Health - UK: Cannabis Psychosis - Off Your Head?

[motorhead]

UK: Cannabis Psychosis - Off Your Head?
by Yvonne Roberts, The Observer, (19 Feb 2006) Observer United Kingdom
OFF YOUR HEAD?

As a series of new studies proves the link between cannabis dependency and mental illness, an Observer investigation reveals the plight of young users struggling to find help to deal with the disturbing effects of a drug once considered 'safe'.

Daniel Hrekow is 23, articulate, musically talented and academically bright. In the past five years he has dropped out of two universities and experienced two breakdowns. At the age of 19, after several years of feeling depressed, anxious and increasingly disconnected, he was diagnosed as having Asperger's syndrome, a form of autism.

Signs of Asperger's include an inability to empathise or understand other people's emotions, difficulty in tolerating change and obsessional behaviour. In Daniel's case, this obsessional behaviour can mean periods of smoking cannabis for several days and nights at a time. Since his teens, out of fear and frustration, Daniel has tried to control every aspect of his mother Mary's life. He has also become extremely violent to her, his father, Peter, and younger brother, Ben.

Daniel is the human face of a disturbing statistic revealed last week - - an alarming 40 per cent rise in hospital admissions for mental ill-health prompted by cannabis use since 2001, when it was first proposed to downgrade it from a Class B to Class C drug.

A new study demonstrating the link between psychosis and cannabis - written by Professor Tom Barnes - will be published in the Journal of Psychiatry next month, adding yet more pressure on the government to take a fresh look at the price paid by increasing numbers of young people dependent on cannabis.

Daniel is just one example of this growing problem. 'When he's violent, he bangs his head against the wall, punches and shakes me, smashes furniture and cuts himself with kitchen knives,' says Mary. His parents have had to ask the police to remove their son from the family home several times - and again this weekend, Daniel has been abusive and threatening. Meanwhile, he and his mother are waiting to hear if a place will be funded for him at the Rookery, in Somerset, one of the few residential settings in the UK offering education for young people with Asperger's.

Mary has fought hard to acquire support for Daniel from the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, often with little success. At one point the Hrekows, both education consultants, remortgaged their home to raise more than UKP30,000 to pay for Daniel's care.

Last September, after 18 months in a residential unit, Daniel decided to return to university. He was supposed to receive support but none was forthcoming from the trust. After several weeks at Goldsmiths College in London, he began to do what he has always done, since the age of 15, to ease the pain of alienation - he began to smoke cannabis excessively.

'When you're trying to live life as a normal person, and you're stoned, you disguise yourself because you're pretty much out of it,' Daniel says.

He gives a long and moving account of life with a cannabis addiction. 'At first, with cannabis, it becomes so much easier to float by unnoticed. But then you become paranoid. You're quick to assume the world isn't going to make a place for you. Through drugs, I've come close to destroying myself, but sometimes the only option is to be in this oblivious state, trying to get a break from the pressure. But it's no break at all really.

'In my teens I used to champion cannabis but once you've taken yourself to places I've taken myself to, you can't hide from what your brain felt. Now, I don't get a high at all. Instead, my brain hurts so much, and I don't sleep for days. It goes wrong so quickly that what's going on internally becomes visible to everyone and that's frightening for me. No one at 23 who's been into cannabis for years can get away with saying it doesn't mess your head up. If you're smart and have potential and you do drugs for too long, it takes you further away from a healthy balanced way of living which is what you secretly wanted in the first place - with that first joint.'

In 2001, 490 patients were admitted to hospital as a result of excessive use of cannabis. There were 710 admissions in each of the past two years. Several recent studies have demonstrated the links between cannabis and schizophrenia. Professor Robin Murray, a consultant psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital in south London and one of the leading researchers in the field, estimates that 25,000 of the 250,000 people with schizophrenia in the UK could have avoided the illness if they had not used of cannabis.

