Cannabis & Schizophrenia?
According to Reuters, doctors are making progress in determining a connection between heavy cannabis use (weed, pot, Mary Jane, marijuana - you get the picture) and the onset of psychosis and schizophrenia-like symptoms in a recent London report, Brain scans pinpoint cannabis mental health risk.
Thanks to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), professors Philip McGuire and Zerrin Atakan at London’s Institute of Psychiatry have determined tetrahydrocannabinol (THC - the compound found in cannabis) reduces frontal cortex functions, which could also negatively affect a person’s ability to control emotional and behavioral responses to particular situations.
“What THC seems to be doing is switching off that part of the brain, and that was associated with how paranoid people became,” McGuire told reporters.
The International Cannabis and Mental Health Conference at the Institute of Psychiatry (May 1 & 2) will present further information, including the connection between high doses of THC and symptoms similar to those of schizophrenia.
So, it seems that illegal plant you or your parents used to spark up in the back of that Chevy van headed to Woodstock may not have relieved as much stress as originally thought.
POSTED IN: Current Affairs & News, Psychotic Disorders, Schizophrenia
5 opinions for Cannabis & Schizophrenia?
Begin February With A Dose Of Sanity
Feb 2, 2008 at 5:10 am
[…] It’s time to legalize marijuana for pain control. Registered nurse and b5media blogger Marijke Durning is discussing the benefits of hitting the ol’ bong to help manage pain. What do you think of her points in relation to former Mental Health Notes discussion about cannabis and schizophrenia? […]
Live In Pain To Protect Your Body And Brain?
Feb 8, 2008 at 1:01 pm
[…] May, I directed you to a study about the effects cannabis can have on your mental health - specifically, psychosis and schizophrenia-like […]
zoe
Apr 28, 2008 at 9:46 pm
of course marijuana produces schizophrenic type symptoms. it’s a mild psychedelic. it has hallucinogenic properties and can cause paranoia. these symptoms usually fade after the drug wears off and have no long term affect if marijuana use is stopped.
Alicia Sparks, NAMI Affiliation Leader
Apr 29, 2008 at 9:36 pm
Thanks for chiming in, Zoe. I think the main goal with this research in London was to actually see the effects marijuana has on the brain (using the brain scans), rather than just rely on the knowledge they already have of its psychedelic and hallucinogenic properties. In other words, the brain scans actually showed them what we’ve all known for a long time.
Too, the researchers focused more on the “newer” breeds of pot, and their effects.
What I was really interested in reading was that the researchers did indeed mention that some people are “vulnerable to long-term damage from modern skunk” - they didn’t elaborate, however.
Attention Stoners: Mary Jane May Shrink Your Brain
Jun 20, 2008 at 2:32 pm
[…] who heavily smoke marijuana for a long period of time are not only putting themselves at risk for the onset of psychosis and schizophrenia-like symptoms and lung cancer, but they’re also putting two important parts of their brains at risk for […]
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: