10 ms·

The Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids

121 points by ghosh 10y ago

Madmallard 10y ago
Yikes @ the mental health conclusions
- neoeldex 10y ago
  Hmm, they state this in "Injury and Death": > In states where cannabis use is legal, there is increased risk of unintentional cannabis overdose injuries among children. But then there's no LD50 determined for cannabis. So how could one overdose on cannabis?
  - Beltiras 10y ago
    Read a funny statement in a study the other day. The lethal dose of cannabis for dogs is 3g/kg. Don't know if it translates to humans but if the order of magnitude is about the same then it takes on the order of 300 grams ingested to kill a human.
    - woliveirajr 10y ago
      I bet that ingested paper or plastic have a lower FD50 for animals and humans...
      - taneq 10y ago
        Less than a gram of swarf or other miscellaneous small sharp metal bits will do you in, so yeah.
    - narag 10y ago
      Are those 300 g of pure cannabinoids or 300 g of dried flowers?
      - Beltiras 10y ago
        It was in the context of the dogs eating cannabis that their owners were careless about so I'm assuming dried and pruned buds.
        squeaky-clean 10y ago
        [Citation Needed] Unheated Marijuana doesn't have psychoactive effects. And like another poster said, the effects don't work through digestion without it binding to a fat. So just eating plain buds, even if they've been decarbed won't do much of anything. Edit: Found a study [0] that references the 3g/kg figure. That LD50 is for pure THC, not pure cannabis. "Lethal toxicity is reportedly rare with the THC LD50 = 3000 mg/kg in dogs.[2, 13] Both dogs that died in this study likely ingested significantly lower doses than the LD50 of THC; however, it is also possible that these dogs were more sensitive to THC or THC butter contains additional compounds that can be fatal in dogs." [0] http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1476-4431.2012.00818.x/full http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1476-4431.2012....
    - chimeracoder 10y ago
      It's true. Marijuana is actually one of the very few substances with no known LD50. Technically there is hypothesized to be one, but it is so high that it would be literally impossible to ingest that much (you'd suffocate from lack of oxygen first, and that's assuming you somehow weren't incapacitated from being so high that you were able to keep smoking. So medically, that's considered equivalent to "no lethal dose exists". http://www.mindthesciencegap.org/2013/03/25/how-safe-is-marijuana-a-toxicological-perspective/ http://www.mindthesciencegap.org/2013/03/25/how-safe-is-mari...
      - Beltiras 10y ago
        If you eat it you can ingest the dosage confirmed to kill dogs.
        chimeracoder 10y ago
        > If you eat it you can ingest the dosage confirmed to kill dogs You would almost certainly vomit long before you hit that threshold. If you also took an anticonvulsant and just straight-up downed raw plant material, I suppose it's possible... but at that point, we're stretching the meaning of "lethal dose".
        NTripleOne 10y ago
        It starts to get really complicated once you involve edibles, though - you can't just straight up eat plant matter and have it take effect as if you'd eaten a brownie, even though the dosage would technically be much, much higher if you straight up ate a bud. I'm no scientist nor a baker so I don't know the details behind it, but as far as I know the THC needs something to bind to before it's digestible, usually a fat - probably why cannabutter is the most common way of getting it into edibles. And that doesn't even account for the CBD which I have zero idea about with regards to edibles.
        GordonS 10y ago
        It's also that THC isn't very psychoactive until it's been decarboxylated. The process of heating it within a particular temperature does this (e.g smoking, vaping, baking)
  - akiselev 10y ago
    "Overdose injuries" is a ridiculous umbrella classification that covers both fatal and non-fatal incidents. By this definition, the average college student experiences at least one alcohol related overdose injury a week but, oh lord, think of the children! That said, we've come a long way from the era of Hearst, Anslinger, and the racist "degenerates" rhetoric.
    - tunap 10y ago
      Remaineds me of the joke: Most famous last words: "Hold my beer". And in spite of the ubiquitous alcohol related injuries & mortalities alcohol is peddled 24/7 on every marketing platform to date. Dichotomous & disingenuous argument.
      - NTripleOne 10y ago
        "hold my joint, I'm gonna go eat cheetos on the couch until I die"
        at-fates-hands 10y ago