In addition, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs ( ACMD ), in a report to Home Secretary Charles Clarke arguing against reclassification, suggested for the first time that cannabis may not only cause schizophrenia in those with pre-existing mental conditions, but could also exacerbate a range of other mental health problems.

In the UK, 250,000 people experience psychosis - a term that refers to symptoms including delusions and hallucinations, rather than a specific diagnosis. 'Five years ago, 95 per cent of psychiatrists would have said cannabis doesn't cause psychosis,' says Murray. 'Now, I would estimate 95 per cent say it does. It's a quiet epidemic.'

Steve Hammond, the 27-year-old son of mental health worker, Terry, began smoking cannabis at 16, graduated to smoking up to 10 joints a night over weekends, then, in his twenties, was diagnosed as schizophrenic.

'Steve was a brilliant sportsman: a gifted footballer, a superb runner, a natural athlete,' says his father. 'Now, he is just a shadow, a recluse. This is definitely an emerging issue. Everyone knows a "dope head" who has used cannabis, the "safe" drug. It's not just the number of cases of schizophrenia and psychosis that's a concern, it's the thousands upon thousands who have lost a future.'

The ACMD report says that 'the mental-health effects of cannabis are real and significant'. While it is true to say that many millions of people have used cannabis moderately without impairment to their daily lives, can we afford to ignore the hike in hospital admissions?

And have a number of recent court cases dealing with horrifically violent crimes involving cannabis raised us from years of torpor about the use of cannabis? Earlier this month, Peter Thomas, aged 21, was given an indefinite jail sentence after beating Lisa Voice, the mother of his former girlfriend, so severely that she needed 11 operations. 'He smashed my skull, my nose was a pulp... he smashed my eye sockets and my eye was hanging out,' Voice said. Medical experts said Thomas had been suffering from 'cannabis-induced psychosis'.

Charles Clarke promised last month to 'implement energetically' the three main recommendations of ACMD - a 'substantial' education campaign, strengthened medical services for those dependent on cannabis and further research into the implications of cannabis use - although whether there will be sufficient funding is extremely doubtful. In 2005, France spent UKP2 million to educate young people about cannabis. In comparison, a recent British public health campaign on the same issue received UKP230,000.

Next month, the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse is launching its Young People's Effectiveness Strategy for under 18s. Professionals say it is impossible for the strategy to encompass excessive cannabis use because so little is known about it - who is using it, how often, why some individuals appear more vulnerable than others to its effects and how many are seriously impaired. Nor do we know enough about what works in terms of 'education'. What is certain is that, in many parts of Britain, a young person with cannabis problem would be very fortunate indeed to find effective help. Heroin, cocaine and crack cocaine have a more established link to crime and death, so receive a far higher priority in public policy. Cannabis may lay waste to lives, but often the casualties suffer a lifetime of delusion and reclusiveness while their families privately mourn their loss.

For years, the debate on cannabis has progressed little. 'The issue has been polarised between those who argue that if everyone smokes it, it will lead to world peace and those who believe that a few spliffs may send you psychotic,' says Dr Luke Mitcheson, a clinical psychologist. 'That shows a deep immaturity in the face of increasing evidence that we need a far more sensitive dialogue.'

Cannabis is the most widely used illicit substance around the world, particularly among young adults. Users are smoking it from a younger age and in larger quantities for longer, not least because young people today have more ready cash than their Sixties counterparts did and a small quantity of cannabis is now cheaper than a packet of cigarettes or a couple of pints.

There has been a staggering 70 per cent increase in teenage mental-health problems since 1974, according to the Institute of Psychiatry. Young people in the UK use more cannabis than their peers on the continent. In the UK, latest statistics reveal that 1 per cent of all 11-year-olds, 17 per cent of 14-year-olds and 26 per cent of 15-year-olds used cannabis last year.

Cannabis, or marijuana, comes in different forms. Hash, the resin of the plant, is less expensive than grass or weed, which is the plant's dried leaves. 'Skunk', at around UKP200 an ounce, is herbal cannabis grown from selected seeds by intensive indoor methods. Skunk is twice as potent, on average, than hash or weed.

