Stan de SD
2006-10-02 21:49:16 UTC
Just when you thought the Lefty Liberals couldn't get any nuttier, the
newest phenomena appears: the 9/11 conspiracy theorists. Keeping in theme
with the idea that left-wingers have some special form of enlightenment and
insight on how the world really works, they can't accept the theory that
9/11 was caused by Islamic terrorists or the the WTC towers collapsed
because they were hit by passenger jets at full throttle with maximum fuel
loads. Instead, they weave intricate yet far-reaching theories involving
(but not limited to) Bush, Cheney, Halliburton, Karl Rove, the Mossad, the
Masons, the Cub Scouts, and Bert of Sesame Street. Of course, anyone who
dares question these theories is labeled a government operative or a stooge
of the corporate/Republican/Zionist cabal that channels brain waves into the
microchips planted in them by the NSA (they know this for a fact because of
the time they woke up in a bathtub full of ice with a note stapled to their
forehead).
One wonders how the left gets loopier all the time, and looks for an
explanation - but maybe it's so simple and straightforward that it's "hidden
in plain view"? Many of the most rabid leftists who are prominent in
political circles are middle-to-late ear Baby Boomers who came of age in the
late 1960's and early 1970's: a time when recreational use of narcotics was
not only acceptable but fashionable. In fact, one drug more than all the
rest not only became widely abused, but became a symbol of the 1960's
"conterculture" - and that was marijuana. Many leftists, especially those
in areas with especially severe hippie infestations such as San Francisco
and Berkeley, made pot a symbol of their philosophy and lifestyle - in
essence, t
their raison d'etre.
For many years, potheads and their apologists downplayed the danger of
marijuana, insisting that the only side effects were ceasing to be "uptight"
and developing on occasional bad case of the munchies. As time went by, more
concerns were raised, including the noticeable lack of motivation among
chronic users, the development of breast tissue in male users due to the
increased formation of estrogen, and even male lactation in severe
circumstances, in addition to the observation that pot inhibited physical
coordination and caused mental dullness (i.e. "that's why they call it
dope"). However, research in the last few years has exposed the existence of
what is referred to as "cannabis psychosis", a phenomena which reveals a
correlation between heavy use of marijuana as an adolescent and
manifestations of schizophrenia later in life. Given that many prominent and
influential Lefty Liberals can trace the formation of their political world
view back to their hippy-dippy doper days, it's very likely that the
paranoid hysteria over 9/11, and the refusal to accept the clear evidence,
may indeed by manifestations of cannabis-induced psychosis...
============================================================================
===================
CANNABIS PSYCHOSIS - There are suggestions that in a small number of cases
Cannabis is capable of precipitating psychosis, going on to the chronic
picture described below, in people who have had no family and personal
history of psychiatric illness.There have been suggestions that such people
may be the ones who have started Cannabis in their teens and caused
disturbance to neural connectivity. However, it seems Cannabis can
precipitate or exacerbate a schizophrenic tendency in a characteristic
manner. http://www.priory.com/psych/cannabis.htm
Cannabis Use and Psychosis
Wayne Hall
National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre
(Funded by the National Drugs Strategy)
The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
SUMMARY
This report reviews evidence on two hypotheses about the relationship
between cannabis use and psychosis. The first hypothesis is that heavy
cannabis use may cause a "cannabis psychosis" - a psychosis that would not
occur in the absence of cannabis use, the symptoms of which are preceded by
heavy cannabis use and remit after abstinence. The second hypothesis is that
cannabis use may precipitate schizophrenia, or exacerbate its symptoms.
Evaluation of these hypotheses requires evidence of an association between
cannabis use and psychosis, that is unlikely to be due to chance, in which
cannabis use precedes psychosis, and in which we can exclude the hypothesis
that the relationship is due to other factors, such as, other drug use, or a
personal vulnerability to psychosis.
There is some clinical support for the first hypothesis. If these disorders
exist they seem to be rare, because they require very high doses of THC, the
prolonged use of highly potent forms of cannabis, or a pre-existing (but as
yet unspecified) vulnerability. There is more support for the second
hypothesis in that a large prospective study has shown a linear relationship
between the frequency with which cannabis had been used by age 18 and the
risks over the subsequent 15 years of a diagnosis of schizophrenia. It is
still unclear whether this means that cannabis use precipitates
schizophrenia, whether it is a form of "self-medication", or whether the
association is due to the use of other drugs, such as amphetamines, which
heavy cannabis users are more likely to use. There is better evidence that
cannabis use can exacerbate the symptoms of schizophrenia. Mental health
services should identify patients with schizophrenia who use alcohol,
cannabis and other drugs and advise them to abstain or to greatly reduce
their drug use.
http://www.ukcia.org/research/can-psychosis.htm
CANNABIS PSYCHOSIS
What is cannabis?