        Or go get in your car and get into an accident. Marijuana-related fatal car accidents surge in Washington state after legalization: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/may/10/marijuana-related-fatal-car-accidents-surge-washin/ http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/may/10/marijuana-re... You can go ahead and keep thinking weed is harmless, but many drugs have started out being promoted as "harmless" including heroin, which was promoted as a cough suppressant in the early 1900's. What about cigarettes? How much propaganda did you see touting them as "harmless" despite all the scientific research to the contrary? And what about the surge in cocaine use in the 1970's and 80's? People thought it was just a harmless drug people used on the weekends. While I do believe there are many positive uses for marijuana, thinking its harmless is just being naive.
        NTripleOne 10y ago
        Jeez dude, it was a joke - calm down. People are gonna make bad decisions regardless of drugs, it's not like you have a smoke and the first thought that crosses your mind is "DRIVE".
  - draugadrotten 10y ago
    Have you considered that overdosing could lead to injury but not death.
    - codr4life 10y ago
      But it's practically impossible to overdose, you'll fall asleep before you get anywhere close. It's one of the least harmful substances in active use.
  - tom_mellior 10y ago
    The "Committe Conclusions" (http://nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2017/Cannabis-Health-Effects/Cannabis-conclusions.pdf http://nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Report%20File...) puts it like this: There is moderate evidence of a statistical association between cannabis use and: • Increased risk of overdose injuries, including respiratory distress, among pediatric populations in U.S. states where cannabis is legal (9-4b) There is no or insufficient evidence to support or refute a statistical association between cannabis use and: [...] • Death due to cannabis overdose (9-4a) I guess the full report goes into more detail on "overdose injuries, including respiratory distress".
  - dgacmu 10y ago
    tl;dr: Quite rare but non-zero instances of vomiting, respiratory distress, or coma, in some cases requiring intubation (which, if you've never had that done, is a pretty annoying intervention, and can cause airway injury), or mechanical ventilation. From the full report: "Accidental ingestion of cannabis by young children can result in respiratory failure and coma, as noted by several case reports (Amirav et al., 2011; Appelboam and Oades, 2006; Carstairs et al., 2011), and the consumption of cannabis edibles has been identified as a contributing factor in the accidental death of at least one adolescent (Hancock- Allen et al., 2015)." ... "among all calls to U.S. poison centers in involving single-substance exposures to cannabis, death was the outcome in two cases in 2012, no cases in 2013, and one case in 2014 (Mowry et al., 2013, 2014, 2015), although the reports do not indicate whether cannabis exposure was a contributing factor in these outcomes. Cannabis was not found to be the main cause of death in any of the fatal intoxications among drug addicts submitted for medico-legal autopsy and toxicological analysis in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, or Sweden in either 2007 or 2012 (Simonsen et al., 2011, 2015)." ... "In a study on unintentional pediatric cannabis exposure, Wang et al. (2016) described a case where hospital staff members were unable to resuscitate an unresponsive 11-month-old child who presented with tachycardia and metabolic acidosis and who tested positive for THC in a urine drug screen. The authors noted that any relationship between cannabis exposure and the patient’s symptoms or outcome was unclear. Although presented here for discussion, these case reports did not inform the committee’s conclusions on the association between cannabis use and overdose death. By comparison with the minimal literature on cannabis-related overdose death in adults or children, several studies reported on potentially serious symptoms associated with cannabis exposure in pediatric populations. Le Garrec et al. (2014) reported that, over a 3.5-year period, seven children aged 11–33 months were admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit in Paris with accidental cannabis poisoning. All of the children had central nervous system symptoms, including drowsiness and coma, and three were intubated and placed on mechanical ventilation for less than 24 hours. Between 2010 and 2013, an Arizona poison control center received 49 calls related to unintentional medical marijuana ingestions among children aged 7 and younger (Lovecchio and Heise, 2015). Among the 39 records with complete information, the most commonly reported symptoms were lethargy (48 percent of cases), an inability to walk (53 percent), coma (10 percent), and vomiting (21 percent)."
  - kefka 10y ago
    I would say that's false. I would put it up around .5kG/1kG as a kinetic object about 4 meters above your head and dropped. It would likely kill 50% of the population it was dropped on :-D
- rwmj 10y ago