Some say the increase in psychosis and schizophrenia is because skunk is more readily available and easier to obtain than hash or grass, but other professionals believe that the market is simply responding to demand for the more 'mind-blowing' version. The ACMD said that the evidence on whether 'skunk' was playing a major part in the apparent increase in psychosis was 'unclear' because, there was 'too little information about the potency and pattern of use of cannabis by consumers'.

Cannabis, often mixed with tobacco, is either smoked in a joint or in a water pipe, or cooked into food and eaten. The plant contains more than 400 chemicals including delta-nine-tetrahydrocannabinol ( THC ), its main psychoactive component. Interactions between THC and specific proteins on the surface of the brain cells, known as cannabinoid receptors, produce the laid-back, pleasure-enhancing awareness after smoking cannabis and is sometimes accompanied by an urge to eat.

Recent breakthroughs in neuroscience show, contrary to earlier research, that even in adolescence the brain is still developing. A paper to be published soon as part of a campaign by the charity YoungMinds, explains how the frontal cortex - where this development takes place - is essential for functions such as response inhibition, emotional regulation, analysing problems and planning.

Research also shows that sustained use of cannabis over several years may result in cognitive impairment, affecting memory, attention and the organisation and integration of complex information.

Several controversial key studies have recently shown the impact of juvenile cannabis use. One, carried out by Murray and the University of Otago in New Zealand, followed a group of 750 adolescents over 15 years and found that those who had smoked cannabis at age 15 were four and half times more likely to be schizophrenic at age 26.

Two weeks ago in Portsmouth at the inquest of 23-year-old Roy Jackson, who died after bingeing on methadone and cough medicine, coroner David Horsley underlined the tragic downhill spiral that cannabis dependency can produce in a mentally ill person. Roy had begun to smoke joints at age 14 and eventually moved on to skunk. He was diagnosed as schizophrenic at 19. 'The use of cannabis exacerbated his mental health problems,' Horsley said. 'It predisposed him to smoking more regularly than was good for him.'

Roy's sister, Lisa Male, said: 'It was horrible. He was sectioned at 19 when it should have been the best time of his life. He had been a bright boy at school. One doctor told my mother that the increasing use of skunk had created a ticking time bomb.'

Roy's family, understandably, want the laws on cannabis tightened. But reclassification will not stop young people rolling a joint - nor will it encourage them to put a brake on excessive use.

Three months ago, J-Rock, an actor and a member of R&B group Big Brovaz, decided to give up 'the weed'. Now 27, he had smoked up to 10 spliffs a day from the age of 13. 'Everything in my life had weed around it,' he says. 'I was paranoid, I couldn't handle my life any more, I had to stop.'

But he was helped by an early-intervention counsellor, using motivational techniques which have proved successful in Australia and the USA. Contrary to myth, coming off cannabis can cause withdrawal symptoms - including insomnia, irritability and physical discomfort.

'I suddenly got my dreams back and they were really vivid. That was strange, but my counsellor had prepared me for that.'

J-Rock and the counsellor worked together three times a week. He was instructed to keep a diary, to look at when he smoked and why; he was encouraged to develop activities to distract himself from smoking and to establish goals for the future. Thirty-one days after giving up, a test showed THC was still inside his body. Yet now, he is drug-free.

'So many young people grow up seeing Snoop Doggy Dog smoking weed and they think you have to do that to achieve, to be creative through weed,' he says 'I'm successful beyond some people's dreams but I was doing it under the influence of drugs. Now, I'm acting, recording and it's a whole lot easier. This is me.'

'Given the right help, people can change surprisingly quickly,' says Mitcheson, who works clinical psychologist in Lambeth, south London. 'Just setting up a service for cannabis users isn't going to work. Young people don't identify with "I have a problem and yes the problem is cannabis". Often that's only part of a range of difficulties and adolescence is a time of change anyway when some become unstuck.'