Cannabis refers to the products of the cannabis sativa plant, also known as
marijuana and hashish (depending on which part of the plant is used).
Cannabis is widely available for use as a recreational drug. It is commonly
taken by mixing with tobacco and smoking as a hand-rolled joint, or by
inhaling through a water-cooled pipe called a bong. It may also be cooked in
food and eaten.
How many people use cannabis?
Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug. A recent study indicated that
about 30 per cent of the total population had tried cannabis at some time.
Among people under 35 years of age, about 50 per cent had tried it at some
time, and 28 per cent had used it in the past year.
How does cannabis affect the brain?
Cannabis contains a chemical known as THC for short. THC is a psychoactive
substance. This means it travels through the bloodstream to the brain,
disrupting its usual functioning and causing certain intoxicating effects.
Some of these effects can be pleasant; some are unpleasant. Most of these
effects are short-term; some can be long-term.
What are the effects of cannabis?
Common effects include a feeling of relaxation and well-being; loss of
inhibition; increased talkativeness; confused perception of space and time;
sedation; and reduced ability to concentrate and remember. Other effects
(more common with heavy use) include paranoia, confusion and increased
anxiety. With heavy use there may also be hallucinations.
How long do the effects last?
The effects begin within minutes and can last for up to several hours. For
people with a psychotic illness, or who have a predisposition to such an
illness, the effects can be more serious and long-term. Psychotic illnesses
are characterised by symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations and thought
disorder. When people experience psychotic symptoms, they are unable to
distinguish what is real -there is a loss of contact with reality.
Does cannabis cause psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia?
Use of cannabis can cause a condition called drug-induced psychosis. This
usually passes after a few days. However, if someone has a predisposition to
a psychotic illness such as schizophrenia, these drugs may precipitate the
first episode in what can be a lifelong, disabling condition.
How does cannabis affect someone who has a psychotic illness?
Cannabis generally makes psychotic symptoms worse and lowers the chances of
recovery from a psychotic episode. People with a psychotic illness such as
schizophrenia who use such drugs experience more hallucinations, delusions
and other symptoms; they have a higher rate of hospitalisation for psychosis
and treatment is generally less effective.
So should people with a psychotic illness avoid drugs such as cannabis?
Yes. The consequences can be so serious for the person's health that it is
best to avoid drugs such as cannabis completely. It can be helpful to look
at other, healthier ways of relaxing and socialising as an alternative.
http://www.mydr.com.au/default.asp?article=2343
Studies link psychosis, teenage marijuana use
Some adolescents carry genetic risk
By Carey Goldberg, Globe Staff | January 26, 2006
Researchers are offering new ammunition to worried parents trying to
dissuade their teens from smoking marijuana: Evidence is mounting that for
some adolescents whose genes put them at added risk, heavy marijuana use
could increase the chances of developing severe mental illness -- psychosis
or schizophrenia.
This week, the marijuana-psychosis link gained ground when two major medical
journals reviewed the research to date and concluded that it was persuasive.
In PLOS Medicine, an Australian public health policy specialist wrote that
genetically vulnerable teens who smoke marijuana more than once a week
''appear at greater risk of psychosis," while the British medical journal
BMJ cited estimates that marijuana use could contribute to about 10 percent
of cases of psychosis.
The new research has little hint of ''Reefer Madness" alarmism. Rather, a
half-dozen long, careful studies published in the last several years have
tried to determine whether marijuana-smoking is a cause rather than an
effect of mental illness. And groundbreaking research has begun to try to
pinpoint which genes and brain chemicals could do the damage.
The conclusions remain controversial, in part because it would be unethical
to randomly assign teens to smoke or not smoke marijuana -- which would be
necessary to perform a gold-standard study to definitively show that
adolescent marijuana use causes mental illness. It could be the other way
around, or some other factor could put teens at risk of both.
But the recent research has attempted to get around these hurdles by
controlling for factors such as the presence of psychosis before the use of
marijuana, family income, education, other drug use, and childhood traumas.
''No single study is perfect," Wayne Hall, author of the PLOS Medicine essay
and a professor at the University of Queensland, said in an e-mail
interview. ''But the fact that so many individually imperfect studies so
consistently find this relationship adds confidence to the conclusion that
the relationship is causal."
The recent research points to adolescence as a particularly risky time to
smoke marijuana heavily for those genetically predisposed to mental illness.