  The long term effects of alcohol on mental health are also not much fun: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-term_effects_of_alcohol_consumption#Mental_health_effects https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-term_effects_of_alcohol_c...
  - throwanem 10y ago
    I should think the same is true of many psychoactive substances, and effectively all drugs of abuse. Experience and observation tend to bear out this surmise. A more useful question might be why this is such a controversial point when it comes to cannabis, and cannabis alone.
    - streetsweeper 10y ago
      Perhaps the focus is politically motivated. For a large part of the 20th century masturbation was considered a cause of schizophrenia. It's worth noting how broadly defined and poorly understood the condition of schizophrenia is, and that the diagnosis is made purely upon subjective social behaviors, rather than objective scientific pathology. Diagnostic behaviors of schizophrenia include: lack of motivation, anxiety, and reduced social engagement. With such broadly defined symptoms, it could be argued that everyone who smokes a joint is a schizophrenic.
    - narag 10y ago
      Because it's a popular drug that's mostly harmless for most people in "normal" dosage and there has been a lot of disinformation spread by authorities. Now most cannabis consumers tend to see everything like a government conspiration, not believing even true adverse effects. Heavy use for enough time will get you in a mist of passivity and poor memory. Every experienced weed smoker would have told you so much, a few years ago. Now there's a resistance to concede even that.
      - givinguflac 10y ago
        Your last paragraph is conjecture based on hearsay, and I disagree. I know many consistent "users" and all are successful, hardworking people who are engaged in their lives. Is it nice to relax for a night and chill? Of course. But to say that it affects how a person acts throughout their life is just wrong. But, lazy/passive people will find any excuse that isn't personal responsibility, so I think your study is flawed at best.
- jbrl 10y ago
  "In individuals with schizophrenia and other psychoses, a history of cannabis use may be linked to better performance on learning and memory tasks." Well At least once you're crazy you can improve your learning!
  - Neliquat 10y ago
    That makes me think the self-medication cause holds a bit more weight than I though for the spike in mental issues correlating to use.
  - Nekorosu 10y ago
    There is substantial evidence of a statistical association between cannabis use and: • The development of schizophrenia or other psychoses, with the highest risk among the most frequent users (12-1) But it will also make you crazier. To sum it up, you'll become a smarter, crazier version of yourself.
    - SomeStupidPoint 10y ago
      That's assuming causation from correlation. It's possible at-risk people are self-medicating, and that's why the correlation exists. (Or any number of confounding factors, such as at-risk people being more likely to break social norms.)
      - Nekorosu 10y ago
        I could assume the opposite but it would spoil my joke.
- MrFantastic 10y ago
  If cannabis actually caused mental issues why isn't there a huge increase in these problems in CO, CA, WA and OR where it's freely available? The worst thing that can happen if you smoke cannabis is to get arrested and to never be able to get a good job or get a scholarship to school
  - wcummings 10y ago
    >If cannabis actually caused mental issues why isn't there a huge increase in these problems in CO, CA, WA and OR where it's freely available? I'm not sure legalization has increased usage in those places, but if it has, it will take more than a few years to see the effects.
    - codr4life 10y ago
      It has been more than a couple of years in Holland, Portugal and other places. People seem to smoke less when it's legal. And we have enough experience by now to see through the silly propaganda when it comes to health risks. The war on cannabis is about profit and control; there are no health risks to speak of; on the contrary, it helps a lot of people live normal lives without poisoning themselves with stupid chemical cocktails.
      - hyperpape 10y ago
        Why should consumption decrease when the substance is legalized? The only real explanation I can think of off the top of my head is if certain types of legalization are really inconvenient (highly regulated sales and coffeehouses, vs. the black market). Prohibition reduced alcohol consumption in the 20s: http://patterico.com/2014/07/28/yes-prohibition-worked-in-terms-of-reducing-alcohol-consumption/ http://patterico.com/2014/07/28/yes-prohibition-worked-in-te.... (I am not asking this to support prohibition. I support legalization of marijuana).
        shawabawa3 10y ago