The government has established 109 Early Intervention projects around the country. The concept is good but, in practice, some projects consist of a single worker covering many hundreds of miles. 'What we still have too often, is a service open five hours on a Monday, Wednesday and Friday,' says Kathryn Pugh of YoungMinds. 'What a young person needs is help on a Sunday night when he's alone in his bedsitter.'

Another problem is that a young person has to reach a crisis and experience a psychotic episode before help is given. Little exists for the heavy smoker who wants to cut back before it gets out of hand. Early Intervention projects may also suffer because of the financial crisis faced across the NHS. Government money allocated for young people's mental health budgets, however generous, is often siphoned off for other uses.

In-volve, a charity set up by Colin Cripps, runs 15 services for young people around the country. 'We've never tailored intervention in any way that made sense,' says Cripps. 'Now, following Danish research, we wait for a couple of weeks until a young person has got enough cannabis out of his or her system, then we work with them as a person not as a drug user. Most of the problems are about identity. Heavy users have often grown up feeling failures.

It takes weeks and weeks of intensive counselling of the right kind and opportunities for education, training and employment to persuade a young person they can make something of their lives. Only then is cannabis recognised as the problem.

'In-volve uses texting, flyers, chat rooms events and word of mouth to spread its message. So much of drugs education in this country ignores the changes in communication and leaves young people cold.'

The work of Dr Jim McCambridge, of the National Addiction Centre, and his colleagues, is beginning to demonstrate how young people are capable of helping themselves given the right opportunity. For the centre's ongoing study, students in colleges across London were randomly picked. Of those, 50 per cent subsequently said they had difficulties with cannabis. They were then interviewed for half an hour and, using motivational techniques, encouraged to evaluate their own lives and goals.

A few months later, the students were reassessed and it was discovered that the interview had had a positive impact on their behaviour. Studies are now taking place to test whether training in motivational techniques, for professionals such as teachers who come into contact with young people every day, might have a long-term impact on reducing drug use.

'Given the prevalence of cannabis, there's so much we don't know,' McCambridge said. 'Who's using heavily? Why? How best can they be helped? The tragedy is that with no overarching strategic direction, we have pockets of good practice and and waste lands where there is no help at all.'

James, in his twenties, began smoking cannabis at 15. 'The reason I never did any other drugs was because their dangers were well known. I was a sensible person,' he said, aware of the irony. 'Even when I went to two GPs, saying I was having problems with anxiety and paranoia, they gave me antidepressants and said if the cannabis helped me to relax, I should carry on.'

At 19, he had a breakdown and was hospitalised with drug-induced psychosis. At school, he achieved seven A stars in his GCSEs. Now he is unable to hold down a job. 'My brain works but I don't do well in social situations. If only I'd known about the risk.'

What's required now, experts in the field say, is for Charles Clarke to put his money where his mouth is. However large or small the issue of cannabis dependency, it needs ring-fenced sustained funding, more research, the right support available across the country and improved universal drug education given earlier in schools and to professionals such as GPs.

In the meantime, Daniel Hrekow is optimistic that if he receives the right kind of help, he will be able to build a life for himself. But his mother, Mary, is angry.

'Everyone on the ground will tell you there's a big problem with young people and cannabis,' she said. 'But where do they or their families go for help? Mental health services are at the bottom of the spending list, and cannabis is even lower.' Mary knows it will be a long and hard road, but she wants her son back.

WHY I HATE MY DRUG-TAKING BROTHER

A remarkable first-person account, written for a school essay project, by the 13-year-old sister of an 18-year-old cannabis smoker who suffered from psychosis.

My squitsaphrenic [teacher corrects to schizophrenic] brother: Of course I have to love him because he is a member of my family. However this does not excuse the hatred that goes through my mind every evening that I am forced to share with him. Peter, my brother of 18, is currently ill with squitsaphrenia due to taking drugs ( cannabis ) from an early age.

