ECCOnoob Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Mental health problems There is growing evidence that people with serious mental illness, including depression and psychosis, are more likely to use cannabis or have used it for long periods of time in the past. Regular use of the drug has appeared to double the risk of developing a psychotic episode or long-term schizophrenia. However, does cannabis cause depression and schizophrenia or do people with these disorders use it as a medication? Over the past few years, research has strongly suggested that there is a clear link between early cannabis use and later mental health problems in those with a genetic vulnerability - and that there is a particular issue with the use of cannabis by adolescents. Depression A study following 1600 Australian school-children, aged 14 to 15 for seven years, found that while children who use cannabis regularly have a significantly higher risk of depression, the opposite was not the case - children who already suffered from depression were not more likely than anyone else to use cannabis. However, adolescents who used cannabis daily were five times more likely to develop depression and anxiety in later life. Schizophrenia Three major studies followed large numbers of people over several years, and showed that those people who use cannabis have a higher than average risk of developing schizophrenia. If you start smoking it before the age of 15, you are 4 times more likely to develop a psychotic disorder by the time you are 26. They found no evidence of self-medication. It seemed that, the more cannabis someone used, the more likely they were to develop symptoms. Why should teenagers be particularly vulnerable to the use of cannabis? No one knows for certain, but it may be something to do with brain development. The brain is still developing in the teenage years – up to the age of around 20, in fact. A massive process of ‘neural pruning’ is going on. This is rather like streamlining a tangled jumble of circuits so they can work more effectively. Any experience, or substance, that affects this process has the potential to produce long-term psychological effects. Recent research in Europe, and in the UK, has suggested that people who have a family background of mental illness – and so probably have a genetic vulnerability anyway - are more likely to develop schizophrenia if they use cannabis as well. http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthinfo/problems/alcoholanddrugs/cannabis.aspx Just a quick search on google and you can find plenty more. A family member of mine started with 'just a couple of casual joints'. After he had a bad time following redundancy he became more and more dependant. The doctors confirmed this contributed to his clinical depression which developed to become regular spells in and out of nether edge for treatment for his paraniod and schizophrenic episodes. THIS IS WHY IT SHOULD ALWAYS REMAIN ILLEGAL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Erikson Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthinfo/problems/alcoholanddrugs/cannabis.aspx Just a quick search on google and you can find plenty more. A family member of mine started with 'just a couple of casual joints'. After he had a bad time following redundancy he became more and more dependant. The doctors confirmed this contributed to his clinical depression which developed to become regular spells in and out of nether edge for treatment for his paraniod and schizophrenic episodes. THIS IS WHY IT SHOULD ALWAYS REMAIN ILLEGAL. Childeren should not smoke cannabis. Who would advocate such a thing. Sorry to hear about your uncle. There's also data out there that suggests your uncle was always susceptible to schizophrenic episodes. It's a fact that the brain isn't developed in teenage years so any research done on teenagers using cannabis will always be biased. Teenagers shouldn't be using the stuff. How many people does alcohol addiction kill each year? Again, is that the reason why alcohol should be illegal? Then there's cigarettes. We used to sell those to 16 year olds. It always amuses me how people list some medical research that isn't relative and use it as the reason cannabis is the baby killer of drugs. Yet go down to A&E on a weekend evening and tell me then which drug causes the health problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Erikson Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Here you go. From the same page ECCOnoob linked. Problems with alcohol - physical health Being very drunk can lead to severe hangovers, stomach pains (gastritis), vomiting blood, unconsciousness and even death. Drinking too much over a long period of time can cause liver disease and increases the risk of some kinds of cancer. It can reduce the risk of heart disease for men over 40 and women of menopausal age - but only if their drinking is very moderate. Problems with alcohol - mental health Although we tend to think of alcohol as something we use to make us feel good, heavy drinking can bring on depression. Many people who kill themselves have had drinking problems. Alcohol can stop your memory from working properly and can cause brain damage. It can even make you hear noises and voices - a very unpleasant experience which can be hard to get rid of. Warning signs Alcohol is addictive. Some warning signs are: you do not feel right without a drink, or need a drink to start the day you get very shaky, sweaty, and anxious/tense a few hours after your last drink you can drink a lot without becoming drunk you need to drink more and more to get the same effect you try to stop, but find you can't you carry on drinking even though you can see it is interfering with your work, family and relationships you get "memory blanks" where you can't remember what happened for a period of hours or days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
upinwath Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Well duh. If they could grow it themselves then the problem would be solved wouldn't it... Way to think things through. . Only if you try to hide facts. The fact is, it's expensive to grow because of the heating and lighting costs. Where do you think weed smoking chumps will get the cash to pay their electricity bill and equipment costs from? Drrrr Let's get back on with it. A load of people use cocaine and even worse drugs. Do we legalise hem as well because idiots can't cope with real life? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Erikson Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Only if you try to hide facts. The fact is, it's expensive to grow because of the heating and lighting costs. Where do you think weed smoking chumps will get the cash to pay their electricity bill and equipment costs from? Likely from the savings they're making by growing it. These savings can then be pumped back into the local economy as disposable income. Let's get back on with it. A load of people use cocaine and even worse drugs. Do we legalise hem as well because idiots can't cope with real life? Cocaine is growing in popularity with the middle classes. Are all the middle class idiots or do they just fancy a different recreational drug to alcohol? Yes we do legalise them. They're illegal now and as you yourself have proved, loads of people still have free access to them. Tell you what, I believe you're a religious person. Religion has killed more people than anything else through wars caused in its name. It damages people's mental health and morons go forcing it onto other people and manipulate the poor with it. Should we ban all religions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkertelecoms Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 You don't need hundreds of pounds of sodium and hydroponics to grow home brew, any strong light sourse will do. Only the people selling and wanting very high yielding go down that route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Erikson Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Would the profits be used to subsidise the program that would have implemented, due to the rise of mental health issues that a legalisation of cannabis would bring? In an ideal world you would like them to be spent on programs but like the tax generated from tobacco and alcohol I doubt the government would do anything special with the revenue. Cannabis is currently illegal yet it's estimated that 3.5 million+ people use it regularly. http://www.idmu.co.uk/taxing-the-uk-drugs-market.htm As chem1st said, legalisation usually leads to user numbers falling. http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2007/oct/26/drugsandalcohol.homeaffairs So if use falls through legalisation, how do you propose there will be more cases of ill mental health due to the legalisation of cannabis? Surely hospitals should be overrun with schizophrenics now whilst the drug is illegal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1love Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 i thought u was allowed to grow a certain amount? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mj.scuba Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 Why not decriminalise it and let them do it for free? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gleadlessgrl Posted September 17, 2011 Share Posted September 17, 2011 One cannabis farm/house could grow enough cannabis to build a good 20 homes a year... I think you've been watching too much Look North, lol The last 'farm bust' I saw on Look North had about 50 plants in an upstairs room in a house. When my dad grew (for personal use!) years ago, he was lucky to get half an oz off each plant. So this house had 25-30 oz of weed and the reporter said with a street value of £200,000! Well yes, only if you were selling it for £6,500 an oz! Which is six times the price of gold! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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