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U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Marijuana Use and the Developing Brain

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Re: U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Marijuana Use and the Developing Brain

#71

Post by rosser »

Pimpus wrote: post #61
rosser wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The association between cannabis and schizophrenia remains, as far as I'm aware, primarily statistical, and other factors like familial history are significantly more predictive. EDIT: That is, I don't think we have sufficient understanding to say whether pot abuse causes schizophrenia, or schizophrenics are more likely to abuse pot. Given what I know of how awful a ride that is, self-medicating that devolves into ab…

Anyone who's taken it should have no problem understanding how easily this drug can create a disturbed state of mind. It has quite powerful psychoactive effects.

I do a lot of work with psychedelics. I'm very, very well aware of the power of consciousness-altering chemicals to have profound effects. That's kind of the whole point of using them. They should be respected but I don't see how that implies they should be feared.

EDIT: Phrasing

Re: U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Marijuana Use and the Developing Brain

#72

Post by sv123 »

Pimpus wrote: post #50
djsumdog wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> as a result developed schizophrenia I'm sorry about your brother, but I want to point out this is anecdotal. Can cannibals lead to psychosis in people who are prone to it genetically, or are people who start experiencing delusions, bipolar and schizo-effective conditions just likely to escape using alcohol and marijuana? The exact cause/effect conditions here are a big unknown.

Marijuana is well known for causing psychosis, paranoia, panic, and other disturbed mental states. There's a reason they tell you not to eat the whole brownie - once the bad trip comes on, you're stuck with it and just have to ride it out. It can be quite harrowing. I also don't think marijuana is at all safe to take regularly, just looking at people who do so. It seems to incur actual neurological changes - you even…

*citations needed

Re: U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Marijuana Use and the Developing Brain

#73

Post by hsk823 »

philip1209 wrote: post #43

> Marijuana is also commonly used by adolescents, second only to alcohol I wonder if nicotine has exceeded this since the cited study (due to e-cigarettes)

Nicotine has never been considered an intoxicant, thus not relatable here.

This advisory isn't about telling people drugs are bad, it's about our society still frowning upon recreational intoxication and trying to scare people out of even seeing if cannabis or other substances can be beneficial to them.

Re: U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Marijuana Use and the Developing Brain

#74

Post by sergiotapia »

high_derivative wrote: post #48
40acres wrote: post #3

My brother smoked heavily during his teens and as a result developed schizophrenia / substance induced psychosis. It was generally terrifying to see him unable to complete thoughts and lose his train of thought. He's fine now but I definitely wouldn't be surprised if you told me those years knocked a couple of points off his IQ. I'm for decriminalization and legalization but at the core we need funding for long term…

It totally weirds me out how defensive people are about your anecdote here. Talking to any clinical psychotherapist dealing with young adults, you will hear lots of stories about weed-induced psychosis and anxiety. What I wonder is why it matters to people that it's not as safe as they may believe? Cognitive dissonance? We do lots of unsafe things.

People want to hear what they're doing is OK. To go against the choices you've consciously made is anathema.

Re: U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Marijuana Use and the Developing Brain

#75

Post by umvi »

superkuh wrote: post #4

These are all reasonable things. Legalizing it will drastically mitigate the ability for minors to get a hold of any just as was done with the much more dangerous and deadly drug, alcohol.

> Legalizing it will drastically mitigate the ability for minors to get a hold of any

I can't tell if you are joking or not (sorry). But I simply don't believe this. Why would legalizing it make it harder for minors to get ahold of it?

Re: U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Marijuana Use and the Developing Brain

#76

Post by mrpigeonpants »

For me, teenage recreational cannabis use helped to cure another severe disease I was struggling with. Unfortunately, since I've gotten older I've had to slow down a bit. Since then, there's been a gradual progression to the point where my Dorkinson's has almost fully returned.

Re: U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Marijuana Use and the Developing Brain

#77

Post by dragonwriter »

umvi wrote: post #75
superkuh wrote: post #4

These are all reasonable things. Legalizing it will drastically mitigate the ability for minors to get a hold of any just as was done with the much more dangerous and deadly drug, alcohol.

> Legalizing it will drastically mitigate the ability for minors to get a hold of any I can't tell if you are joking or not (sorry). But I simply don't believe this. Why would legalizing it make it harder for minors to get ahold of it?

> Why would legalizing it make it harder for minors to get ahold of it?

Legalizing increases the marginal legal risk (and thus expected cost) of selling to minors (still illegal) vs. selling to everyone else. The same is true of non-sale person-to-person distribution.

Re: U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Marijuana Use and the Developing Brain

#78

Post by emsy »

djsumdog wrote: post #30
hprotagonist wrote: post #11

The national academy has a very nice writeup on "The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research (2017)" which is by far the most comprehensive guide I'm aware of. http://nationalacademies.org/hmd/reports/2017/health-effects... The conclusions summary PDF has the highlights: http://nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Report%20File... Personally, i fi…

In ever US state where it is legal (Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Alaska, Mass., and 2020 Illinois and Michigan) I think the minimum age is 21. Sure people underage can get it, but there is an attempt being made to limit it to people at least 21. I knew parents who let their teenagers know they used it, but also told them they didn't want their kids using it until they were at least 18 (but if they wanted…

>Sure people underage can get it, but there is an attempt being made to limit it to people at least 21.

This is actually an argument for legalization. Who would you rather snitch on if you got caught with weed as an underage teen: your dispensary employee/friend or your street dealer?

Re: U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Marijuana Use and the Developing Brain

#79

Post by losteric »

rosser wrote: post #37
hartator wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the OP, but this is not anecdotal. Weed can develop schizophrenia in 4-5% of the population that carries a specific gene. Ref: https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/research-reports/mari...

drugabuse.gov should probably not be considered an un-biased source on the topic of drugs of abuse. Some of their material will be propaganda and FUD.

So that's as far as you got? Didn't like the domain, therefore the study results are bunk?

75% of the authors are affiliated with other institutions, only 3 are with the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

NIDA itself is well-grounded. There have been some instances where they take a more conservative stance given uncertainty in results, but this is still a national scientific institute - not DARE or the DoJ.

Finally, the paper is on PMC: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5426185/ - why do you disagree with their conclusion?

Re: U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory: Marijuana Use and the Developing Brain

#80

Post by [deleted] »

enragedcacti wrote: post #32
aritmo wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cannabis is meant for adults only. When the brain is developed in the teens, cannabis use may affect the development. Just like with alcohol.

Cannabis is not "meant" for anyone. It is a naturally occurring substance. Whether it has a negative impact on teens or adults is a completely separate question. Just like with alcohol.

[deleted]
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