The Link Between Marijuana and Schizophrenia

[BridgeTheGap]

Since the days of Reefer Madness, scientists have sought to understand the complex connection between marijuana and psychosis. Cannabis can cause short-term psychotic experiences, such as hallucinations and paranoia, even in healthy people, but researchers have also long noted a link between marijuana use and the chronic psychotic disorder, schizophrenia.

Repeatedly, studies have found that people with schizophrenia are about twice as likely to smoke pot as those who are unaffected. Conversely, data suggest that those who smoke cannabis are twice as likely to develop schizophrenia as nonsmokers. One widely publicized 2007 review of the research even concluded that trying marijuana just once was associated with a 40% increase in risk of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders.

But here's the conundrum: while marijuana went from being a secret shared by a small community of hepcats and beatniks in the 1940s and '50s to a rite of passage for some 70% of youth by the turn of the century, rates of schizophrenia in the U.S. have remained flat, or possibly declined. For as long as it has been tracked, schizophrenia has been found to affect about 1% of the population.

One explanation may be that the two factors are coincidental, not causal: perhaps people who have a genetic susceptibility to schizophrenia also happen to especially enjoy marijuana. Still, some studies suggest that smoking pot can actually trigger the disease earlier in individuals who are predisposed, and yet researchers still aren't seeing increases in the overall schizophrenia rate or decreases in the average age of onset.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2005559,00.html#ixzz0uVsaI0rf

[corkhead]

1. it causes "the munchies" too

so I've heard.

[bemildred]

2. I don't suppose anybody has bothered to ask the schizophrenics why they use it? nt

[elocs]

9. I suppose they do although DU doesn't want anything negative said about one of its gods.

Marijuana use "triggered" (triggered, not caused, for those who do not understand the difference) my goddaughter's schizophrenia when she was 17 and sent her into a full blown psychotic break. In the year and a half since then she has smoked pot again and each time it resulted in a stay for a couple of weeks in the psych ward.
She now knows that she cannot ever smoke pot again if she wants to live a normal life.

For those who believe that pot is totally harmless to everyone and could no way ever cause anything negative, please visit schizophrenia.com where there are thousands of posters who not only have schizophrenia or their family members and enlighten them about how they are all mistaken about marijuana use and the harm it causes to those who have schizophrenia. I'm sure they would be happy to give you their own experiences about it.

[frylock]

11. the high horse..

another one of DU's gods.

[elocs]

13. For those of us who have suffered the consequences there is no high horse to sit smugly upon

because some here certainly do sit smug and act like they know all there is to be known and have totally closed their minds to anything that does not line up with their beliefs. We all know of the terrible consequences that alcohol use has on the lives of many, but apparently we have a lot of people who simply cannot comprehend the same of marijuana. Deniers.

Here's a link although I expect few here would ever be bothered to read the many links that have anything negative to say about marijuana:


"Cannabis / Marijuana (and other street drugs) Have Been Linked to Significant Increases in a Person's Risk for Schizophrenia"
http://www.schizophrenia.com/prevention/streetdrugs.html

Overview: Use of street drugs (including LSD,methamphetamine,marijuana/hash/cannabis) and alcohol have been linked with significantly increased probability of developing psychosis and schizophrenia. This link has been documented in over 30 different scientific studies (studies done mostly in the UK, Australia and Sweden) over the past 20 years. In one example, a study interviewed 50,000 members of the Swedish Army about their drug consumption and followed up with them later in life. Those who were heavy consumers of cannabis at age 18 were over 600% more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia over the next 15 years than those did not take it. (see diagram below). Experts estimate that between 8% and 13% of all schizophrenia cases are linked to marijuna / cannabis use during teen years. It is also notable that some research suggests that alcohol abuse is a stronger predictor of psychotic symptoms than regular cannabis use (by a factor of four).