Brain scientists theorize that marijuana may induce temporary changes in
brain chemistry that, when reinforced over time, become permanent.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/01/26/studies_link_psychosis_teenage_marijuana_use/
newest phenomena appears: the 9/11 conspiracy theorists. Keeping in theme
with the idea that left-wingers have some special form of enlightenment and
insight on how the world really works, they can't accept the theory that
9/11 was caused by Islamic terrorists or the the WTC towers collapsed
because they were hit by passenger jets at full throttle with maximum fuel
loads. Instead, they weave intricate yet far-reaching theories involving
(but not limited to) Bush, Cheney, Halliburton, Karl Rove, the Mossad, the
Masons, the Cub Scouts, and Bert of Sesame Street. Of course, anyone who
dares question these theories is labeled a government operative or a stooge
of the corporate/Republican/Zionist cabal that channels brain waves into the
microchips planted in them by the NSA (they know this for a fact because of
the time they woke up in a bathtub full of ice with a note stapled to their
forehead).
One wonders how the left gets loopier all the time, and looks for an
explanation - but maybe it's so simple and straightforward that it's "hidden
in plain view"? Many of the most rabid leftists who are prominent in
political circles are middle-to-late ear Baby Boomers who came of age in the
late 1960's and early 1970's: a time when recreational use of narcotics was
not only acceptable but fashionable. In fact, one drug more than all the
rest not only became widely abused, but became a symbol of the 1960's
"conterculture" - and that was marijuana. Many leftists, especially those
in areas with especially severe hippie infestations such as San Francisco
and Berkeley, made pot a symbol of their philosophy and lifestyle - in
essence, t
their raison d'etre.
For many years, potheads and their apologists downplayed the danger of
marijuana, insisting that the only side effects were ceasing to be "uptight"
and developing on occasional bad case of the munchies. As time went by, more
concerns were raised, including the noticeable lack of motivation among
chronic users, the development of breast tissue in male users due to the
increased formation of estrogen, and even male lactation in severe
circumstances, in addition to the observation that pot inhibited physical
coordination and caused mental dullness (i.e. "that's why they call it
dope"). However, research in the last few years has exposed the existence of
what is referred to as "cannabis psychosis", a phenomena which reveals a
correlation between heavy use of marijuana as an adolescent and
manifestations of schizophrenia later in life. Given that many prominent and
influential Lefty Liberals can trace the formation of their political world
view back to their hippy-dippy doper days, it's very likely that the
paranoid hysteria over 9/11, and the refusal to accept the clear evidence,
may indeed by manifestations of cannabis-induced psychosis...
============================================================================
===================
CANNABIS PSYCHOSIS - There are suggestions that in a small number of cases
Cannabis is capable of precipitating psychosis, going on to the chronic
picture described below, in people who have had no family and personal
history of psychiatric illness.There have been suggestions that such people
may be the ones who have started Cannabis in their teens and caused
disturbance to neural connectivity. However, it seems Cannabis can
precipitate or exacerbate a schizophrenic tendency in a characteristic
manner. http://www.priory.com/psych/cannabis.htm
Cannabis Use and Psychosis
Wayne Hall
National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre
(Funded by the National Drugs Strategy)
The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
SUMMARY
This report reviews evidence on two hypotheses about the relationship
between cannabis use and psychosis. The first hypothesis is that heavy
cannabis use may cause a "cannabis psychosis" - a psychosis that would not
occur in the absence of cannabis use, the symptoms of which are preceded by
heavy cannabis use and remit after abstinence. The second hypothesis is that
cannabis use may precipitate schizophrenia, or exacerbate its symptoms.
Evaluation of these hypotheses requires evidence of an association between
cannabis use and psychosis, that is unlikely to be due to chance, in which
cannabis use precedes psychosis, and in which we can exclude the hypothesis
that the relationship is due to other factors, such as, other drug use, or a
personal vulnerability to psychosis.
There is some clinical support for the first hypothesis. If these disorders
exist they seem to be rare, because they require very high doses of THC, the
prolonged use of highly potent forms of cannabis, or a pre-existing (but as
yet unspecified) vulnerability. There is more support for the second
hypothesis in that a large prospective study has shown a linear relationship
between the frequency with which cannabis had been used by age 18 and the
risks over the subsequent 15 years of a diagnosis of schizophrenia. It is
still unclear whether this means that cannabis use precipitates
schizophrenia, whether it is a form of "self-medication", or whether the
association is due to the use of other drugs, such as amphetamines, which
heavy cannabis users are more likely to use. There is better evidence that
cannabis use can exacerbate the symptoms of schizophrenia. Mental health
services should identify patients with schizophrenia who use alcohol,
cannabis and other drugs and advise them to abstain or to greatly reduce
their drug use.
http://www.ukcia.org/research/can-psychosis.htm
CANNABIS PSYCHOSIS
What is cannabis?