        Legalization can increase prices (as illegally grown marijuana obviously has no tax, but may have inflated cost due to risk) It might also make it less cool. Teenages might be less likely to smoke if their parents/teachers/etc do (wild guess)
- jobu 10y ago
  > Cannabis use is likely to increase the risk of developing schizophrenia and other psychoses; the higher the use the greater the risk. Very scary! I wonder if age influences this. This is really weird though: > In individuals with schizophrenia and other psychoses, a history of cannabis use may be linked to better performance on learning and memory tasks. Especially given the Psychosocial conclusions that: > Recent cannabis use impairs the performance in cognitive domains of learning, memory, and attention. And > A limited number of studies suggest that there are impairments in cognitive domains of learning, memory, and attention in individuals who have stopped smoking cannabis.
- OldSchoolJohnny 10y ago
  Correlation does not imply causation.
- OldSchoolJohnny 10y ago
  There are no valid conclusions to be had there. I'm old enough to remember the "this is your brain on drugs" ad's from the 80's, these "studies" are all of a piece with that nonsense.
nautical 10y ago
Highlights PDF : http://nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2017/Cannabis-Health-Effects/Cannabis-chapter-highlights.pdf http://nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Report%20File...
akiselev 10y ago
TLDR: conclusive research on Schedule I substances is practically impossible even when it's one of the most used drugs on the planet.
- two2two 10y ago
  "It is often difficult for researchers to gain access to the quantity, quality, and type of cannabis product necessary to address specific research questions on the health effects of cannabis use" Being unable to research the effects of specific strains and how cannabis is administered beyond oral or combustible methods limits our understanding of the true net effect in reality. Different methods for vaporizing and strains with low THC - high CBD would likely show very little evidence for negative effects on the user. However, consistent tobacco rolled cannabis cigars for a recreational user may show loads of evidence for negative effects on health. Like eating unhealthy vs eating healthy. Not all food is created equal, just like cannabis and its methods of use.
- smsm42 10y ago
  I have no idea how hard it is really but if it's true it is impossible, it is infuriating. People do research on substances that can kill a person with an invisible amount, blow up buildings, poison vast areas, all kinds of deadly things. But take a drug that any smart high-schooler can (and frequently does) access it - and it's impossible to research it! This is so infuriatingly insane.
  - yomly 10y ago
    There are plenty of pharmaceutical drugs out in the wild that have known side-effects. Chemotherapy completely nukes a person's body but is legal because the harm it induces is deemed worth the problem it solves (cancer). Despite this, marijuana which is in easy circulation on the streets in dubious forms of dosage/strength, has such a political air over it that most countries still won't even look into the medical applications of it! As a scientist, the double standards are incredibly frustrating!
    - smsm42 10y ago
dekhn 10y ago
Speaking of alternative facts, this report basically demonstrates the the DEA and NIDA have been promoting "alternative facts" about marijuana and cannabinoids for some time (even self-contradicting themselves by paying UMiss to grow marijuana for glaucoma patients).
OldSchoolJohnny 10y ago
Please don't post this low grade garbage information here.
234dd57d2c8db 10y ago
I know this is anecdotal, but I know a guy who used to be a very close friend. Was always pretty straight-edged. Good guitar player. Started hanging out with some weed smokers, started smoking, then he developed some kind of psychosis from the weed and now is on seroqil or however you spell it. Totally ruined his life and he's just not even close to the same person he was. Weed plays with your mind and your mental state. I don't care if you use it, but please be careful. I have seen it ruin a very nice and good person's life. I won't touch the stuff after seeing that.
pmoriarty 10y ago
One of the most surprising findings in this report for me was: "There is moderate evidence of no statistical association between cannabis use and: • Incidence of lung cancer (cannabis smoking)" I thought it was pretty well established that inhaling any burning plant matter increased the chance of lung cancer. But I guess not. Not surprising was: "There is moderate evidence of a statistical association between cannabis use and: • The impairment in the cognitive domains of learning, memory, and attention (acute cannabis use)" and most worrisome was: "There is substantial evidence of a statistical association between cannabis use and: • The development of schizophrenia or other psychoses, with the highest risk among the most frequent users"