He is greedy, lazy, selfish and unbearable. As well as treating myself and my family unfairly, he has no control over his anger, also becomes obsessed with the slightest things, for example: switching the computer off every time it is not in use; pacing around the house; and making pots of tea.

I am genuinely scared of him as well as furious that I have ended up with such a meaningless brother. As a result of this, I try to avoid making eye contact, speaking and even listening to him, as I would bear an even huger grudge against him.

If I were to face him or stand up to him, I would most likely get emotionally hurt or an even huger chance of getting physically hurt because he has no respect for my feelings at all.

The world would not change if he were not here, as it is only my family who knows the true Peter. If I were to re-live the past two years, from when I started to detest him, I would be a carefree teenager.

BANS AND BUSTS

. Cannabis was banned in 1928 after a Chinese musician was accused of giving hashish to three women found near-naked in his flat in Cardiff.

. A government committee looking into drug laws, headed by Baroness Wootton, concluded in 1968 that 'the long-term consumption of cannabis in moderation has no harmful effects'.

. Writer Sue Arnold championed cannabis. But in 2003, she told how seeing her son almost destroyed by the drug forced her to change her mind. 'I was so wrong on pot,' she said.

[Mr. Giraffe]

They're succeeding in building the reefer madness again.

We have to put people in jail to keep their minds safe.

[Alicia]

Thats great britain for you Mr. Giraffe

[Jatelka]

Well SWIM was certainly "off her head" when she read that hatchet piece, not even worthy of the Daily Mail in her favourite "middle class liberal" Sunday newspaper. She has written a heated letter to said paper, demanding that they release the "sources" re the statement that 710 people were hospitalised as a result of excessive cannabis use. SWIM works in healthcare and has been unable to locate this data. She suspects Ms Roberts just made it up.

This piece is even more astonishing because the Guardian's (sister paper) letter pages have been full recently of psychiatrists and mental health workers rubbishing most of the recent studies as scare-mogering and inaccurate.

SWIM may have to resort to reading the Indy...

Reputation Comments on this post:

Cute thread, you know there lying.. ;)

[motorhead]

lol yes is was wondering the reputation of the observer myself. Though the shrink she mentions, Tom Barnes, seems to have quite a career behind him.http://wwwfom.sk.med.ic.ac.uk/medici....r.barnes.html I look forward to reading his paper once it is published, as long as the prose isnt menacingly dense.
He does alot of research on schizophernia. From my basic understanding of the disease its hereditary, many who suffer from it dont experience their first episode until their early 20's anyway. So to link it to marijuana(used by many in their late teens, early twenties) in a negative way would seem rather easy. Im no expert, but i still say the reefer madness thing is laughable.

[enquirewithin]

The case of the boy with Asperger's Syndrome is completely fallacious. It is society failing to provide support for a well-known medical condition. He is simply self-medicating. I have met many children who exhibit these symptoms and they don't smoke cannabis.

The Observer is not a credible paper. Recently they attempted a hatchet job on Noam Chomsky, misquoting him and lying. They were later forced to apologise and withdraw their article.

"Cannabis was banned in 1928 after a Chinese musician was accused of giving hashish to three women found near-naked in his flat in Cardiff". How can anyone write this stuff? This is blatant racist nonsense. Only a few years earlier the East India Company, with the British government's blessing, had been selling industrial qunatities of opium to China, addicting a large percentage of the population of Guangdong to their 'foreign mud', whilst taking Hong Kong by force in order to continue their operations.

[Jatelka]

In your response to your post Enquire: SWIM finds this fascinating reading on the subject: "Dope Girls: The Birth of the British Drug Underground" by Marek Kohn.

It has some amazing stuff about feminism, racism and how this was all subjugated into the "War on Drugs"

To summarise: White middle class British Politicians didn't like the idea of their women-folk consorting (ie: having sex) with black men or Chinese men. Thus Black/Chinese became synonymous with Marijuana (and, to a lesser extent cocaine) and Opium. Legislation followed.