Cannabis refers to the products of the cannabis sativa plant, also known as
marijuana and hashish (depending on which part of the plant is used).
Cannabis is widely available for use as a recreational drug. It is commonly
taken by mixing with tobacco and smoking as a hand-rolled joint, or by
inhaling through a water-cooled pipe called a bong. It may also be cooked in
food and eaten.
How many people use cannabis?
Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug. A recent study indicated that
about 30 per cent of the total population had tried cannabis at some time.
Among people under 35 years of age, about 50 per cent had tried it at some
time, and 28 per cent had used it in the past year.
How does cannabis affect the brain?
Cannabis contains a chemical known as THC for short. THC is a psychoactive
substance. This means it travels through the bloodstream to the brain,
disrupting its usual functioning and causing certain intoxicating effects.
Some of these effects can be pleasant; some are unpleasant. Most of these
effects are short-term; some can be long-term.
What are the effects of cannabis?
Common effects include a feeling of relaxation and well-being; loss of
inhibition; increased talkativeness; confused perception of space and time;
sedation; and reduced ability to concentrate and remember. Other effects
(more common with heavy use) include paranoia, confusion and increased
anxiety. With heavy use there may also be hallucinations.
How long do the effects last?
The effects begin within minutes and can last for up to several hours. For
people with a psychotic illness, or who have a predisposition to such an
illness, the effects can be more serious and long-term. Psychotic illnesses
are characterised by symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations and thought
disorder. When people experience psychotic symptoms, they are unable to
distinguish what is real -there is a loss of contact with reality.
Does cannabis cause psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia?
Use of cannabis can cause a condition called drug-induced psychosis. This
usually passes after a few days. However, if someone has a predisposition to
a psychotic illness such as schizophrenia, these drugs may precipitate the
first episode in what can be a lifelong, disabling condition.
How does cannabis affect someone who has a psychotic illness?
Cannabis generally makes psychotic symptoms worse and lowers the chances of
recovery from a psychotic episode. People with a psychotic illness such as
schizophrenia who use such drugs experience more hallucinations, delusions
and other symptoms; they have a higher rate of hospitalisation for psychosis
and treatment is generally less effective.
So should people with a psychotic illness avoid drugs such as cannabis?
Yes. The consequences can be so serious for the person's health that it is
best to avoid drugs such as cannabis completely. It can be helpful to look
at other, healthier ways of relaxing and socialising as an alternative.
http://www.mydr.com.au/default.asp?article=2343
Studies link psychosis, teenage marijuana use
Some adolescents carry genetic risk
By Carey Goldberg, Globe Staff | January 26, 2006
Researchers are offering new ammunition to worried parents trying to
dissuade their teens from smoking marijuana: Evidence is mounting that for
some adolescents whose genes put them at added risk, heavy marijuana use
could increase the chances of developing severe mental illness -- psychosis
or schizophrenia.
This week, the marijuana-psychosis link gained ground when two major medical
journals reviewed the research to date and concluded that it was persuasive.
In PLOS Medicine, an Australian public health policy specialist wrote that
genetically vulnerable teens who smoke marijuana more than once a week
''appear at greater risk of psychosis," while the British medical journal
BMJ cited estimates that marijuana use could contribute to about 10 percent
of cases of psychosis.
The new research has little hint of ''Reefer Madness" alarmism. Rather, a
half-dozen long, careful studies published in the last several years have
tried to determine whether marijuana-smoking is a cause rather than an
effect of mental illness. And groundbreaking research has begun to try to
pinpoint which genes and brain chemicals could do the damage.
The conclusions remain controversial, in part because it would be unethical
to randomly assign teens to smoke or not smoke marijuana -- which would be
necessary to perform a gold-standard study to definitively show that
adolescent marijuana use causes mental illness. It could be the other way
around, or some other factor could put teens at risk of both.
But the recent research has attempted to get around these hurdles by
controlling for factors such as the presence of psychosis before the use of
marijuana, family income, education, other drug use, and childhood traumas.
''No single study is perfect," Wayne Hall, author of the PLOS Medicine essay
and a professor at the University of Queensland, said in an e-mail
interview. ''But the fact that so many individually imperfect studies so
consistently find this relationship adds confidence to the conclusion that
the relationship is causal."
The recent research points to adolescence as a particularly risky time to
smoke marijuana heavily for those genetically predisposed to mental illness.
Brain scientists theorize that marijuana may induce temporary changes in
brain chemistry that, when reinforced over time, become permanent.
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/01/26/studies_link_psychosis_teenage_marijuana_use/