

Long-time cannabis use linked to psychosis - tokenadult
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5idu_xz8MDQA2O-nVNq4zzkCEWvSg

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carbocation
This was not a prospective study, but instead was conducted by survey - the
least reliable measurement instrument that I am aware of. Nevertheless, the
authors didn't do too much begging of the question. They used the term
'linked' judiciously, and admitted that the disease process already seemed to
have started before commencement of marijuana use.

Had they claimed that marijuana use causes psychosis, I would be screaming
"Ascertainment bias!" But they refrained; so shall I.

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strlen
Is it possible that these people are self-medicating?

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jvdh
It is very unlikely that so many kids that are not even 21 years old are self-
medicating.

The article does not mention it very clearly, but these are actually results
on a study following kids from birth, interviewed at roughly 5,14, and 21
years after birth.

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jey
"Self-medication" doesn't necessarily mean you read medical journals then
decided the objectively optimal thing to do is to toke up. Instead it means
that someone 1) decided that getting high sounds like it could be a pleasant
experience or otherwise worth trying (i.e. possibly correlated with feeling
unhappy or off-kilter to begin with). 2) this person decided to keep toking up
because it improves their mental state somehow.

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jvdh
"possibly correlated with feeling unhappy or off-kilter"

Very likely, it's called puberty. To me that does not mean they are "self-
medicating" though.

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GiraffeNecktie
You're still missing the meaning of 'self-medicating' which is a lot more
broad. Drinking a cup of coffee to become alert, smoking a cigarette to calm
your nerves, smoking a joint because it modifies or muffles your anxiety etc
are all types of self-medication.

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jvdh
My apologies, IMO self-medication would be taking medication or something that
actually helps you. Sure, coffee/alcohol/tobacco all can help very
temporarily. If you're using that over prolonged periods of time, I would call
that substance abuse.

I know that marihuana can help with or provide pain relief for a lot of
ailments. But these kinds of ailments are typically not found in kids under
21.

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coryl
Nothing too conclusive here, or causal. Toke on! :)

~~~
corruption
Yes, wait for evidence that it's going to cause you problems longer term.
Having had two friends go into institutions because of this very problem, I'll
never touch the stuff again. It may be that it's not causal. It may be
genetic. But according to the doctors in the hospital it's a common coincident
factor they see in cannabis use.

Glad to see it's being investigated.

~~~
Alex3917
I strongly believe the connection is at least partly causal. And since there
is no way to know if you are predisposed to schizophrenia or not, you're
basically just rolling the dice on your mental health.

That being said, it's pretty much a miracle drug when used for medical
purposes. And even using it socially isn't that bad as long as your brain is
already fully developed and you aren't abusing it.

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tokenadult
MedPage Today link with more details of study design:

<http://www.medpagetoday.com/Psychiatry/Addictions/18722>

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rms
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-
term_effects_of_cannabis#M...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-
term_effects_of_cannabis#Mental_health)

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dw0rm
Long-time <yet another thing> use harms.

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davidmurphy
I really don't like the drug culture on sites like Reddit. Otherwise
interesting content, but non-stop pro-marijuana stuff in your face.

I'm anti-drugs (except for approved OTC/Rx drugs), personally. Keep it real, I
say.

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coryl
You do realize the irony of "I'm anti-drugs (except for approved OTC/Rx
drugs), personally. Keep it real, I say." right?

