UK: Cannabis Health Risk "Not Rising"

Cannabis Health Risk "Not Rising"

Jim Reed
http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/health/newsid_7852000/7852776.stm


Men who take cannabis regularly have a one in 5,000 chance of developing a disease like schizophrenia, according to one of the top drug specialists in the UK.

But Professor David Nutt, who chairs the government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), told Newsbeat the risk to mental health from smoking cannabis is no greater than getting drunk.

"We've written three reports and read every paper published for the last 30 years. We do not believe the risks are going up," he said.

"When we look at the evidence, we have seen a huge increase in the use of cannabis but a fall in schizophrenia."

"Alcohol is probably more likely to cause dependence than cannabis.

"It causes brain damage through vitamin deficiency and withdrawal can lead to psychosis. Overall the mental health risks of alcohol and cannabis are not dissimilar."

Mental health impact

The government has upgraded cannabis to a Class B substance this week against the advice of the ACMD, partly because it says there is growing evidence it does damage mental health.

The drug has been closely linked to schizophrenia, an illness which can cause hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions and disorganised speech and thinking.

Twenty-nine-year-old Alec Jacobs from Kent was a heavy cannabis user before developing the disease in his early 20s.

"I was hearing voices and getting anxious and depressed. I think cannabis definitely played a part in doing something to me," he told Newsbeat.

"I was smoking a lot of skunk which I think sent me into a psychosis.

"By the age of 21, I found it hard being around people and I couldn't smoke it anymore because it wasn't doing me any good whatsoever.

"I think there is definitely a lasting effect. I still get depressed and anxious and feel sort of trapped in a way."

But Professor Nutt from the ACMD reckons the link between cannabis use and that kind of severe mental health problem is "probable but weak".

The latest research suggests the government would have to stop 5,000 men and 12,000 women from smoking cannabis to prevent a single case of schizophrenia in both groups.

"Using cannabis will tip a few people over the edge but in terms of most of the population, there isn't really a risk there," he said.

Serious crimes link

The vast majority of people with the schizophrenia tend to suffer personal problems like depression but the most extreme cases can lead to dangerous behaviour.

Marc Middlebrook, 27, was sentenced to life imprisonment last year for stabbing his girlfriend Stevie Barton to death because he believed she was part of a plot to kill him.

Cannabis use is 'russian roulette'
The court heard that he had made his mental problems worse by "stubbornly" continuing to smoke cannabis after doctors told him to stop.

Newsbeat spoke to Stevie's mother Jackie, a former psychiatric nurse.

She said she didn't blame the drug for her daughter's death.

"I always say cannabis didn't kill my daughter, Marc did," she said. "I know lots of people - doctors, professionals, nurses - who have smoked cannabis for years and do not commit crimes."

"It's no good standing there wagging your finger and saying this is wrong. People need to be able to know the facts and there is a lot of information and counter information around cannabis use at this time."

"What message are you giving to people when you downgrade cannabis to a Class C and then take it back up to a Class B? It's that you don't know what you are doing."

"Let's not turn this into a witch hunt. Let's not damn all cannabis users, that would be wrong.

"We need an adult approach. Let's get some education."

A wise woman that Jackie is. I am so happy to see a grieving parent use logic and see that it is not a drug that caused the death of their loved one, but rather the actions and choices of a person (though i know this person was mentally ill, so his 'choice' was diminished, but she also acknowledged cannabis did not cause the illness). I am sorry for her loss and hope that she is able to move on with her life.

So if someone developes schizophrenia and happens to be smoking cannabis why do people have to assume the drug is to blame. If i had a joint last night and wake up with the measles, did the joint make me all? Why can't we all just listen to the fucking experts and not the media. We all know cannabis "may" bring out mental illnesses at a earlier date than naturally which i doubt but i do believe cannabis intensifies the actual problem at the time.

Why not say the beer made me skitzo? The link is just as common

i think weed can stimulate the eruption of a psychotic episode (to speak like an expert, hehe). it is similar to schizoid effect - mild paranoia, weird mental associations, prescience - so if you already have a lot of "that" in you, couldn't it be the "key" to open up those doors for good? the thing is, so few people have schizophrenia that ALSO smoke shitloads of weed, that the whole scenario is indeed too rare to even bother worrying about (from a political/legal/medical perspective at least)

CH3CH2OH said:

A wise woman that Jackie is. I am so happy to see a grieving parent use logic and see that it is not a drug that caused the death of their loved one, but rather the actions and choices of a person (though i know this person was mentally ill, so his 'choice' was diminished, but she also acknowledged cannabis did not cause the illness). I am sorry for her loss and hope that she is able to move on with her life.

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Here here. She needs to be applauded for being so rational and understanding during such a difficult time in her life. It is very refreshing to hear sensible words instead of the usual "Drugs killed my child" clichés.

Marijuana definately has adverse mental effects, especially in regards to anxiety and paranoia, so what, so does caffeine! Alcohols effects on mental health are too often underplayed/overlooked and it is ridiculous. It is in my opinion a major cause of depression and social reclusion, my mother tried to take her life as a result of alcoholism and was intoxicated on the poisonous shit at the time she tried to do so, real positive mental effects eh?
I have suffered adverse effects mentally through excessive marijuana use but really, stress, coffee, strained relationships and all sorts of shit are factors in mental health and you cant put legal constraints on them all. It is a very interesting statistic to me that while marijuana use has gone up cases of schizophrenia have gone down, kind of shoots a lot of holes in these health "experts" theories doesn't it?