Cannabis use during puberty is a major risk factor for schizophrenia

[This_person]

BERLIN—Society’s embrace of cannabis to treat nausea, pain and other conditions proceeds apace with the drive to legalize the plant for recreational use. Pot’s seemingly innocuous side effects have helped clear a path toward making it a legal cash crop, with all of the marketing glitz brought to other consumer products. But that clean bill of health only goes so far. Marijuana’s potentially detrimental impact on the developing brains of adolescents remains a key focus of research—particularly because of the possibility teenage users could go on to face a higher risk of psychosis.

New findings may fuel those worries. At the World Psychiatric Association’s World Congress in Berlin on October 9, Hannelore Ehrenreich of the Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine presented results of a study of 1,200 people with schizophrenia. The investigation analyzed a wide range of genetic and environmental risk factors for developing the debilitating mental illness. The results—being submitted for publication—show people who had consumed cannabis before age 18 developed schizophrenia approximately 10 years earlier than others. The higher the frequency of use, the data indicated, the earlier the age of schizophrenia onset. In her study neither alcohol use nor genetics predicted an earlier time of inception, but pot did. “Cannabis use during puberty is a major risk factor for schizophrenia,” Ehrenreich says.

Other studies, although not all, support the thrust of Ehrenreich’s findings. “There is no doubt,” concludes Robin Murray, a professor of psychiatry at King’s College London, that cannabis use in young people increases the risk of developing schizophrenia as an adult.

 

[nutz]

all of the marketing glitz brought to other consumer products

 

[Hijinx]

Whether users admit it or not , marijuana is a mind altering drug.
Why is it surprising to find that it can alter minds in a negative way?

But hell, what's a little schizophrenia among friends.

 

[Chris0nllyn]

Outside of a few instances where high-CBD oils or concentrates have helped children deal with seizures, why would anyone believe a mind-altering substance is a good thing to give a child? Isn't that why states with legal marijuana have age limits, just like the other substances we're exposed to and have access to in our daily lives?

 

[vraiblonde]

If this "study" were true, everyone I know would be a schizo.

 

[jazz lady]

If this "study" were true, everyone I know would be a schizo.

Very few of my friends while growing up didn't smoke or at least try pot. :shrug:

 

[terbear1225]

given that the study was of people with schizoprenia, isnt it possible that those who were pot smokers were going to develop more severe cases/have earlier onset to begin with and were using pot to self medicate?

 

[officeguy]

given that the study was of people with schizoprenia, isnt it possible that those who were pot smokers were going to develop more severe cases/have earlier onset to begin with and were using pot to self medicate?

That's not the only study that has found that relationship, and other studies were population based.
It doesn't answer the question whether the relationship between THC use and schizophrenia is a causal one or whether folks who eventually get diagnosed are simply at a higher risk for substance abuse early on. A similar correlation is present for cigarette smoking.

The other known relationship is between adolescent THC use and decreased intelligence and scholastic achievement. Again, maybe it's just the dummies that smoke more weed while the high achievers snort Ritalin to stay focused, until we get more insight into the mechanisms of addiction there is no way of telling.

 

[officeguy]

Very few of my friends while growing up didn't smoke or at least try pot. :shrug:

Just like alcohol use, there is little reason to believe that occasional recreational use will have a lasting effect on brain development.

 

[Clem72]

That's not the only study that has found that relationship, and other studies were population based.
It doesn't answer the question whether the relationship between THC use and schizophrenia is a causal one or whether folks who eventually get diagnosed are simply at a higher risk for substance abuse early on. A similar correlation is present for cigarette smoking.

The other known relationship is between adolescent THC use and decreased intelligence and scholastic achievement. Again, maybe it's just the dummies that smoke more weed while the high achievers snort Ritalin to stay focused, until we get more insight into the mechanisms of addiction there is no way of telling.

I think people have always claimed that pot makes you paranoid. And a lot of schizos suffer from paranoia as well. So it probably compounds the issue for people who are already prone to it. Regardless, I doubt you will find many who advocate giving children pot even among the most ardent legalization supporters.

 

[vraiblonde]

Regardless, I doubt you will find many who advocate giving children pot even among the most ardent legalization supporters.

This Study Proves That Medical Marijuana Can Help Children

 

[Clem72]

This Study Proves That Medical Marijuana Can Help Children

Pardon. I should have prefaced, NON MEDICAL PURPOSE pot. If I had said no one advocates giving children cocaine, would you have linked studies showing that cocaine is used to stop chronic nosebleeds in children?

 

[vraiblonde]

Pardon. I should have prefaced, NON MEDICAL PURPOSE pot. If I had said no one advocates giving children cocaine, would you have linked studies showing that cocaine is used to stop chronic nosebleeds in children?

What's the difference if kids get baked for "medical purposes" or just get baked for fun?

 

[Clem72]

What's the difference if kids get baked for "medical purposes" or just get baked for fun?

Now you're just trolling me. The difference is whether the side effects of the drug are less significant than the condition you are treating. We give children morphine in the hospital for a broken limb, because it is preferable to letting them be in pain. But we don't give it to kids who aren't in pain, because there are negative side effects.

If pot helps a cancer patient to eat and not become malnourished, or helps prevent or lessen someone's seizures, than that is likely preferable to the possible very slight risk of schizophrenia later in life (or any other known/unknown side effect).

 

[vraiblonde]

Now you're just trolling me.

I like to think of it as walking down the logic path. Or the money trail. Or simply fleshing out more information for better understanding.

 

[Toxick]

It is a proven fact that if you smoke a marijuana, you are automatically addicted to heroin.

 

[officeguy]

What's the difference if kids get baked for "medical purposes" or just get baked for fun?

Big difference. If a particular mix of cannabinoids can help to control a kids seizures, the small increase in thei risk of developing schizophrenia is a trade-off worth making.