121 points by ghosh 10y ago

Madmallard 10y ago

Yikes @ the mental health conclusions

neoeldex 10y ago
Hmm, they state this in "Injury and Death": > In states where cannabis use is legal, there is increased risk of unintentional cannabis overdose injuries among children. But then there's no LD50 determined for cannabis. So how could one overdose on cannabis?
- Beltiras 10y ago
  Read a funny statement in a study the other day. The lethal dose of cannabis for dogs is 3g/kg. Don't know if it translates to humans but if the order of magnitude is about the same then it takes on the order of 300 grams ingested to kill a human.
  - woliveirajr 10y ago
    I bet that ingested paper or plastic have a lower FD50 for animals and humans...
    - taneq 10y ago
      Less than a gram of swarf or other miscellaneous small sharp metal bits will do you in, so yeah.
  - narag 10y ago
    Are those 300 g of pure cannabinoids or 300 g of dried flowers?
    - Beltiras 10y ago
      It was in the context of the dogs eating cannabis that their owners were careless about so I'm assuming dried and pruned buds.
      - squeaky-clean 10y ago
        [Citation Needed] Unheated Marijuana doesn't have psychoactive effects. And like another poster said, the effects don't work through digestion without it binding to a fat. So just eating plain buds, even if they've been decarbed won't do much of anything. Edit: Found a study [0] that references the 3g/kg figure. That LD50 is for pure THC, not pure cannabis. "Lethal toxicity is reportedly rare with the THC LD50 = 3000 mg/kg in dogs.[2, 13] Both dogs that died in this study likely ingested significantly lower doses than the LD50 of THC; however, it is also possible that these dogs were more sensitive to THC or THC butter contains additional compounds that can be fatal in dogs." [0] http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1476-4431.2012.00818.x/full http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1476-4431.2012....
  - chimeracoder 10y ago
    It's true. Marijuana is actually one of the very few substances with no known LD50. Technically there is hypothesized to be one, but it is so high that it would be literally impossible to ingest that much (you'd suffocate from lack of oxygen first, and that's assuming you somehow weren't incapacitated from being so high that you were able to keep smoking. So medically, that's considered equivalent to "no lethal dose exists". http://www.mindthesciencegap.org/2013/03/25/how-safe-is-marijuana-a-toxicological-perspective/ http://www.mindthesciencegap.org/2013/03/25/how-safe-is-mari...
    - Beltiras 10y ago
      If you eat it you can ingest the dosage confirmed to kill dogs.
      - chimeracoder 10y ago
        > If you eat it you can ingest the dosage confirmed to kill dogs You would almost certainly vomit long before you hit that threshold. If you also took an anticonvulsant and just straight-up downed raw plant material, I suppose it's possible... but at that point, we're stretching the meaning of "lethal dose".
      - NTripleOne 10y ago
        It starts to get really complicated once you involve edibles, though - you can't just straight up eat plant matter and have it take effect as if you'd eaten a brownie, even though the dosage would technically be much, much higher if you straight up ate a bud. I'm no scientist nor a baker so I don't know the details behind it, but as far as I know the THC needs something to bind to before it's digestible, usually a fat - probably why cannabutter is the most common way of getting it into edibles. And that doesn't even account for the CBD which I have zero idea about with regards to edibles.
        GordonS 10y ago
        It's also that THC isn't very psychoactive until it's been decarboxylated. The process of heating it within a particular temperature does this (e.g smoking, vaping, baking)
- akiselev 10y ago
  "Overdose injuries" is a ridiculous umbrella classification that covers both fatal and non-fatal incidents. By this definition, the average college student experiences at least one alcohol related overdose injury a week but, oh lord, think of the children! That said, we've come a long way from the era of Hearst, Anslinger, and the racist "degenerates" rhetoric.
  - tunap 10y ago
    Remaineds me of the joke: Most famous last words: "Hold my beer". And in spite of the ubiquitous alcohol related injuries & mortalities alcohol is peddled 24/7 on every marketing platform to date. Dichotomous & disingenuous argument.
    - NTripleOne 10y ago
      "hold my joint, I'm gonna go eat cheetos on the couch until I die"
      - at-fates-hands 10y ago
        Or go get in your car and get into an accident. Marijuana-related fatal car accidents surge in Washington state after legalization: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/may/10/marijuana-related-fatal-car-accidents-surge-washin/ http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/may/10/marijuana-re... You can go ahead and keep thinking weed is harmless, but many drugs have started out being promoted as "harmless" including heroin, which was promoted as a cough suppressant in the early 1900's. What about cigarettes? How much propaganda did you see touting them as "harmless" despite all the scientific research to the contrary? And what about the surge in cocaine use in the 1970's and 80's? People thought it was just a harmless drug people used on the weekends. While I do believe there are many positive uses for marijuana, thinking its harmless is just being naive.
