!
Sorry Jenny for being rude. I think that cannabis consumption probably makes things worse for people with mental disorders, just as downing bottles of vodka would, or watching the chuckle brothers on loop for a week. But I think there is a very high (pardon the pun) number of people who smoke cannabis and do not go on to attack their parents. In fact the 'MDMA no lasting harm' thing irritates me more because of the number of people I knew in the 90s that necked endless pills, suffered from depression, and couldn't see the link. If you eat so many cream buns you can no longer see your feet, it's time to knock it on the head. And if your smoking weed is making you unhappy them it's time to give that a rest too. But I'm pretty sure paranoid schizophrenics are born that way.
( browser still relating boring anecdotes into a void on, Sun 19 Sep 2010, 17:39, 2 replies)

obviously
the majority of people who smoke weed aren't going to go nuts. It's not certain whether or not there has to be a proclivity there, but it is medically proven that cannabis can trigger psychosis in previously healthy people. And it just ain't worth the risk.
(jennymnemonic, Sun 19 Sep 2010, 17:58, closed)

.
But if its a trigger then there has to be something to 'set off'. If I'm an alcoholic and I eat a trifle with sherry in it, and it triggers an alcoholic episode, then would the trifle be the cause of my alcoholism?
( browser still relating boring anecdotes into a void on, Sun 19 Sep 2010, 19:01, closed)

No, it would be the cause of your trifoholism
You'd be a trifoholic :D
(Professor Kenny Martin Hmm? What?, Sun 19 Sep 2010, 19:29, closed)

.
I'd be taken into custardy.
( browser still relating boring anecdotes into a void on, Sun 19 Sep 2010, 19:47, closed)

trigger as in
something to cause the illness in the first place, not as in similar to a strobe light for epilepsy (ie that it stimulates an awakening of an underlying condition.)

I know my post may have been somewhat preachy, but the BMJ is on my side on this one.
(jennymnemonic, Sun 19 Sep 2010, 19:50, closed)

It really isn't that clear cut
unfortunately.


www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15763748


Certainly if it was *that* much of a problem, then it would be much easier to show causation.
(ham.sandwich, Sun 19 Sep 2010, 20:36, closed)

Extremely preachy
But losing a close friend like so, I can understand.

I was really into it, but then I saw how much it was hurting the person I loved. That is what I said, but really, I just got annoyed at being given the silent treatment for 2 days.
(lemonadegame, Sun 19 Sep 2010, 23:44, closed)

Define healthy
"The UK Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) reviewed the evidence in depth and concluded (2002, p. 8) “... no clear causal link [between prevalence of cannabis consumption and schizophrenia] has been demonstrated.”"

That relates to not-already-vulnerable people, however. It's suggested that heavy cannabis use in those with a family history of mental illness can indeed precipitate the onset of psychosis.
(tty, Sun 19 Sep 2010, 20:55, closed)

Also, there are many other factors besides genetics that can influence schizophrenia - not least the behaviour of the people in the sufferer's daily life.
It's such a complex issue that in general you cannot reasonably stand up and say "yes, this person's condition has been caused by [X] and [X] alone."
( The Mock TurtIe ™ --- Thinks you are a cunt, on, Sun 19 Sep 2010, 21:22, closed)

Hmm
I have a cousin who developed schizophrenia after a few years smoking weed. No previous mental illness in his family. Anyway the Royal College of Pyschologists say "Over the past few years, research has strongly suggested that there is a clear link between early cannabis use and later mental health problems in those with a genetic vulnerability - and that there is a particular issue with the use of cannabis by adolescents"
(Smale is stuffed, Sun 19 Sep 2010, 18:56, closed)

Correlation does not equal causation
I.e. still hard to tell whether the heavy cannabis use causes the schizophrenia or whether it's a warning sign that full-blown psychosis is on its way. Still a sad waste either way though.
(littlesunshine licked your blinky diodes on, Sun 19 Sep 2010, 19:14, closed)