Marijuana: Health effects

Doctors warn of cannabis link to mental illness

The Telegraph
By Michael Day, Health Correspondent
(Filed: 16/01/2005)

Liberal attitudes to cannabis are putting millions of young people's mental health at risk, senior doctors have warned.

The Royal College of General Practitioners said that acceptance of the drug and greater availability of stronger forms of it were leading to rising rates of depression, psychosis and schizophrenia.

Dr Clare Gerada, of the college's drugs misuse unit, said: "Health warnings are falling on deaf ears, drowned out by the cries of powerful liberal pro-legalisation groups."

Dr Gerada was speaking before a meeting of the college this week to discuss the health threat posed by the drug. Her attack comes a year after the drug was downgraded from Class B to Class C. People caught with cannabis are let off with a warning and the drug is confiscated.

"With cannabis more popular than tobacco and higher potencies more widely available than before, it is time we looked again at the health risks," said Dr Gerada.

"There is clear evidence that high levels of use, especially among teenagers who are physically and mentally still developing, carries with it the increased risk of psychosis and respiratory conditions such as asthma."

The Conservatives have pledged to return cannabis to Class B status. David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, said: "The next Conservative government will reflect this by reversing Labour's decision to downgrade it."

Almost a third of 16- to 24-year-old men used cannabis in 2003, according to the latest Department of Health figures. In November, figures from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction showed that two in five British 15-year-olds had tried cannabis - the highest rate in Europe.

More worrying, Dr Gerada said, was the increase in super-strong versions of the drug, known as skunk. "The truth is, genetically modified forms of the drug are the norm," she said. The aim of the meeting is to give a voice to the thousands of GPs struggling to cope with the side-effects - often mental illnesses - of cannabis users.

Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity Sane, said: "The Government has sent out a mixed message that cannabis is not as harmful as other drugs and yet for some people it is as harmful as crack cocaine or heroin.

"Unlike cannabis, heroin does not affect the chemical messenger systems linked to schizophrenia."

A recent report in the British Medical Journal revealed that smoking cannabis once or twice a week almost doubled the risk of developing psychotic symptoms later in life. Robin Murray, a professor of psychiatry at King's College London, said that since the 1980s doctors had begun to see a link between psychotic symptoms and cannabis.

Iain Shearer, 34, an archaeologist from south London who recently stopped smoking cannabis, said: "I smoked a lot, particularly skunk, and was getting worried about what it was doing to me.

"It affected my concentration, made me depressed, affected my short-term memory. There were times when I got really paranoid about friendships and relationships. It was horrible."

A spokeswoman for the Home Office said: "The Government's message is that all controlled drugs, including cannabis, are harmful and that no one should take them."

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Pot users' brains resemble mentally ill

Jamie Talan
Newsday
Dec. 4, 2005 12:00 AM

A teenage brain on pot looks frighteningly similar to the brains of adolescents with schizophrenia, according to a new study.

While it's too early to prove a connection, researchers at North Shore University Hospital-Long Island Jewish Health System caution that marijuana could be a match that ignites an underlying genetic vulnerability to schizophrenia.

Scientists have long debated whether drug abuse triggers schizophrenia, which in males usually appears in late adolescence, or whether the illness itself can lead to drug abuse.

"It is the story of nature vs. nurture," said Manzar Ashtari, an associate professor in radiology and psychiatry at Albert Einstein College of Medicineand a scientist at Long Island Jewish's Zucker Hillside Hospital.

"If there are people who are vulnerable and smoke marijuana, they may be putting themselves at greater risk for developing severe mental illness," she said.

The studies at Zucker Hillside were done only in males because females tend to develop schizophrenia later, in their mid-20s and beyond. Ashtari suspects the developing brain in late adolescence is at greater risk of environmental damage.

"Whatever insult is happening, it is taking place in brain regions still under construction," said Ashtari, who presented her findings Wednesday at the Radiological Society of North America's annual meeting in Chicago.

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Hmm... well personally I have been using cannabis for about 3 years now, im not a heavy user per`se, am not addicted as I have long times that I cannot obtain cannabis and suffer no side-affects. Im not mentally ill, have a stable job and a family. I usually use cannabis as a pain suppressant, for headaches and the like.(ever since i was 14 i've had severe headaches). To me cannabis is great, orthough I do recognize that some people(like many other drugs) may have adverse effects. As for using it for recreational purposes, i think if every alcoholic was a "pothead" the health sector would have much less stress on its hands. Have you ever heard of vapourizers? These produce no smoke mearly evaporated THC. Its to bad that the suppression of cannabis has lead to un-regulation and nurturing of underground markets. I, in no way condone the use of cannabis by minors (like alcohol, tobacco and the like), and believe that if we are able to treat people that use cannabis like any other person that uses alcohol and tobacco, maybe we will be able to stop treating the sensible law abiding, hard working people like myself as criminals.

Pardon my english, as it is`nt that great.