        NTripleOne 10y ago
        Jeez dude, it was a joke - calm down. People are gonna make bad decisions regardless of drugs, it's not like you have a smoke and the first thought that crosses your mind is "DRIVE".
- draugadrotten 10y ago
  Have you considered that overdosing could lead to injury but not death.
  - codr4life 10y ago
    But it's practically impossible to overdose, you'll fall asleep before you get anywhere close. It's one of the least harmful substances in active use.
- tom_mellior 10y ago
  The "Committe Conclusions" (http://nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2017/Cannabis-Health-Effects/Cannabis-conclusions.pdf http://nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Report%20File...) puts it like this: There is moderate evidence of a statistical association between cannabis use and: • Increased risk of overdose injuries, including respiratory distress, among pediatric populations in U.S. states where cannabis is legal (9-4b) There is no or insufficient evidence to support or refute a statistical association between cannabis use and: [...] • Death due to cannabis overdose (9-4a) I guess the full report goes into more detail on "overdose injuries, including respiratory distress".
- dgacmu 10y ago
  tl;dr: Quite rare but non-zero instances of vomiting, respiratory distress, or coma, in some cases requiring intubation (which, if you've never had that done, is a pretty annoying intervention, and can cause airway injury), or mechanical ventilation. From the full report: "Accidental ingestion of cannabis by young children can result in respiratory failure and coma, as noted by several case reports (Amirav et al., 2011; Appelboam and Oades, 2006; Carstairs et al., 2011), and the consumption of cannabis edibles has been identified as a contributing factor in the accidental death of at least one adolescent (Hancock- Allen et al., 2015)." ... "among all calls to U.S. poison centers in involving single-substance exposures to cannabis, death was the outcome in two cases in 2012, no cases in 2013, and one case in 2014 (Mowry et al., 2013, 2014, 2015), although the reports do not indicate whether cannabis exposure was a contributing factor in these outcomes. Cannabis was not found to be the main cause of death in any of the fatal intoxications among drug addicts submitted for medico-legal autopsy and toxicological analysis in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, or Sweden in either 2007 or 2012 (Simonsen et al., 2011, 2015)." ... "In a study on unintentional pediatric cannabis exposure, Wang et al. (2016) described a case where hospital staff members were unable to resuscitate an unresponsive 11-month-old child who presented with tachycardia and metabolic acidosis and who tested positive for THC in a urine drug screen. The authors noted that any relationship between cannabis exposure and the patient’s symptoms or outcome was unclear. Although presented here for discussion, these case reports did not inform the committee’s conclusions on the association between cannabis use and overdose death. By comparison with the minimal literature on cannabis-related overdose death in adults or children, several studies reported on potentially serious symptoms associated with cannabis exposure in pediatric populations. Le Garrec et al. (2014) reported that, over a 3.5-year period, seven children aged 11–33 months were admitted to a pediatric intensive care unit in Paris with accidental cannabis poisoning. All of the children had central nervous system symptoms, including drowsiness and coma, and three were intubated and placed on mechanical ventilation for less than 24 hours. Between 2010 and 2013, an Arizona poison control center received 49 calls related to unintentional medical marijuana ingestions among children aged 7 and younger (Lovecchio and Heise, 2015). Among the 39 records with complete information, the most commonly reported symptoms were lethargy (48 percent of cases), an inability to walk (53 percent), coma (10 percent), and vomiting (21 percent)."
- kefka 10y ago
  I would say that's false. I would put it up around .5kG/1kG as a kinetic object about 4 meters above your head and dropped. It would likely kill 50% of the population it was dropped on :-D
rwmj 10y ago
The long term effects of alcohol on mental health are also not much fun: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-term_effects_of_alcohol_consumption#Mental_health_effects https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long-term_effects_of_alcohol_c...
- throwanem 10y ago
  I should think the same is true of many psychoactive substances, and effectively all drugs of abuse. Experience and observation tend to bear out this surmise. A more useful question might be why this is such a controversial point when it comes to cannabis, and cannabis alone.
  - streetsweeper 10y ago