This is on schizophrenia.com which is not some right-wing anti-drug site, but is all about helping people and their families and loved ones who suffer because of schizophrenia. It is no joke and anyone who has not been down the path of how schizophrenia can destroy lives cannot appreciate the toll it takes on lives.

Schizophrenia is hard enough to deal with for those who suffer from the disease as well as for the family and loved ones who must also deal with the heart breaking consequences of it. Those of us who have learned about how marijuana use hurts our loved ones who have schizophrenia do not need to read of those who want to toke on their favorite drug lecture to us about how harmless it is and in spite of our experience how we are ignorant and know nothing about marijuana use.

[frylock]

15. DU doesn't want anything negative said about one of its gods

you decided to take this tack. you might have tried to engage in the discussion a little differently, but instead you decided to attack those who use marijuana regularly and to not suffer from schizophrenia. in future, you might try a different method to get your point across.

people who suffer from schizophrenia tend to self medicate, whether it's alcohol or marijuana. these articles are written as if the use of marijuana itself brings on the schizophrenia, when the reality is that these people ALREADY suffer from schizophrenia. the use of drugs, and that would include alcohol, only serves to exacerbate that condition.

[elocs]

17. As I wrote, please go to schizophrenia.com and straighten out all of those poor, misguided people

who are so ignorant about marijuana in spite of having seen what it did to themselves or their loved ones.

I call marijuana one of the DU gods because that is exactly how it is treated here. No bad or negative word can ever be said about it. But there are those of us who know from experience that pot does trigger schizophrenia in spite of the deniers here.

What could possibly be the reason to get my point across here when nobody will listen anyways because they are convinced they already know it all?

[Celebration]

20. it is pretty clear

that in a pretty tiny percentage of cases, that it can trigger schizophrenia. I think pot should be legalized, but people need to know the risks. And it should NOT be used by those under 21, whose brains are particularly susceptible.

I've had a relative whose life was ruined by alcohol, too. I think pot is less dangerous, mainly because it doesn't impair driving. Both should be legal, but people don't need to worship the stuff.

I'm really sorry your family has had this experience.

[John Q. Citizen]

12. Absolutes do not exist. Nothing is absolutley safe for everyone and anyone

100% of the time.

Fresh air kills bubble babies, because fresh air is alive. Bubble babies should not be forced to be exposed to fresh air.

People who are allergic to tomatoes are also allergic to cannabis. People who are allegic to tomatoes shouldn't consume tomato products or cannabis products.


But cannabis is just about as deadly as fresh air is; That is to say, that to the vast majority of the population cannabis doesn't pose a significant health risk. To a small few, yes it does. That small few would include people who are allergic to tomatoes and also your friend.

I'm a strong believer in being specific, concise, accurate and honest.

Pot isn't always harmless for everyone.

Pot is almost always harmless for everyone.

You know the word "canvass" is derived from the word cannabis, since that's what canvass was made from for centuries. People used canvasses to separate wheat from chaff. So when we were out knocking on doors for Obama 2 years ago we were "cannabising"


The article in the OP is interesting in that it presents a conundrum. If pot causes in increase in schizophrenia, then why doesn't an increase in the use of pot by the population result in in increase in the number of people who have schizophrenia?

I wouldn't try to argue with anyone who got poked in the eye with a dry cannabis stem that their eye didn't hurt. But I also wouldn't outlaw maple tress because one fell on somebodies house.


That's the issue that releases the passion. The legal issues. Because many people view the use of cannabis as a positive and helpful thing.


I've never heard anyone advocate for the forced use of cannabis. However I have often heard people arguing for the forced prohibition of cannabis. I've never found the reasons to be compelling in the least. I believe the forced prohibition of cannabis has hurt this country a lot. It's cost us treasure, lives, and knowledge. It's cost us many of our civil liberties.

But you are of course correct. Nothing is absolutely harmless 100% of the time in any context.

