Tag Archives: psychosis

Marijuana Use Expands Crime

A teen in Massachusetts smoked pot with another teen and then killed him.   Also last week, details emerged about a teen in Alaska who killed another teen over weed.   When there’s marijuana, crime happens

At the same time news came out about a man in West Virginia who sexually assaulted and killing the his girlfriend’s baby girl.  The couple smoked pot the evening before it happened.

Beginning Thursday, Massachusetts is poised to allow home grows of twelve plants which will service the black market for marijuana.    The state needs to prepare people and warn people of increase in this type of violence.

Certain people become highly delusional under the influence of marijuana, and have strange visions.  On November 25, a stoned driver had intense fear of a construction worker and ran over him with his vehicle.

If marijuana didn’t affect the brain, people would not hallucinate and kill so frequently under its influence..   Certain people stay in the state marijuana-induced psychosis for a very long time.

If the psychosis turns into schizophrenia, marijuana makes the condition worse.   A 19-year-old fraternity boy in Florida, who killed a couple in Florida, also started eating them.   THC was the only drug in his system and his father says there is schizophrenia in the family.
Also in Florida, the day after Thanksgiving, a babysitter got stoned and let the child drown.

Legalization Does Not Free the Police

We wonder why marijuana legalization advocates say: “Legalize to free police for more serious crimes.”   There are far too many stories showing that marijuana increases crime.

In Colorado, prosecutors have noticed an increase in murders motivated by marijuana, since legalization.

Humboldt County, California, principle pot-growing region of the USA, has a murder rate that far exceeds national averages.

On the first day of legalization in Washington state in 2012, two people were murdered when they tried to steal a marijuana grow.

Earlier this year,  murderers killed eight family members in southern Ohio, revealing a massive marijuana growing business.   

Since Massachusetts allows huge home grows, it probably won’t be long before police will be investigating such murders.  Obviously voters didn’t understand Question 4.  The marijuana advocates in Massachusetts are laughing right now.

Cannabis and Psychosis Link Explained by Neuroscientist

Last month, Momsstrong.org and Parents Opposed to Pot (poppot.org) joined California drug prevention groups, Citizens Against Legalizing Marijuana (CALMUSA.org) and StopPot2016.com at a rally in Sacramento, the state capital of California. The rally was to raise public awareness of the dangers of marijuana and why the state should not legalize this addictive drug for recreational use. In these videos, Dr. Christine Miller, a neuroscientist discusses the cannabis and psychosis link.

Vote No on Prop 64 to protect your community and our youth from this alarming trend towards the normalization of drug use.

Washington Shooter Had a Marijuana History

Cannabis Use is Always Relevant in Cases of Mental Imbalance

Washington Shooter Arcan Cetin opened fire in the Macy’s at Cascade Mall, killing 5 people on September 23.   Three women and one 16-year-old girl died immediately; the man died later.  It happened in Burlington, about 30 miles north of Seattle.

The Cascade Mall shooter was 20 years old and had graduated from high school the previous year.   He was born in Turkey, but raised on Whidbey Island.  Cetin had a track record of arrests, including three charges of domestic violence, plus drunk driving.  It is clear that the courts were trying to help him.  His family was quite patient.

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Left, Arcan Cetin, 20,  resident of Oak Harbor. Photo: KIRO 7 News.  Top photo is from Seattle Pi

 

Washington Shooter Had Marijuana Trail

The Seattle Times reports that Cetin was homeless at one time during high school. Marty Baldwin and his wife allowed Cetin to live with him.  “Baldwin kicked him out a few months later after learning the younger man was using and selling drugs, he said.”   (Marijuana became legal for adults over 21 in December 2012, although it wasn’t sold in stores until the middle of 2014.)

Kiro News reports of incidents from the past year:  “A prosecutor asked about firearms, and Cetin’s mother said those were removed, according to court records.  As the case continued in 2015, additional counseling was recommended….. That case was tracked with a separate Island County case involving another alleged victim.

“As part of that misdemeanor case, Cetin was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation in August 2015. The evaluation was completed as of March 2016, according to court records.

“There also were questions in the court file about cannabis use. But last April a judge asked how that related to his mental health evaluation, saying it was not a mental health issue….”  This judge did not understand the influence of marijuana on violence and negative mental health outcomes.  Although Cetin was not allowed to own guns, he stole his father’s guns.

