For example, there is a high correlation between having schizophrenia and consuming nicotine[2]:
> A strong association between schizophrenia and tobacco smoking has been shown in worldwide studies. Smoking is especially high in those diagnosed with schizophrenia, with estimates ranging from 80 to 90% being regular smokers, as compared to 20% of the general population. Those who smoke tend to smoke heavily, and additionally smoke cigarettes with high nicotine content.
I'd argue that nicotine use isn't a cause of schizophrenia, but an effect, as nicotine is reported to alleviate some people's schizophrenia symptoms.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophrenia#Negative_symptom...
Note that he told me so, even if his work during the last 15 years was mainly with the very poor people or refugees without health insurance, the ones suffering a lot from the drug dealers and all the associated black market, prostitution and abuse against minorities, women and kids.
We had lively discussion because I consider that legalizing drugs would reduce violence, gangs, etc. but it is hard to argue against somebody having clear first hand experience with both sides of the problem.
[0]: was in fact, he retired 2 weeks ago.
Anecdotally, I have seen several marijuana-using friends go down the tubes. One became extremely paranoid to the point he was unable to maintain relationships with the people around him (because he was worried everyone might be a spy), and several others became extremely unpleasant and irritable when they weren't high on the drug. This is perhaps the minority case and most people can partake relatively safely, but I definitely don't see it as a completely harmless substance.
I would bet you anything that this person was using a high-potency grade of cannabis and/or smoking a lot of it.
If they just used a little bit of a low-potency strain it's unlikely they would have suffered from paranoia.
"several others became extremely unpleasant and irritable when they weren't high on the drug"
So, wait, these people became nicer to be around while they were smoking and this is supposed to be a bad thing?
Edibles are usually highly opaque in terms of the strains used and tend to contain at least 5mg THC per dose, sometimes 10, and that's if you trust what's on the label. Due to how edibles are metabolized, the THC remains in your system for longer, too.
You no longer need to "smoke a lot" to consume a great deal of THC, a couple of edibles will do the job. A lot of edible fans don't smoke or vape at all.
We know when using a psychedelic dose, set, and setting become critical.
People taking a strong dose of a psychedelic and expecting it to be no more than a regular pot high might be in for a rude awakening, especially if they treat it casually instead of with great respect, take it in inappropriate circumstances (like at parties or clubs full of people they don't know or trust), etc.
It's no wonder that many people suffer from paranoia and other adverse effects from casual use of edibles. They should really be treating a strong dose of edible cannabis like they do a strong dose of LSD.
Take someone that suffers from paranoid schizophrenia; telling them God speaks to people and that they should obey him can have dire consequences! I've see this problem first hand, so I'm not just speculating.
People throughout history have claimed to be profits; but unless they are a fraud, it's far more likely that the voices they hear auditory hallucinations associated with schizophrenia!
This is why I totally understand the point of view of the therapists having to deal with the long term effects on these unlucky people. Both sides have good arguments, one cannot ignore them, only trade-offs to accept one way or another.
Case point 1 but simple fact is, tons of people have some sort of predisposition to some form of mental illness. Wife is a doctor and she nicely sums it up - its not binary, tons of folks having miserable life are in scale 1-10 somewhere in lower part of one or the other mental illness (or more). Bipolar, OCD, ADHD, schizophrenia, etc., you name it. She deals with them daily.
For some, weed could trigger it. For some, some other drug or some big shock (close relative death, accident, violent crime etc). Since we don't ban the rest, banning the weed is just cargo culting due to US policies re hippies from Nixon era, enforced globally due to UN treaties. Which led to ridiculous situations where places like India or Nepal having marihuana as holy flower of god Shiva for literally thousands of years, using it to celebrate him, and suddenly had to ban it... at least on paper. Because bureaucracy.
Your father is not a good reference for this topic, its often a sad story when such people are asked to make policies that govern us all. They are always 'too deep' in the problem, see only the worst cases, so inevitably for them its the source of all evil and extremely dangerous. They don't know how happy, connected with nature and universe one can feel, how sex can be 10x better than best one he ever had, and orgasm can be literal nuke in your cranium, by far the strongest experience in ones life. Or tons of other, positive effects if not used in excess.
Ask doctors who work on alcohol rehab clinics whether it should be banned. Most will say definitely, and those who don't simply because they use it to self-medicate depression. And that is only because its socially acceptable drug, although way more destructive than weed could ever be.
That's contrary to my understanding. I think you're overestimating the damage of one and underestimating the damage of the other. If you've underlying conditions susceptible to drinking or to smoking, indulgence in either can have dire consequences. For what it's worth, smoking for days straight is much much better in all ways than drinking for days straight.
A close relative had that since ~30 years of age until death at ~80 years of age. During his twenties he abstained. Then it was social drinking, then it became more frequent, then he started becoming dysfunctional, not being able to perform in his professional life, all the while his mental state degraded, around 50 years of age you could still argue with him, around 60-70 there wasn't anyone to argue with anymore, there was only a craving left.
I don't think it's just the alcohol. I presume that it concealed a psychological problem. But, I can't help thinking that if it were some other drug the person in question would have had a higher life quality. Alcohol is very punishing in all ways.
Even heroin can be used intravenously for decades as long as proper caution is observed, but that tends to become a low priority if availability and thus price fluctuates. If quality fluctuates, death by overdose is a matter of time. The opioid epidemic is no joke, but it took a turn for the worse once doctors stopped prescribing opioids and supplies dried out, making people pay inflated prices and/or switch to fentanyl.
At least alcohol is available, so people don’t drink mouthwash.
Also, there's a fundamental right to self medicate.
Absolutely. I am cutting down on weed after seeing it wreck a friend. They were really bright and down to Earth, but they use weed to deal with anxiety and now need to smoke before hanging out with friends. Now they are fully dependent on weed.
It has turned them into an unbearable person with no motivation. My friend is now totally unaware of how much of an asshole they are and no one wants to deal with them.
Weed can be an awesome relatively safe drug but please look for the warning signs of dependence and know that r/leaves exists.
OP was commenting on why there may not necessarily be a causation, and you commented on how the doctors tend to think there's a correlation. It just as well could be that schizophrenia tends to lead to increased marijuana consumption as people are self medicating. I'm no expert, so I don't have any strong beliefs around causation, but I do think both lines of thought (marijuana causing schizophrenia, or vice versa) seem pretty logical to me.
It's pretty widely believed that there is a correlation between the two, but the reason behind the link is where there's a lot of debate.
The discourse around how destructive it is encourages this thinking, similarly to how Americans struggle with alcoholism while Italians do not, despite the latter's culture of continuous exposure at young ages.
She was likely predisposed to schizophrenia (because of her father - which we don't share) but I often wonder if it would have progressed the way it did absent the heavy smoking.
I say this also as a pot smoker myself (but only lightly in the past decade or so). I have nothing against it, and used to scoff at those who were against it.
Now... I'm absolutely convinced that marijuana use can have absolutely catastrophic mental health implications for some people. I'm also convinced it can help people with certain conditions.
At any rate, it's much less benign than I long thought.