[ixion]

3. what a bunch of crap

Marijuana has been around for thousands of years, and used world-wide by a variety of different cultures for a wide-variety of different uses. If it caused insanity (in this case, schizophrenia {not as simple as a single definition }), it would have that stigma attached to it after centuries of use. It does not. Ergo, to try and draw correlations between Marijuana and the pop-psychology term 'schizophrenia' (which in and of itself discredits the study) is nothing more than fishing for results, and is not ultimately helpful, in my opinion.

[BridgeTheGap]

5. From the article: "One explanation may be that the two factors are coincidental, not causal"

More than likely the case. Psychoactive substances may serve as a catalyst, triggering symptoms for people with underlying problems. Causation, as far as I know, has never been proven.

[ensho]

10. agree, a bunch of crap

nt

[Warpy]

19. I'll weigh in on the "crap" side

because they're putting the cart before the horse, here. People with schizophrenia are likely self medicating with marijuana. Instead of causing their illness, they feel it is decreasing the symptoms, something that might actually be the case in the earliest stages of the disease.

They also self medicate with nicotine, which has been conclusively demonstrated to have a beneficial effect.

Pot is not a panacea. Some people who try it get racing hearts and paranoia. It's not harmless and it's not for everyone.

I just seriously doubt it causes any new cases of schizophrenia. After all, as the article states, even with the explosion of use in the 60s and 70s, the rate of disease stayed rock stable.

[saltpoint]

4. What am I missing, because the stats cited are

full of conditional ifs and maybes.The 2007 study is a stand-alone, isn't it? I can't imagine any compound, including THC, generating a near-half increase in psychotic disorders.

My conclusion is that there's no connection between the onset and prevalence of schizophrenia and the use, rare or repeated, of cannabis.

If the percentage of people suffering from schizophrenia remains at an extremely low rate across all demographics, including pot smokers, then its presence as a disorder would not appear to have any connection to cannabis use.

[LiberalArkie]

6. People with schizophrenia tend to self medicate, with alcohol and other drugs.

So there would be link, but probably not like the article indicates. Maybe some latent schizophrenia that pot brings out, or stress, or alcohol brings out, but it was still there first.

Of course that is just my opinion from growing up with and have some friends that developed clinical schizophrenia.

[bemildred]

7. Yeah, nicotine, alcohol, pot.

Seen it.

[elocs]

14. Nicotine does help the thought process of schizophrenics and helps them think better.

Alcohol use and pot use tend to bring their lives crashing down because of their negative consequence. Specifically there are anti-psychotic medications that lose their effectiveness and work poorly when there is marijuana use. The result may very well be the schizophrenic has a psychotic breakdown and the consequences of that are terrible.

Tobacco use is bad for anyone's health, but the use of alcohol and pot by schizophrenics has terrible consequences for their lives.

[bemildred]

16. I just said I'd seen it, I wasn't suggesting it was a good thing. nt

[elocs]

18. No, I'm not saying that you were, but the negative effects of nicotine use

compared to alcohol or drug use.

[groovedaddy]

21. Pot is psychoactive and nicotine is not. Delivery systems (i.e. with pot, vaporizers) are one

of the main reasons the AMA kept backing away from assigning medicinal value to cannabis. Vaporizers get around that. The problem with schizoid type illneses (or propesnity to) is the psychoactive nature of the drug. No causal relationship has been established. Psychoactive substances appear to have a "catalytic" effect on people who have the genetic makeup that predisposes them to these illnesses.
Nicotine, not being psychoactive, can be beneficial, but, again, delivery systems are critical. Smoking tobacco is not recommended. There is the patch and there are now "electric" cigarettes that deliver the nicotine without the tar and other chemicals.
Anti-psychotic drugs, while necessary in many cases, are also problematic.

[Ian David]

8. It could be that pot either suppresses the symptoms (self-medicating) or....

... makes it easier to "tune-in" to the "messages" that some schizophrenics see and hear.

[GoneOffShore]

22. Soft data.

Single study.

That's all that can be said about this, at this time.