Governor Inslee Looks for Answers

Governor Jay Inslee spoke at a Press Conference after the shooting.  He said, “Passivity in the face violence is unacceptable,” and that “I don’t have the answers.”   Getting to the answers includes finding out how this Washington shooter compares with other young shooters and shopping mall shooters.

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Four women died shortly after a gunman opened fire at Cascade Mall in Burlington Washington on September 23 around 7 p.m. Photo: KIRO 7 News.

 

Jaylen Fryberg, a 15-year-old who shot and killed 5 at his high school in Marysville, Washington, two years ago, left a record of his marijuana habit on Twitter.  It happened after marijuana was legalized in Washington for those 21 and over, but not for teens.

When we track stories that make national news, marijuana use is often a common trait in many young killers.  Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and the Columbine shooters were also marijuana users.  Neither Fryberg nor Tsarnaev appeared mentally unstable to their classmates. On the other hand, Arcan Cetin’s high school classmates thought he was disturbed, and he did not fit in.

On September 26, Nathan DeSai shot and injured 9 at a Houston strip mall.  According to neighbors, he had been acting erratically lately.    The police report said, “There were also reports of heavy pot use in DeSai’s apartment,” and that there were numerous complaints about the strong marijuana odor coming from his unit.

Two other mall shooters, the Clackamas Mall shooter in Oregon and the Columbia Mall shooter in Maryland, had both mental illness and histories of marijuana use.

The Marijuana – Mental Illness Links

“The kids who start to use marijuana at a young age are much more likely to experience longer-term mental health problems,”  Dr. Neal McKeganey warned more than a decade ago.   Since teens have many adjustment problems to begin with, parents, schools and communities need to spread this message more firmly.   We can expect children of immigrants to have many challenges–disrupted living experiences, culture shock and even memories of violence.  Whatever trauma a child may have witnessed in the homeland will be carried in memory and could make adjustment difficult.medical-society-positions

Any state that legalizes marijuana must realize at-risk children will be susceptible to marijuana and drug abuse.   Cetin’s drug/marijuana history is reminiscent to that of the Ottawa shooter, Michael Zehaf-Bibeau.    It  may have have come before his mental health issues.   (We hope that Canada and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau take notice of the mental health warnings.)

Americans ask why we have such a violent society, but fail to acknowledge the widespread drug usage.  Murders would probably be about 30%  less frequent, if marijuana use were completely eliminated. Not all acts of mass violence would go away.   However, mass shootings could be less frequent.  As a society, we cannot ignore these correlations between marijuana and violence when:

  1. a shooter’s psychosis or other mental illness is triggered by marijuana use – (Eddie Routh, football player Aaron Hernandez, Chattanooga shooter, Arcan Cetin, the Ottawa shooter, the Nice terrorist are recent examples)
  2.  marijuana use numbs feelings to such an extent that shooters feel no sympathy for victims (Jaylen Fryberg, Boston terrorists, Dylann Roof, some of the Paris terrorists)

Schizophrenia, Psychosis are Marijuana Side Effects

schizophrenia-psychosis
Mind-altering drugs can affect the brain permanently, causing mental illness. Scientists have proven that marijuana can trigger schizophrenia,  psychosis.

Canadian Mental Illness Experts Warn of Cannabis-Psychosis Link

The worst of the mental issues that can result from pot use are schizophrenia, psychosis. Scientists and addiction specialists are aware of marijuana as a trigger for mood disorders. The general public is by and large ignorant on this subject.

People experiencing psychosis can have breaks with reality. The can experience hallucinations. They can even become violent. Read a definition of psychosis on the Healthline website. Schizophrenia symptoms seem to be similar according to Healthline. Yet, it seems that it is a chronic condition rather than temporary.

The Schizophrenia Society of Canada has on online campaign to educate the public about the connection between marijuana use and psychosis called Cannabis and Psychosis.

See the Schizophrenia, Psychosis Video

Schizophrenia Society of Canada // Cannabis & Psychosis from Giant Ant on Vimeo.

While the Pot Lobby wants the public to consider marijuana a safer alternative to other addictive substances like tobacco and alcohol, the medical experts warn otherwise. See this excellent article, The Cannabis-Psychosis Link: Mind your Mind.

For more scientific and anecdotal evidence, we highly recommend the website MomsStrong.org. This website was launched by a California mom who lost her son to cannabis withdrawal suicide and a mom in Arizona whose son committed suicide as a result of his losing battle with marijuana addiction.

Parents, educate yourself and warn the young people around you. Marijuana is not a toy, it can destroy. See more StopPot 2016 articles related to marijuana and mental health.