Skunk Alert: Marijuana Can Cause Mental Illness
Part 6 of 9 part series
In vulnerable individuals (about 30%) it has and is causing psychotic breaks leading to violent acts, mass murders and suicides, as well as other mental health disorders including schizophrenia, paranoia, anxiety, depression and bi-polar disorder. The problem is people don’t know they are vulnerable until they experience the problem, then it may be too late for some and a question of long term recovery for others. Psychotic episodes have led to a dramatic increase in emergency room visits. Daily users are 5 times more likely to develop mental health disorders; weekend users 3 times more than non-users. A UK study showed that Skunk was responsible for 1/4th the new cases of schizophrenia. Studies from Australia and New Zealand showed that teens who use marijuana were 7 times more likely to commit suicide.
Skunk is the name for today’s high potency marijuana.
See the previous post in the series: Marijuana is Addictive. See the next post in the series: Marijuana is NOT Medicine.
How many more young deaths of teens & young adults will it take before society admits today’s super potent strains of THC (with the actual “medicinal” property of CBD almost bred out of these ubiquitous strains of pot) are the link to severe changes in mental health? Since the U.S. does NOT track adverse effects from pot this country lives in its continued naivety that today’s cannabis is not changing the mental health of its users. The epidemiology studies done abroad ( the European countries as well as Australia & New Zealand ) – where there are public health studies done which show the harms of cannabis especially to the young developing brain < age 26. It's scientific facts ( Google PubMed the online medical reference source & educate yourself ) that all lifetime users lose ~ (7 )IQ points and 30% of all pot users now suffer from alterations in their mental health – anxiety, panic attacks, depression, a motivational syndrome, addiction & dependence on pot to the most frightening adverse effect – psychosis which is loss of reality which causes hallucinations & delusions. And the most recent 2015 study in the UK chaired by one of the most foremost researchers in Schizophrenia- Dr Robin Murray- 2.5 to 5% of those subjects studied in London developed chronic psychosis ( which is schizophrenia). This is happening not just in the UK. How do I know ? Because I lost my first-born beautiful ( age 25) 6'4" son 39 months ago to the horrific changes to my son's brain because he started "recreationally" using pot when he moved away from home at age 19 unbeknownst to his family. ( And I want parents to know its not enough anymore to raise kids in a drug-free household as my son was raised in since his parents never touched an illegal drug in our lives nor do we use pharmaceutical drugs unless there is a specific medical condition necessitating, for example, an antibotic be taken). I believe the culture of pot acceptance is so strong today that our kids don't even consider cannabis a drug. For my family with NO history of any severe mental illness and my son who had 23 years of proven excellent health, and successes such as he was already a Certified Residential Electrician by age 21 to end up having an overnight psychotic break in Oct '09 two months after marrying his longtime g-friend in this amazing garden wedding on a local college campus where his bride had just graduated – how can it happen? Sadly, but truthfully, when we found our son on the most horrifying night of our lives ( after his bride called 911 on my son's escalating, bizarre out-of-nowhere complete change in his reality) he agreed to get into his parent's car that night which is forever etched into my memory. Our son tried to jump out of our moving car as we drove on the 101 freeway- in the black of night- he asked us if we saw the bombed out buildings and stated ( tearfully) he had to save Obama. It was like witnessing the complete nervous breakdown of our son as he was saying things he remembered as a tiny child – everything spilling out of him at once. Never in a billion years could I believe this could happen to one of the most grounded, beloved, bigger-than- live personalities. My son had such a generous heart and so many friends because he had an incredible gregarious personality. With the hallucinations my son was describing even though I had never known my son to EVER use an illicit drug all I could assume was my son had to have taken something to alter his mind so horrifically. I asked my son had he taken something like a drug? His response is where I soon began finding out the association b/t pot and psychosis. "Mom- I know you don't think I use drugs but I smoke marijuana, but it's a herb, harmless". That is the start of the next 27 months from hell that my son- and his family- suffered through. Even more tragic was the so-called "experts" at the psych hospital we got our son into believing he would get the best care & support told us " pot can't cause psychosis ". My son tested (+ ) to ONLY 1 substance on his toxicology report: THC. But unfortunately even the psychiatric industry was completely ignorant that the pot strains used by today's youth are so potent in THC that across the globe we are having vulnerable young people develop horrific mental health changes, and some lead to suicide. Even though my son did recover from psychosis ( was never given the diagnosis of schizophrenia) and he recovered completely, my son returned to his life that was surrounded by a culture of pot acceptance ( his family was completely in the dark & every safeguard I personally put in place to be sure if my son were ever to return to using pot I would be told failed me) because this young generation assumes everyone can use marijuana without serious harm: FALSE ASSUMPTIONS!!!! And in hindsight my son was dependent on pot – which is now scientifically described as just once a week use- when I asked the out-patient psychiatrist shouldn't my son be put into drug rehab he assured my family " your son is not an addict – just uses marijuana". Sadly, the psychiatric professionals were woefully inadequate and clearly knew nothing about the morphology how the marijuana germ seed has been manipulated to produce high amounts of THC ( as growers are financially rewarded by the strength of the THC ) in their plants so now this plant which dates back millions of years has been bred out its own "antipsychotic " property of CBD. Here's the catch: too
often ( as my son fatally found out) the slow insidious changes from pot use to certain young brains happens before the user is aware. And it's too late for their brains to go back to optimal brain health – so please pass on the absolute truth to our youth: it's a game of Russisan roulette and no one knows who will lose. The absolute truth is my son who was such a bright star and had SO many goals and dreams yet to die in such a horrific way when he should have been in the prime of his life it is a lifelong tragedy that no parent, sibling, grandparent, uncle, aunt, cousin, friends will ever fully recover from. I warn every parent- if this could happen to my strong, loving family it can happen to anyones. And it's happening across America just the truth is being swept under the rugs. Just know this ( and please know I am well educated in the sciences myself as I hold a post-graduate degree) this is the truth.
Society is being duped by the one-sided messages just how "harmless" marijuana is when this is such an outright distortion of the facts. But how convenient for the pot fanatics & financiers ( even Wall Street is involved as marijuana is now the #1 cash crop). I wish the media & certain politicians could be truthful & factual about the harms occurring from cannabis but there's too much $$$$$$$$$$ riding on their goals to bring the marijuana industry on par with the alcohol industry. Haven't we in the 21st century learned yet- history repeats itself? Can't we be smarter this time especially since the next young brain to succumb to the devastating changes from today's marijuana could be YOUR kid, YOUR grandkid, YOUR relative or neighbor…
Why has our Canadian neighbors late last year issued an on-line warning ( and a $7.5 million TV campaign ) thru Health Canada ( the public health care system for Canadians ) about marijuana use can lower IQ points AND cause hallucinations & delusions( definition of "psychosis" ). Pretty amazing the Canadians are warning it's citizens about cannabis harms while we, in America, remain in the dark. Wake up America- please- it's too late for my son but in 2015 there is SO much more known and a plethora of scientific references about marijuana harms to our youth. Please look at Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) and pass on this awareness to others.
Important points:
1) It is a game of Russian roulette–some will die
2) Some people have hallucinations that morph to psychosis
3) USA should educate/warn its citizens, as Canada is doing
4) All about $$$ in USA
5) Check out SAM (Smart Approaches to Marijuana)