New findings on marijuana's damaging effect on the brain show the drug triggers temporary psychotic symptoms in some people, including hallucinations and paranoid delusions, doctors say.
British doctors took brain scans of 15 healthy volunteers given small doses of two of the active ingredients of cannabis, as well as a placebo.
... tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, produced temporary psychotic symptoms in people, including hallucinations and paranoid delusions, doctors said."We've long suspected that cannabis is linked to psychoses, but we have never before had scans to show how the mechanism works," said Dr. Philip McGuire, a professor of psychiatry at King's College, London.
In analyzing MRI scans of the study's subjects, McGuire and his colleagues found that THC interfered with activity in the inferior frontal cortex, a region of the brain associated with paranoia.
"THC is switching off that regulator," McGuire said, effectively unleashing the paranoia usually kept under control by the frontal cortex.
WE ALL KNOW THERE ARE MANY MORE POTHEADS ON THE LEFT - TEDDY JO'S AND JEAN-FRANCOISE KERRY'S BUDDIES - THE HOLLYWOOD CROWD.
THEY FEAR BUSH AND CHENEY AND ROVE MORE THAN BIN LADEN. WHICH IS TOTALLY IRRATIONAL AND PARANOID.
THIS MUST BE WHY. MAYBE THEY CAN COME UP WITH A CURE? LET'S HOLD A TELETHON!
There are something like 20 million regular pot heads in America.
ReplyDeleteThe image one normally gets of these folks is not one of psychosis but stupor.
On top of that rumor has it that there may actually be one or two Republicans who use pot.
The story of Lyn Nofziger is instructive.
I know marijuana produced a psychotic type reaction in my brain. That's why I stopped using it, and haven't used it in 22 years.
ReplyDeleteClearly, it does different things to different people.
On the other hand, in general, I agree with Reliapundit's larger point. As a guy who runs a business, I can't tell you how many times I am frustrated and amazed by the inability of my employees, of medium to high intelligence, to grasp the simplest idea.
I note a high correlation between the cognitive abilities of my employees and their past, or current, drug use.
Let me be clear about this, though.
ReplyDeleteI am a musician, and a writer. I know many musicians and writers who seem to function at an incredibly high level, who smoke marijuana on a regular basis.
And, I have known people who smoked marijuana and were able to perform well in tests in math and sciences as well.
As I said, it seems to affect diffent people differently.
lyn was an iconoclastic fella.
ReplyDeletenot ur typ GOP'er.
i betchya most lefties used it a lot and many still do, and that it explains something: like pasto says: there's a diathesis there, and the pot expands on it.
it explains a lot too.
HEY NANCY - WHAT'RE YOU SMOKIN'!?!
The study says that the paranoia effect only affects a small number of pot smokers.
ReplyDeleteHow does that affect the large number of Democrats?
I must say the effort to demonize people based on their choice of recreational drugs is so Nixonian. Nixon was a parnoiac of immense proportions. He liked martinis.
BTW alcohol is the only recreational drug known to have a strong statistical relationship with violence. So does alcohol consumption explain Republican political propensities?
Silly? Just as silly as connecting Democrat political propensities to their choice of drugs.
From Wiki:
ReplyDeleteFranklyn C. "Lyn" Nofziger (8 June 1924 – 27 March 2006) was an American journalist, political consultant and author. He served as press secretary in Ronald Reagan's administration as Governor of California, and as a White House advisor during the Richard Nixon administration and again during the Reagan presidency.
Proof positive he wasn't a real Republican.
From the article:
ReplyDeleteMost users of cannabis still do not have a problem with the drug but a minority, possibly because of genetic factors, are vulnerable to long-term damage from modern skunk -- which Murray says is to old-fashioned dope what whisky is to lager.
The rise in THC content is linked with a decline in another active ingredient called cannabidiol (CBD), since the two products compete biochemically inside the cannabis plant.
Well they get genetics right at least.
What they leave out is the iron law of prohibition:
The iron law of prohibition is a term coined by Richard Cowan which states that "The more intense the law enforcement, the more potent the prohibited substance becomes." This is based on the premise that when drugs or alcohol are prohibited they will be produced only in black markets in their most concentrated and powerful forms. If all alcohol beverages are prohibited, a bootlegger will be more profitable if he smuggles highly distilled liquors than if he smuggles the same volume of small beer. In addition, the black market goods are more likely to be adulterated with unknown or dangerous substances. The government cannot regulate and inspect the production process, and harmed consumers have no recourse in law.
I find this post very offensive. It borders on a blood libel, which is very ironic in this context. Nixon blamed “the Jewish psychiatrists” for the move to legalize cannabis.
ReplyDeleteI am a Quaker, and a user of cannabis and a very strong supporter of Israel. Lying about groups, whether Jews or cannabis users is simply wrong.
And the ABC news article is really bad journalism. The subjects were not given whole cannabis, just THC. There was no “brain damage”, just transitory effects.
Richard Cowan
rcowan@rcowan.com
this post was slightly tongue in cheek, fellas!
ReplyDeleteCLUE:
LET'S HOLD A TELETHON!