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Does Cannabis Use Cause Schizophrenia?


zeebudz

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Good overview of what we know to date in this NY Times Article. Takeaways:

Subject is "polarizing" among academics. Correlation doesn't imply causation. Genetics is critical

A couple of quotes:

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Can cannabis use cause psychosis?

Yes, but so can overuse of caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, stimulants and hallucinogens. Psychosis is a symptom: a temporary disorientation that resembles a waking dream, with odd, imagined sights and sounds, often accompanied by paranoia or an ominous sensation. The vast majority of people who have this kind of psychotic experience do not go on to develop a persistent condition such as schizophrenia, which is characterized by episodes of psychosis that recur for years, as well as cognitive problems and social withdrawal.

 

 

 

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Is it biologically plausible that cannabis could cause a psychotic disorder?

Yes. Brain scientists know very little about the underlying biology of psychotic conditions, other than that hundreds of common gene variants are likely involved. Schizophrenia, for instance, is not a uniform disorder but an umbrella term for an array of unexplained problems involving recurrent psychosis, and other common symptoms.

Even so, there is circumstantial evidence for a biological mechanism. Psychotic disorders tend to emerge in late adolescence or early adulthood, during or after a period of rapid brain development. In the teenage years, the brain strips away unneeded or redundant connections between brain cells, in a process called synaptic pruning. This editing is concentrated in the prefrontal cortex, the region behind the forehead where thinking and planning occur — and the region that is perturbed in psychotic conditions.

The region is rich with so-called CB1 receptors, which are involved in the pruning, and are engaged by cannabis use. And alterations to the pruning process may well increase schizophrenia risk, according to recent research at the Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard. In a 2016 analysis, scientists there found that people with the disorder often have a gene variant that appears to accelerate the pruning process.

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Can heavy use cause schizophrenia or other syndromes?

That is the big question, and so far the evidence is not strong enough to answer one way or the other. Even top scientists who specialize in marijuana research are divided, drawing opposite conclusions from the same data.

“I’ve been doing this research for 25 years, and it’s polarizing even among academics,” said Margaret Haney, a professor of neurobiology at Columbia University Medical Center. “This is what the marijuana field is like.”

The debate centers on the distinction between correlation and causation.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/17/health/cannabis-marijuana-schizophrenia.html

 

Edited by zeebudz
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I will testify as a long time cannabis patient and observer of countless other cannabis patients, for decades, that cannabis does not cause hallucinations all on it's own. It would take a separate chemical reaction to do this, which I have observed personally and with others. 

People could have pre conditions, along with drug interactions from bad drugs, that would interact with cannabis in an infinite variety of side effects, just like with any other substance. These pre conditions and side effects are impossible to isolate in all of the cannabis studies I have seen to date. Yet when one of these pre conditions or interactions is discovered it's taken advantage of to create a conclusion that was the reason for the study in the first place. In other words, you can find what you are looking for if you try hard enough and use tunnel vision. 

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For the spiritually aware, cannabis taken alone, or in group use can bring about enhanced visual and audial perception.
For instance, I have ability myself to create simple dream like imagery whilst awake, or even musical scores, others report to me they can hear and see them.
I can even hold a tic tac board image in mind and ask if another person would like to play, I add an X or O, and they can do this as well, it also works with music scores, or complex building scenarios, like a blueprint, or like what a computer aided design looks like.

My understanding as a young man is, we're either being dumbed down and misdiagnosed on purpose, or something less nefarious is at play. People are afraid of the possibility of the human mind advancing leaps and bounds, it very well may shift culture as we know it. It was psilocybin in small amounts as well as cannabis that brought me to these conclusions, both of which are psychedelics. 


I believe it amounts to practiced thoughts within the new degrees of perception psychedelics bring.
There are many individuals whom have reported such telepathic observations during ayahuasca sessions, the main ingredient being DMT, a more potent psychedelic than cannabis typically.
The original name proposed for DMT was telepathine.

Some pure sativas and even hybrids can have similar effects to psilocybin cubencis mushrooms.
Cannabis typically is perceived differently based on the perception of the user, though someone more well practiced can introduce another to these abilities.

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8 minutes ago, Panama Jack said:

For the spiritually aware, cannabis taken alone, or in group use can bring about enhanced visual and audial perception.
For instance, I have ability myself to create simple dream like imagery whilst awake, or even musical scores, others report to me they can hear and see them.
I can even hold a tic tac board image in mind and ask if another person would like to play, I add an X or O, and they can do this as well, it also works with music scores, or complex building scenarios, like a blueprint, or like what a computer aided design looks like.


