason why i love bluelight, it helps me see through the bullshit and propaganda which is oh so cleverly done. Great responses in this thread

 

[Inso]

I know people who've smoked for 30+ years and are leading fine, productive lives apart from seeming slightly spaced sometimes.

And I know others who are total slaves to it and are really messed up. But would have they have been without the weed? Most probably. Its a symptom, not the cause.

 

[bunge]

I think theres probably a link in cannabis as a trigger for mental health problems but I could argue that point for any psychoactive drug. If you soak your brain in any drug for years you run the higher risk of mental health problems, its hardly rocket science.lol the government wouldnt want to sell a drug that would send 2 percent of its customers insane? Yet alcohol is fully endorsed( and taxed) by the government and is the major cause of tens of thousands of deaths a year in britain alone. I wonder if the cost to the NHS of alcohol abuse started to surpass the profit of taxation and benefits to the ecomony, would the government endorse it quite so freely. From where im sat with my nose to the wind, the hypocrisy fucking stinks!

 

[Ceres]

Big problem with this is there has been no change in schizophrenia rates over the last 100 years - if anything they have fallen.

Psychiatry has changed a lot over the last 100 years, the range of disorders that might have been lumped in with the term schizophrenia at first has gradually been refined and expanded and diagnostic criteria has changed aswell, something to bear in mind.

 

[bunge]

Psychiatry has changed a lot over the last 100 years, the range of disorders that might have been lumped in with the term schizophrenia at first has gradually been refined and expanded and diagnostic criteria has changed aswell, something to bear in mind.

very good point! Maybe more real, privately funded, non-biased studies are needed to highlight and educate the public to the proven dangers of cannabis instead of treating us like children who need to be scared away from running into the road.

 

[Tony The Tiger]

I think theres probably a link in cannabis as a trigger for mental health problems but I could argue that point for any psychoactive drug. If you soak your brain in any drug for years you run the higher risk of mental health problems, its hardly rocket science.lol the government wouldnt want to sell a drug that would send 2 percent of its customers insane? Yet alcohol is fully endorsed( and taxed) by the government and is the major cause of tens of thousands of deaths a year in britain alone. I wonder if the cost to the NHS of alcohol abuse started to surpass the profit of taxation and benefits to the ecomony, would the government endorse it quite so freely. From where im sat with my nose to the wind, the hypocrisy fucking stinks!

The government in the UK taxes tobacco and alcohol at rates that are three to four times the amount it costs the health service. That's before you factor in all those poor bastards on the dole who come dole day kindly go and pay the money the government has given them on, you guessed it, alcohol and tobacco. The best thing about letting your citizens use these dangerous drugs that let you keep a semblance of functionality? You don't draw a pension. Tobacco kills half of it's users so that's millions of people whose state pensions you don't have to pay, whose expensive costs as an elderly patient living til 100 you don't have to pay, and all the while you weer charging them for the privilege.

The truth is the NHS wouldn't be able to function without smokers and drinkers, so far from demonisation, I think they deserve a big thank you for trashing their health for our benefit.