[enquirewithin]

That book looks very intersting!

The UK seemed to have followed the US's lead. In the US, opium seems to have been associated with the Chinese (may did smoke it because the west had got them addciyed to it!) and and marijuana with black people. Anti-drug (well, anti- some drugs) legislation was motivated by white male intolerance and ignorance.

[OccularFantasm]

SWIM remembers the first time swim was placed in a mental health facility. (SWIM was a minor and had no choice at that time.) The attending people shared a nice fact with swim. This was that 75% of mentally ill people find and use drugs, not the other way around.
I'd also like to start with all the propaganda behind schitzophrenia. This is not even a disease. between 60 and 90 per cent (the percentage was 80 when swim researched this, swim widened the gap to ensure accuracy) of people initially diagnosed with schitzophrenia end up with a much different diagnosis. The main problem here is that phychiatric diseases are simply the classification of the same 5-8 symptoms in differnt orders. If you dont beleive swim go look it the DSM-IV. SWIM has had psychotic breaks before, but upon keeping regular use of marijuana, mushrooms, salvia, and maintaing a more stable bloodsugar level has never had such situation reccur. This simply leads SWIM to beleive that any such doctor of psychiatry that beleives anything he has read on the subject to be an evil ploy of the government. It is no surprise that in a world where the average IQ is painfully low and mob rule controls all except the tyranical government, that intellegence and difference would be feared, and condemned. This has been notable all throughout history, especially in the Dark Ages. The most rediculous part of this claim that doctor numnuts was talking about is that cannabis doesnt produce hallucinations unless it has been adulterated with something. Even then, the idea that it would cause psychosis is far-fetched, if not all together stupid and ignorant. If anything, this doctor would have a better ability to trick ignorant segments of the population if he were to try and link this to lsd or something similar. swim beleives that this would be ideal and that the doctor knows this, however since a much steeper per cent of the population regulary smokes buds, as opposed to regularly trippin off acid, they had to choose the majority. swIm wouldnt be surprised to find that same guy claiming that weed is addictive, as many propaganda artists have claimed.

[Zaprenz]

This is more a question. SWIM knows very little about cannabis science.

Is it possible pesticides and growth ingredients for super strong skunk is a possible cause of some of the cases of serious pyschosis.

Seeing as most cannabis is grown illegally in hidden grow ops where lets face it the people are usually doing it for the money (or at least a good proportion of them are) and if this is the case they may have perfected the science behind making super strong skunk but in the process used lots of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, growth chemicals of unknown quantites etc. Or simply cheaper alternatives to the safer compounds.

For example the MPTP toxin was found to cause parkinsonism when injected (smoking is another good route direct into the blood stream) and mptp like compounds have been found in pesticides. As smoking is such an efficient way of getting certain chemicals (that might otherwise not be active) into the bloodstream it seems a possible concept.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPTP

It could possibly account for the inconsistencies of peoples opinions and understanding of cannabis causing pyschotic reactions. It may also be a reason cannabis today causes more psychosis than cannabis "back in the day" (If this is true)

Does this sound plausible or complete rubbish? (Again my understanding of cannabis science is limited)

EDIT: Just found the thread with some info on this:

http://www.drugs-forum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26621

Still would be interested to hear from anyone (science or opinion) as to whether very small amounts of pesticides used could cause psychosis(or augment cannabis psychosis), especially through smoking small amounts daily. If this was true it would be one powerful reason for legalisation.

[Bildo]

I personally believe that cannabis psychosis and paranoia are caused simply because they actually are after you.
If you regularly smoke cannabis and associate yourself with other people who smoke cannabis you are deemed a criminal, everyone knows this.
I think that false incrimination and the constant worry that the police might come round one day and kick the door down, search your house, take you away and lock you up because you like to smoke a doob is far more likely to cause mental breakdowns than smoking cannabis.
What a strange world we live in.