    Perhaps the focus is politically motivated. For a large part of the 20th century masturbation was considered a cause of schizophrenia. It's worth noting how broadly defined and poorly understood the condition of schizophrenia is, and that the diagnosis is made purely upon subjective social behaviors, rather than objective scientific pathology. Diagnostic behaviors of schizophrenia include: lack of motivation, anxiety, and reduced social engagement. With such broadly defined symptoms, it could be argued that everyone who smokes a joint is a schizophrenic.
  - narag 10y ago
    Because it's a popular drug that's mostly harmless for most people in "normal" dosage and there has been a lot of disinformation spread by authorities. Now most cannabis consumers tend to see everything like a government conspiration, not believing even true adverse effects. Heavy use for enough time will get you in a mist of passivity and poor memory. Every experienced weed smoker would have told you so much, a few years ago. Now there's a resistance to concede even that.
    - givinguflac 10y ago
      Your last paragraph is conjecture based on hearsay, and I disagree. I know many consistent "users" and all are successful, hardworking people who are engaged in their lives. Is it nice to relax for a night and chill? Of course. But to say that it affects how a person acts throughout their life is just wrong. But, lazy/passive people will find any excuse that isn't personal responsibility, so I think your study is flawed at best.
jbrl 10y ago
"In individuals with schizophrenia and other psychoses, a history of cannabis use may be linked to better performance on learning and memory tasks." Well At least once you're crazy you can improve your learning!
- Neliquat 10y ago
  That makes me think the self-medication cause holds a bit more weight than I though for the spike in mental issues correlating to use.
- Nekorosu 10y ago
  There is substantial evidence of a statistical association between cannabis use and: • The development of schizophrenia or other psychoses, with the highest risk among the most frequent users (12-1) But it will also make you crazier. To sum it up, you'll become a smarter, crazier version of yourself.
  - SomeStupidPoint 10y ago
    That's assuming causation from correlation. It's possible at-risk people are self-medicating, and that's why the correlation exists. (Or any number of confounding factors, such as at-risk people being more likely to break social norms.)
    - Nekorosu 10y ago
      I could assume the opposite but it would spoil my joke.
MrFantastic 10y ago
If cannabis actually caused mental issues why isn't there a huge increase in these problems in CO, CA, WA and OR where it's freely available? The worst thing that can happen if you smoke cannabis is to get arrested and to never be able to get a good job or get a scholarship to school
- wcummings 10y ago
  >If cannabis actually caused mental issues why isn't there a huge increase in these problems in CO, CA, WA and OR where it's freely available? I'm not sure legalization has increased usage in those places, but if it has, it will take more than a few years to see the effects.
  - codr4life 10y ago
    It has been more than a couple of years in Holland, Portugal and other places. People seem to smoke less when it's legal. And we have enough experience by now to see through the silly propaganda when it comes to health risks. The war on cannabis is about profit and control; there are no health risks to speak of; on the contrary, it helps a lot of people live normal lives without poisoning themselves with stupid chemical cocktails.
    - hyperpape 10y ago
      Why should consumption decrease when the substance is legalized? The only real explanation I can think of off the top of my head is if certain types of legalization are really inconvenient (highly regulated sales and coffeehouses, vs. the black market). Prohibition reduced alcohol consumption in the 20s: http://patterico.com/2014/07/28/yes-prohibition-worked-in-terms-of-reducing-alcohol-consumption/ http://patterico.com/2014/07/28/yes-prohibition-worked-in-te.... (I am not asking this to support prohibition. I support legalization of marijuana).
      - shawabawa3 10y ago
        Legalization can increase prices (as illegally grown marijuana obviously has no tax, but may have inflated cost due to risk) It might also make it less cool. Teenages might be less likely to smoke if their parents/teachers/etc do (wild guess)
jobu 10y ago
> Cannabis use is likely to increase the risk of developing schizophrenia and other psychoses; the higher the use the greater the risk. Very scary! I wonder if age influences this. This is really weird though: > In individuals with schizophrenia and other psychoses, a history of cannabis use may be linked to better performance on learning and memory tasks. Especially given the Psychosocial conclusions that: > Recent cannabis use impairs the performance in cognitive domains of learning, memory, and attention. And > A limited number of studies suggest that there are impairments in cognitive domains of learning, memory, and attention in individuals who have stopped smoking cannabis.
OldSchoolJohnny 10y ago
Correlation does not imply causation.
OldSchoolJohnny 10y ago
There are no valid conclusions to be had there. I'm old enough to remember the "this is your brain on drugs" ad's from the 80's, these "studies" are all of a piece with that nonsense.

