Marijuana does raise the risk of getting schizophrenia and triggers heart attacks, according to the most significant study on the drug's effects to date. A federal advisory panel admitted cannabis can almost certainly ease chronic pain, and might help some people sleep.
But it dismisses most of the drug's other supposedly 'medical benefits' as unproven. Crucially, the researchers concluded there is not enough research to say whether marijuana effectively treats epilepsy - one of the most widely-recognized reasons for cannabis prescriptions. The report also casts doubt on using cannabis to treat cancers, irritable bowel syndrome, or certain symptoms of Parkinson's disease, or helping people beat addictions.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4114634/Marijuana-DOES-cause-schizophrenia-triggers-heart-attacks-experts-say-landmark-study-slams-drug-s-medical-benefits-unproven.html#ixzz4Vfojd0jA Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Paranoia is a side effect.
There's no evidence either way on whether chronic use affects a person's risk of a heart attack.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-4114634/Marijuana-DOES-cause-schizophrenia-triggers-heart-attacks-experts-say-landmark-study-slams-drug-s-medical-benefits-unproven.html#ixzz4VftD4PjB Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
I get a number of scientific publications every week and have seen research results on medical users. On the positive side, there has been demonstration that its use does alleviate symptoms in a number of diseases. However, using the gross product (smoking/eating) also has some major demonstrable effects on the brain and metabolism. Actual changes can be see in the white matter of the brain.
Because of poorly regulated medical use (dosage and content cannot be controlled), there has been a lot of effort by pharmaceutical companies to identify and isolate the various chemicals in marijuana and evaluate them in studies.
One recent abstract I read dealt with the smoke content of a joint. Marijuana smoke produces more of the tars and non-medicinal composition than tobacco. Further, this study also indicated that marijuana smokers tend to hold the smoke deeper and longer in their lungs than users of tobacco. Considering the content of the smoke is similar (excluding THC and nicotine), the authors posted the question that how far in the future will we be seeing marijuana smoking disease fallout: cancer, emphysema, etc.
At this point in time, IMHO, the marijuana cart has been put before the horse. The active useful components of the plant need to be defined as to use and dose and prescribed in the same manner as other drugs are. OTC use of the crude product is akin to the patent medicines of yore.
elkmtngear's Link
Testing showed that the NIDA cannabis strains average between 5 and 6 per cent THC content, while those from those in the legal markets average close to 20 per cent THC. This makes it hard to correlate results from research since the marijuana is vastly stronger in state regulated cannabis. Since a number of NIH studies indicate physical brain changes at a lower THC level than used in state authorized treatment, the actual damage could be much greater.
he he he :^D
Good one, Slade, and you didn't even mention names.
Am I the only one who caught that ?
;^)
Obviously, there is a connotation problem.
1. Legitimate research is based upon cannabis supplied from the federal government (it is regulated and illegal for public use) which has a much lower content of THC and other cannaboids that street drugs used both illegally and as MM.
2. Cannabis used as MM cannot be regulated as to dosage and content as the varied strains that have been bred for both illicit and MM vary widely as to composition.
3. In my previous posts (here and past), I have noted that yes there can be some positive therapeutic results with MM. But these sorts of results have varied widely and are mostly anecdotal in nature. Little is known as to what actual constituents of the MM are providing the effect--nor dosage. Anecdotal studies are what are published by the general media and provide similar information as did the patent medicines of yore.
At present, there are studies, but when it comes to MM it is nigh impossible to do double blind studies with placebos (one generally knows the difference between smoking a real joint or not). It is widely accepted by researchers that there may well be some medical benefits with MM...but as being played out now, the use of MM is very much like the patent snake oils sold by traveling medicine shows...no quality control as to content or dosage ("One joint before meals and before bedtime").
4. Even the most innocuous OTC drugs undergo strict FDA studies not only to know benefits, but dangers at even therapeutic levels. Not only that, but exact dosage is known. That is not possible with MM provide by your local dispensary.
5. With the increase in the liberalization of MM at state and local levels WRT MM, there have been an increasing number of studies of users (both medical and recreational) that have shown some serious problems--especially with younger users where actual physical changes to the brain have been demonstrated.
6. Chemical analysis of cannabis smoke show many of the same chemicals that are found in tobacco smoke (sans nicotine) which have been linked to lung cancer and other lung diseases. Cannabis smokers tend to draw the smoke deeper into their lungs and hold it for longer periods of time. Some researchers expect to see a peak in cannabis related lung diseases begin to peak akin to that of tobacco users.
7. There have been articles in both pharmaceutical journals and other medical journals about the study of the components of marijuana. Isolation of the active and possible therapeutic compounds will probably lead to the development of cannaboid drugs that can be prescribed at specific dosage and treatment in the future. The MM movement has opened up this area of research where in the past, it was researched in a different perspective.
8. One should also note that because MM is still illegal under federal laws, that use of even in a medical manner precludes one from owning and purchasing any firearms. That is made very clear in the new forms that must be filled out when purchasing firearms that went into effect just today. If one lies on the 4473 form, one is committing a felony.