Reputation Comments on this post:

Very true, good point, well made

[jonny thaiwongy]

Originally Posted by Bildo

I personally believe that cannabis psychosis and paranoia are caused simply because they actually are after you.
If you regularly smoke cannabis and associate yourself with other people who smoke cannabis you are deemed a criminal, everyone knows this.
I think that false incrimination and the constant worry that the police might come round one day and kick the door down, search your house, take you away and lock you up because you like to smoke a doob is far more likely to cause mental breakdowns than smoking cannabis.
What a strange world we live in.

so so true man. only a few months ago did i finally get my head round this. i figured out i was depressed and why, and came to the conclusion that in my case and nearly every person i kno who undergoes a similar experience that its the lifestyle that leas to depression. i will say this tho... i think if i hadnt been a smoker i might have snapped out of it sooner, but then again onwards and upwards an ill keep on smoking!

[stoneinfocus]

It could also be an allergy -I´ve seen a kid getting totally nuts and aggressive, when he ate tomatoes, and cannabis´s a product, that´s
prone to cause allergic reactions sometimes, also to swim *grr* ;-)
-then again, it´s an unprocessed plant product with terpenes etc. which are made-up to cause discomfort to insects and animals.

[BIG-TRON]

The message is easy; don't smoke pot when ur diagnosed with autism.......

People should blame themselves for taking a substance, and not knowing the state their health is in.

Research a little.....

[Nature Boy]

Ironically enough there are plenty of people who recommend cannabis to those who have autism e.g. http://www.autism.org/marijuana.html

Realistically a lot of us know that cannabis is very much a two-way street when it comes to medical, recreational or psychological side effects. It works for some, doesn't for others. It's such a shame that it can't be explained in those simple terms and that this horrendous mask of propaganda needs to be dawned just to support the dated concept of full-on cannabis prohibition.

[English_T]

Fact is, cannabis use is much more widespread now than ever before - you were much likely to feel like 'they were after you in the 80's' when not than many people were doing drugs. With ecstasy and the rave scene, drug use exploded massively and thus the 'supply and demand ' factors start working overtime - people started investing large amounts of money in creating different strains of grass choosing the stronger THC contents from plants and combining the 'sought-after' qualities - grass today is MUCH stronger than ever before as it is now a massive business and people make a lot of money on hydroponics, seeds and all the paraphanalia that goes with it. That said, even in the old days of hash if you were susceptable to mental illness then it was more likely to be agrivated by regular dope use, today the some of the shit is so f'ing strong you can actually trip out...
FACT: Grass/Hash is much cheaper now than what it was in the 80's.

[Nature Boy]

Excellent high strength bud existed in the 70's which would give some of today's top hydroponic strains a decent run for their money. Jamaican sativa, Colombian Red/Gold, Oaxaca, Panama Red (check out the Jerry Garcia track of the same name) and Hawaiian Maui for example. Yes, weed is stronger, but not by as much as some would like you to think.

[English_T]

...ease of availabilty today, to the new strains, has got to have had an effect. I live in a nice country town and you used to be limited to a choice of hash, basically, which was almost always afghani black, Morroccan or Lebanese and you had to know the 'right' people to score - now practically any young guy in this town, even guys who would have once been considered 'straight', can get pretty much anything they like and at low prices and from a 'choice' range of goodies, too.

[Millsley]

Someone mentioned pesticides and such in growing pot. Who does this? Cannabis plants have natural anti-biotic properties and don't need any of that crap. If people are putting pesticides on their weed, that could be a problem. Cannabis is one of the most resilient crops and doesn't need any chemicals to grow effectively. Plant vitamins, fertilizer and such should help without any toxic side effects.

[English_T]

Originally Posted by Millsley

Someone mentioned pesticides and such in growing pot. Who does this? Cannabis plants have natural anti-biotic properties and don't need any of that crap. If people are putting pesticides on their weed, that could be a problem. Cannabis is one of the most resilient crops and doesn't need any chemicals to grow effectively. Plant vitamins, fertilizer and such should help without any toxic side effects.

