TRUCE, while a consistent and strong advocate for the proven benefits for patients, has never been in the business of “boosterism” for medical cannabis.
That’s why you don’t see facile “memes” in our blog and why we’re always cautious about over-claiming about promising preliminary results concerning life-threatening illnesses like cancer. So we realize that while MC has great promise for many conditions and the lowest toxicity of any doctor recommended/prescribed drug (period!), it is neither a universal cure-all – nor is it without potential for abuse or harm.
In uncontrolled situations, no one here would maintain there are no downsides. E.g., we strongly discourage youth use except as specifically prescribed because of its potential to effect the developing brain. Nor, despite recent misleading reports which attempt to overplay the role of cannabis in traffic accidents/fatalities, would we ever endorse “driving high.”
In other words, our credibility matters to us because the truth matters to us. We want the words “TRUCE posted that……” to engender confidence in both supporters and thoughtful opponents that what follows is always going to be evidence-based and has been considered before being published.
Which brings us to the latest claims being endorsed by anti-cannabis crusaders, namely that “pot causes psychosis,” or in more literate cases that “marijuana causes schizophrenia.”
Below is a carefully done study which begins to definitively show that while there is an actual risk of cannabis use being involved in the first onset of schizophrenia, the risk is both small, and capable of being understood in terms of genetic susceptibility in a small fraction of the population (along with, as previous studies have shown, childhood trauma, chaotic family structure and similar life experience variables).
We recommend a thorough reading of the whole article, but here are a few snippets….
“To date, the consensus is that cannabis use increases the risk of psychosis but, across the population, the effect is relatively small.
Our research demonstrates that cannabis has a differential risk on susceptible versus non-susceptible individuals. In other words, young people with a genetic susceptibility to schizophrenia – those who have psychiatric disorders in their families – should bear in mind that they’re playing with fire if they smoke pot during adolescence.”
#MMJ #Research #Schizophrenia #MentalIllness #Israel #Utpol #TRUCE
http://ift.tt/2oFvCAa
See full article – Cannabis and schizophrenia: New evidence unveiled