I wish I had not lost a lot of my files in our house fire 6 years ago as I had a file of research papers dealing with investigations of use of cannabis. There were indications that THC had an effect on the immune system. I worked in the area of organ transplantation and one of the issues at that time was transplanted organ rejection. Thus, looking at means of regulating the immune response made THC studies of interest. Suppressing the immune response could be of benefit for a recipient...but then very dangerous to someone who suffered from an immunodeficiency. Any drug can be a two edged sword.
The Rock
People keep spreading the untruth that marijuana is now 100's of times more powerful than it was "back in the day". It ain't.
"Back in the day" was when most of the MJ came out of Mexico, and they grew male and female plants together, and what you'd get was low grade marijuana full of seeds and undesired plant matter. When they figured out that removing the males allowed the female plants to flower with only buds (no seeds..aka: sensimilla), yes, the buds then became more potent as the plant wasn't putting all it's energy into making seeds.
There was plenty of MJ around So. Cal. in the late 70's that would get you stoned with a single puff, maybe two. And yes, with today's science it is possible to grow more potent strains, but that does not always mean a higher THC content. What makes one strain "stonier" than the other is how the THC, the cannabinoids and terpines all react with the body, not just the THC content.
With regard to the strength of individual strains, the same common sense rule applies that people use with alcohol. You don't drink Scotch in the same volume that you would drink beer, would you? Not for a second, and you'd be a fool if you did. Same applies with MJ...you don't go taking puff after puff of what you know to be a powerful strain. You take a puff (1), and wait about 15 min. to see how your body reacts. This is called "common sense".
From the link: http://psychcentral.com/news/2013/12/10/harvard-marijuana-doesnt-cause-schizophrenia/63148.html
Harvard: Marijuana Doesn’t Cause Schizophrenia By John M. Grohol, Psy.D.
Harvard: Marijuana Doesn't Cause Schizophrenia.
Good news for people who’ve worried that smoking too much marijuana (cannabis) — especially as a teenager — might lead to some dramatic problems in the future, even schizophrenia.
New research from Harvard Medical School, in a comparison between families with a history of schizophrenia and those without, finds little support for marijuana use as a cause of schizophrenia.
“The results of the current study suggest that having an increased familial morbid risk for schizophrenia may be the underlying basis for schizophrenia in cannabis users and not cannabis use by itself,” note the researchers.
The new study is the first family study that, according to the researchers, “examines both non-psychotic cannabis users and non-cannabis user controls as two additional independent samples, enabling the examination of whether the risk for schizophrenia is increased in family members of cannabis users who develop schizophrenia compared with cannabis users who do not and also whether that morbid risk is similar or different from that in family members of schizophrenia patients who never used cannabis.”
Marijuana use is becoming increasingly commonplace as two U.S. states have already legalized its use next to alcohol for adults. Some previous studies have suggested that there may be a correlational link between teenage marijuana use and the increased likelihood of being diagnosed with schizophrenia in the future.
So researchers from Harvard Medical School and the VA Boston Healthcare system got together to determine whether family risk for schizophrenia is a crucial factor underlying the association between the development of schizophrenia in teens who smoke marijuana.
The researchers recruited 282 subjects from the New York and Boston metropolitan areas who were divided into four groups: controls with no lifetime history of psychotic illness, cannabis, or any other drug use; controls with no lifetime history of psychotic illness, and a history of heavy cannabis use during adolescence, but no other drug use; patients with no lifetime history of cannabis use or any other drug and less than 10 years of being ill; patients with a history of heavy cannabis use and no other drug use during adolescence and prior to the onset of psychosis.
Information about all first-, second-, and third-degree relatives was obtained, as well as information about any other relative who had a known psychiatric illness. This resulted in information on 1,168 first-degree relatives and a total of 4,291 relatives. The study gathered together information regarding cannabis use, and family history regarding schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and drug abuse.
The researchers concluded that the results of the current study, “both when analyzed using morbid risk and family frequency calculations, suggest that having an increased familial risk for schizophrenia is the underlying basis for schizophrenia in these samples — not the cannabis use.
“While cannabis may have an effect on the age of onset of schizophrenia it is unlikely to be the cause of illness,” said the researchers, who were led by Ashley C. Proal from Harvard Medical School.
“In general, we found a tendency for depression and bipolar disorder to be increased in the relatives of cannabis users in both the patient and control samples. This might suggest that cannabis users are more prone to affective disorders than their non-using samples or vice versa.” Future research is needed to understand this relationship.
Drug abuse also appears to have an important genetic component.
“Drug abuse is present more frequently in family members of all 3 samples compared to those of non-cannabis abusing controls. This is in line with past research confirming a genetic predisposition for drug use.”
The research was published earlier this month in Schizophrenia Research.
Source: Schizophrenia Research
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The subject is not worth debating once again. Some of you have made up your minds, and nothing in the world will change them. Fine...no worries, but please don't expect some big debate over this again..I've got better things to do with my time.
Nice dreams too. ;-)
The Rock
Really? Want me to post up a couple of news links from Selma, Al., from just....ah, say Monday? Got a couple of killings in there, too.
"prove to me they're potheads." ..........Yea, I know.....nevermind.
The Rock
Slades opening statement. ;^)