nautical 10y ago

Highlights PDF : http://nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Report%20Files/2017/Cannabis-Health-Effects/Cannabis-chapter-highlights.pdf http://nationalacademies.org/hmd/~/media/Files/Report%20File...

akiselev 10y ago

TLDR: conclusive research on Schedule I substances is practically impossible even when it's one of the most used drugs on the planet.

two2two 10y ago
"It is often difficult for researchers to gain access to the quantity, quality, and type of cannabis product necessary to address specific research questions on the health effects of cannabis use" Being unable to research the effects of specific strains and how cannabis is administered beyond oral or combustible methods limits our understanding of the true net effect in reality. Different methods for vaporizing and strains with low THC - high CBD would likely show very little evidence for negative effects on the user. However, consistent tobacco rolled cannabis cigars for a recreational user may show loads of evidence for negative effects on health. Like eating unhealthy vs eating healthy. Not all food is created equal, just like cannabis and its methods of use.
smsm42 10y ago
I have no idea how hard it is really but if it's true it is impossible, it is infuriating. People do research on substances that can kill a person with an invisible amount, blow up buildings, poison vast areas, all kinds of deadly things. But take a drug that any smart high-schooler can (and frequently does) access it - and it's impossible to research it! This is so infuriatingly insane.
- yomly 10y ago
  There are plenty of pharmaceutical drugs out in the wild that have known side-effects. Chemotherapy completely nukes a person's body but is legal because the harm it induces is deemed worth the problem it solves (cancer). Despite this, marijuana which is in easy circulation on the streets in dubious forms of dosage/strength, has such a political air over it that most countries still won't even look into the medical applications of it! As a scientist, the double standards are incredibly frustrating!
  - smsm42 10y ago

dekhn 10y ago

Speaking of alternative facts, this report basically demonstrates the the DEA and NIDA have been promoting "alternative facts" about marijuana and cannabinoids for some time (even self-contradicting themselves by paying UMiss to grow marijuana for glaucoma patients).

OldSchoolJohnny 10y ago

Please don't post this low grade garbage information here.

234dd57d2c8db 10y ago

I know this is anecdotal, but I know a guy who used to be a very close friend. Was always pretty straight-edged. Good guitar player. Started hanging out with some weed smokers, started smoking, then he developed some kind of psychosis from the weed and now is on seroqil or however you spell it. Totally ruined his life and he's just not even close to the same person he was. Weed plays with your mind and your mental state. I don't care if you use it, but please be careful. I have seen it ruin a very nice and good person's life. I won't touch the stuff after seeing that.

pmoriarty 10y ago

One of the most surprising findings in this report for me was: "There is moderate evidence of no statistical association between cannabis use and: • Incidence of lung cancer (cannabis smoking)" I thought it was pretty well established that inhaling any burning plant matter increased the chance of lung cancer. But I guess not. Not surprising was: "There is moderate evidence of a statistical association between cannabis use and: • The impairment in the cognitive domains of learning, memory, and attention (acute cannabis use)" and most worrisome was: "There is substantial evidence of a statistical association between cannabis use and: • The development of schizophrenia or other psychoses, with the highest risk among the most frequent users"