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Cannabis use disorder and subsequent risk of depression and bipolar disorder

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Re: Cannabis use disorder and subsequent risk of depression and bipolar disorder

#21

Post by eep_social »

daft_pink wrote: post #12
andrewstuart wrote: post #5

There's lots of people who take this sort of thing as reason to criminalize cannabis. Regardless of the problems, it is still a personal health issue. Criminalizing causes more harm than good.

I don't think people should be put in jail for cannabis. However, we shouldn't be devoting our tier 1 retail space or having startups with massive advertising budgets pushing it. It should be sold as a generic drug by pharmacies that make most of their business from other drugs not dispensary entrepreneurs creating massive retail brands like alcohol.

Sure let’s please do the same for alcohol and caffeine.

Re: Cannabis use disorder and subsequent risk of depression and bipolar disorder

#22

Post by 01100011 »

Obviously people with mental discomfort are more likely to seek comfort in mind altering substances.

That said, as someone who is bipolar, has bipolar friends and has used cannabis for a significant portion of my half-century on Earth, cannabis usage is proportional to mood instability in myself and my friends. I have taken extensive breaks and noticed I am much more mentally resilient and less emotionally labile when taking breaks.

Re: Cannabis use disorder and subsequent risk of depression and bipolar disorder

#23

Post by aliyfarah »

clumsysmurf wrote: post #3

Seems like every week, the health aspects around marijuana become more bleak. In the past few weeks alone: (1) Cannabis is a scavenger of metals and users had higher levels of lead and cadmium https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-high-blood-urinary-me... (2) "there's a lot of overlap in terms of the toxins and carcinogens that are in [both] cannabis and tobacco smoke" https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-american…

Expect an even bigger flood gate soon as it just got rescheduled at the federal level.

Re: Cannabis use disorder and subsequent risk of depression and bipolar disorder

#24

Post by shawnz »

daft_pink wrote: post #6
tptacek wrote: post #2

"Cannabis Use Disorder", not "Cannabis use". The appropriate title is "Cannabis Use Disorder and Subsequent Risk of Psychotic and Nonpsychotic Unipolar Depression and Bipolar Disorder".

Have you ever met someone with schizophrenia? I would never engage in any activity that increases the likelihood of a permanent life ruining mental illness!

That statement is obviously not true in an absolute sense, for example, do you avoid driving cars due to the chance of acquiring PTSD after a severe accident?

Re: Cannabis use disorder and subsequent risk of depression and bipolar disorder

#25

Post by LapsangGuzzler »

clumsysmurf wrote: post #3

Seems like every week, the health aspects around marijuana become more bleak. In the past few weeks alone: (1) Cannabis is a scavenger of metals and users had higher levels of lead and cadmium https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-high-blood-urinary-me... (2) "there's a lot of overlap in terms of the toxins and carcinogens that are in [both] cannabis and tobacco smoke" https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-american…

We're just finally catching up from the decades of stagnation around the research of cannabis and getting out of the honeymoon phase of legalization.

Anecdotally, my cannabis use fell into the "use disorder" category and it wrecked me mentally. Thinking back on all of the people I knew growing up who said that cannabis wasn't addictive really shows how ignorant we all were.

That said, I still think it should be legalized. We clearly got the war on drugs really, really wrong.

Re: Cannabis use disorder and subsequent risk of depression and bipolar disorder

#26

Post by sandofsky »

I can't see the full study methodology without an account. That said…

The challenge with running studies ethically is that you can't split your test groups into two groups and somehow induce cannabis use disorder and see if major depression, bipolar, etc results from it. Rather, you can see if the people who naturally develop the disorder also have those problems.

The flaw in this reasoning is that people who develop depression and similar issues are likely to self-medicate with cannabis. In related news, umbrellas do not cause rain.

Re: Cannabis use disorder and subsequent risk of depression and bipolar disorder

#27

Post by kikokikokiko »

Does it really surprises anyone that a psychoactive drug have psychoactive effects on it's users? This whole "cannabis is an inofensive natural plant" is so dumb, of course a drug that alters your mind and is used regularly will produce side effects on it's users. The other thing that I always try to warn my pot head friends is about the pulmonary risks involved in cannabis use. I know guys that smoke all day pretty much non stop. Imagine if instead of weed, it was tobacco cigarretes, UNFILTERED, being burned up and breathed in. Smoke is smoke, and your lungs will get covered in ashes and debris over time. Pot heads are just alcoholics who destroy their lungs instead of their livers, the mental impairment part is the same. I'm not talking about drinking a beer or two on the weekend, or smoking a joint once a week. I'm talking about the wake and bake type of guys.

Re: Cannabis use disorder and subsequent risk of depression and bipolar disorder

#28

Post by monero-xmr »

Every single chemical I put into my body has risk. Too much salt, caffeine / coffee, cheese, pasta / carbohydrates. When I drive a car I’m rolling the dice. When I let my 10 year old walk by himself to the subway, ride it to his friend’s house, and then ride it back, my mind can wander to all sorts of dangers.

Marijuana is absolutely a drug with downsides. There are also upsides - for example I enjoy my life more. I also enjoy alcohol, sometimes to excess. I acknowledge I have taken likely years of my life away through my actions. I have also dabbled in cocaine and ecstasy. I don’t think those drugs should be totally illegal either.

My point is we all make our own decisions and are forced to accept risk. Sometimes you just have to live. Otherwise why bother living?

Re: Cannabis use disorder and subsequent risk of depression and bipolar disorder

#29

Post by alchemist1e9 »

riffic wrote: post #11
clumsysmurf wrote: post #3

Seems like every week, the health aspects around marijuana become more bleak. In the past few weeks alone: (1) Cannabis is a scavenger of metals and users had higher levels of lead and cadmium https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-high-blood-urinary-me... (2) "there's a lot of overlap in terms of the toxins and carcinogens that are in [both] cannabis and tobacco smoke" https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-08-american…

[flagged]

More like society has trouble facing the truth about one of it’s popular vices.

The empirical evidence is overwhelming that there are very serious public health issues, yet so many people have an extremely biased vested interest in either continuing their vice, profiting from others, or simply getting votes.

It will probably go down in 20 years as a disgraceful period of denialism, the promotion and legalization and misinformation to several generations of youth.

Re: Cannabis use disorder and subsequent risk of depression and bipolar disorder

#30

Post by avodonosov »

lexandstuff wrote: post #7

The title is incorrect. It implies a causal effect, where the article suggests correlation. Also, it refers to a cannabis use disorder, not cannabis use (as mentioned by others). I propose: "Cannabis use disorder correlated to increased risk of both psychotic and non-psychotic unipolar depression and bipolar disorder." Or even: "People with major depression, bipolar disorder and psychosis are more likely to be addict…

Why not use the original title of the paper?
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