Exactly! Keep it as ORGANIC as possible!
Plants have looked after themselves for years and any 'artificial' interference can 'take away' from the plant.

I once brought some amazing looking strawberries - they were big, red, plump and gorgeous looking - they tasted terrible! they were hard, with a crisp feel were not sweet at all and tasted closer to cucumber than anything else.

This is not an isolated experience either, a lot of fruit looks perfect and uniform but is really let down in the taste department. This is the result of selective breeding for the characteristics of shelf life and looks over taste and is also coupled with 'speedgrowing' through excessive fertilisers.

I recently tried White peaches in Japan - WOW!!!!!! tasted like how fruit used to taste. Peaches in the UK are crap now - nothing like they used to be, again they look great! but each and every time the taste is pitiful.

[stoneinfocus]

Originally Posted by Millsley

Someone mentioned pesticides and such in growing pot. Who does this? Cannabis plants have natural anti-biotic properties and don't need any of that crap. If people are putting pesticides on their weed, that could be a problem. Cannabis is one of the most resilient crops and doesn't need any chemicals to grow effectively. Plant vitamins, fertilizer and such should help without any toxic side effects.

You´reright on the repellant effects of THC and such and this plant, being a pioneer plant, seeding anywhere it can grasp and then growing there.

Your wrong on the fertilizers, although it´s growing an poor gound, it alm,ost grows the better, the more nitrogen it finds, it will tolerate and might grow even faster on
over-fertilized soils, that would be toxic to most other plants.

[bjarkii]

the only real argument here is "severely autistic people should not smoke cannabis". well surprise surprise. just like severely autistic people shouldnt drink too much or take acid. this is common sense, and it doesnt mean that the rest of us cant enjoy cannabis responsibly

[not2legit2quit]

Apologies but I've only read the main post - too many others!

I've suffered severe psychosis from cannabis in the past. I've been at a point where I thought I'd gone clinically insane, and began writings letters to my parents and gf explaining what had happened, and apologising for ruining my life. I thought I'd end up committed.

I'm not autistic. I'm in good health, I'm fairly smart, I work hard and love my job, I drive, and I have a successful relationship. However I think certain people (usually the jittery nervous looking one in your group who sits at the back so people can't look at him) have some sort of natural chemical inbalance, or too much dopamine.

You just freak out. You focus on the negative despite knowing exactly how bad it's making you. You see looks in people's eyes that don't exist, you hear things that aren't said, and you KNOW you're right. It makes sense.

Once I went running with 2 of my friends, life-long best friends. When we got out of the car (at the place we were running) I saw one of them look at the other, and convinced myself they'd taken me there to beat the hell out of me. Spent the entire run expecting them to turn round and give me a kicking.

I also thought my mum was poisoning my food.

Conclusion: Like any other substance, it can be as bad as it can be good. Not everything suits everyone.

Matt

[Snowy]

that article was far too long for me to try to read i hope she wasn't saying if it wasn't for marijuana he wouldn't even have aspergers? if so that's ridiculous.

[nnizzle]

How is this news? I am irate most about the part about the link between cannabis and psychosis/schizophrenia... as they said smoking cannabis might exacerbate problems in people who are PREDISPOSED TO DEVELOP MENTAL DISORDERS. No shit (not that I necessarily believe this). Anyone who knows they have a family history of mental health problems or have other mental diatheses shouldn't be messing around with psychoactive drugs in the first place... and as that kid already has Asbergers (an autism spectrum disorder which are hypothesized to be caused by ABNORMALITIES IN BRAIN FUNCTIONING), I am not too fucking surprised that he didn't handle cannabis well... for some it improves their functioning but as is the case for EVERYTHING IN THE FUCKING WORLD, what works for some doesn't work for others.