Marijuana use and mental illness / psychosis: what have you seen IRL?

[SomeOtherGuy]

OK, I don't use marijuana, never have, not planning on trying it. But it's now legal in my state and many other states, and I don't know how harmless or dangerous it is. How dangerous it really is affects how much I care about use by others.

Alex Berenson has been publishing a number of articles claiming that marijuana use causes psychosis. One just came out today, which derives from a study in Denmark that apparently found some strong correlations:

They found that cannabis use disorder was a stunningly powerful signal for a coming schizophrenia diagnosis; someone with the disorder had a 30-fold risk of being later diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Much of that increased risk could be explained by other factors, such as a family history of mental illness, which are also higher in people with cannabis use disorders. But even after they adjusted for all those factors, they found cannabis addiction was associated with a 2.3x risk of developing schizophrenia.

Cannabis addiction was most dangerous for younger men. Men 20 and under had nearly four times the risk of developing schizophrenia if they were heavy users.

Overall, about 15 percent of schizophrenia cases diagnosed in men in 2021 occurred as the result of cannabis addiction, the researchers found. For younger men the percentage was even higher.

Worth reading the whole article at:
https://alexberenson.substack.com/p/tell-your-children

It is partially derived from a Bloomberg News article, apparently.

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So on m4c we have lots of police, some other first responders, some doctors and nurses, and of course everyone has relatives and friends with relatives. From what you have seen, or private serious conversations with others who have first-hand knowledge, do you think the claims of marijuana leading to or causing mental illness has some basis? Or is it more just "reefer madness" and DEA propaganda?

[jsbhike]

NIH apparently is in on the study too, so what role do masks play and do they work or not?

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news...s-use-disorder

[jsbhike]

NIH apparently is in on the study too, so what role do masks play and do they work or not?

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news...s-use-disorder

[Averageman]

Hmmm they must be trying to legalize weed again. Everytime they do, we get this fearmongering story.

[StainlessSteelRat]

I would consider a Ouija board a far more credible source of information than Bloomberg and NIH combined.

[ChattanoogaPhil]

It’s been my personal observation that those who began using marijuana on a regular basis at an early age (high school) tended to do poorly in school which generally affected the rest of their life. Whether marijuana use affected the young mind’s ability and/or desire to learn I’ll leave for others to argue, but I believe the impact on the young mind is the greatest.

[jsbhike]

Considering this one seems to have been ignored there is a decent chance it was accurate.

https://www.ncjrs.gov/txtfiles/psycho.txt

[jsbhike]

Hmmm they must be trying to legalize weed again. Everytime they do, we get this fearmongering story.

Or trying to direct people toward a safe drug like Bud Light?

[georgeib]

Dramatically increased incidents of psychosis, often permanent, and even schizophrenia, are very real amongst young people. Anecdotally, I know of 3 teenage boys affected to the point of requiring hospitalization. One of whom is the son of my oldest friend.

Cannabis isn't what it used to be even 15 or 20 years ago. Psychoactive compound percentages are multiple times higher for one. I further speculate that with the progression of instability our nation has seen over the past decade or two, the overall mental health of our population has suffered overall.

Our young men have been bombarded with gaslighting propaganda telling them they're racist, misogynist, and propably not even male... All the while going through a critical developmental stage/crisis on the cusp of adulthood. Add in the powerful psychoactive effects of concentrated THC, along with a little of this and a little of that, and is it really any wonder that we have an increase of psychosis?

[tn1911]

I’ve had to fight more drunks than I care to remember from my cop days. One of the worst was a tiny, wiry female who just flat refused to go to jail peacefully. Initially she was being arrested for trespassing and criminal damage to property. By the time all was said and done she had two felony obstruction charges an assault charge and two more counts of criminal damage to property, and she had to be transported by EMS to the ER.

I’ve never had to go hands on with a pothead. Ever...