My understanding as a young man is, we're either being dumbed down and misdiagnosed on purpose, or something less nefarious is at play. People are afraid of the possibility of the human mind advancing leaps and bounds, it very well may shift culture as we know it. It was psilocybin in small amounts as well as cannabis that brought me to these conclusions, both of which are psychedelics. 


I believe it amounts to practiced thoughts within the new degrees of perception psychedelics bring.
There are many individuals whom have reported such telepathic observations during ayahuasca sessions, the main ingredient being DMT, a more potent psychedelic than cannabis typically.
The original name proposed for DMT was telepathine.

Some pure sativas and even hybrids can have similar effects to psilocybin cubencis mushrooms.
Cannabis typically is perceived differently based on the perception of the user, though someone more well practiced can introduce another to these abilities.

Yes, these bolded statement are describing drug interactions that you don't see with cannabis alone. I have seen that LSD can change a mind forever. The personality that was there is gone and replaced with something else.

In my opinion, what stands in the way of our human minds advancing is that we must move forward as a species without anyone left behind. So the humans with the least advanced minds are what is holding us back. It's been like that every time we make a huge advancement as a species. Like when we started to be able to think about our own thoughts. The most advanced human minds can move forward at the same speed as the least advanced. No one will be left behind, we move forward as a species.  Read Cosmic Consciousness by Richard Maurice Bucke, M.D.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I have personally seen some individuals have irrational reactions after imbibing, but only from people that seemed to already have some kind of mental imbalance. Never from a seemingly healthy individual. If I've had a larger-than-normal dose, I will get a feeling of being on-edge and feel guilty about some unnamed thing. I like that sometimes though. Good way to get into your own head and self-assess. I can certainly see if someone has more of a polarity issue, or severe depression, you could get less good out of it than bad. One thing that is very interesting to me though is the 3rd eye feeling getting much more intense after using. My grandfather used to encourage me to get my 3rd eye stronger through concentrating on it as a single point in space. He would tell me it was a tool for us to find our way through the dark. When I use, I feel it turn on and feel like a "sweet pressure" behind my skull, right where the bridge of my nose connects to my forehead. Like a water bladder inflating between my skull and brain. I can feel things in front of me when my eyes are closed by this strange pressure increasing. It's almost like a magnetic field becoming more concentrated as an object gets closer to me. I'd have a hard time calling it psychosis though. More like an enhanced sensory perception.

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3 hours ago, naturalizm said:

I have personally seen some individuals have irrational reactions after imbibing, but only from people that seemed to already have some kind of mental imbalance. Never from a seemingly healthy individual. If I've had a larger-than-normal dose, I will get a feeling of being on-edge and feel guilty about some unnamed thing. I like that sometimes though. Good way to get into your own head and self-assess. I can certainly see if someone has more of a polarity issue, or severe depression, you could get less good out of it than bad. One thing that is very interesting to me though is the 3rd eye feeling getting much more intense after using. My grandfather used to encourage me to get my 3rd eye stronger through concentrating on it as a single point in space. He would tell me it was a tool for us to find our way through the dark. When I use, I feel it turn on and feel like a "sweet pressure" behind my skull, right where the bridge of my nose connects to my forehead. Like a water bladder inflating between my skull and brain. I can feel things in front of me when my eyes are closed by this strange pressure increasing. It's almost like a magnetic field becoming more concentrated as an object gets closer to me. I'd have a hard time calling it psychosis though. More like an enhanced sensory perception.

ommmmm  Find your frequency. You will know what is going to happen a few seconds ahead of time. Quite the advantage. Hard to explain or even understand. Some people explain it away like it's nothing. Like when two people say EXACTLY the same thing at the same time. Or you think something and then you see it on TV a few seconds later. Or you know the phone is going to ring and then it does. I turned on a sound machine that I used to help me sleep. Ocean sounds. The next morning I realized it was not plugged in. I had removed the extension cord the day before. I saw an episode of Mysteries At The Museum and a guy could use his chess machine without turning it on. They thought it was ghosts doing it! I know from my experience that the guy playing chess is the one who powered the machine that wasn't plugged in. Lots of stuff like that in my life. I get a pressure around the top of my head like I'm wearing a headband. Wondered why they call a strain I grow headband. Then I figured it out. 

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8 minutes ago, Restorium2 said:

ommmmm  Find your frequency. You will know what is going to happen a few seconds ahead of time. Quite the advantage. Hard to explain or even understand. Some people explain it away like it's nothing. Like when two people say EXACTLY the same thing at the same time. Or you think something and then you see it on TV a few seconds later. Or you know the phone is going to ring and then it does. I turned on a sound machine that I used to help me sleep. Ocean sounds. The next morning I realized it was not plugged in. I had removed the extension cord the day before. I saw an episode of Mysteries At The Museum and a guy could use his chess machine without turning it on. They thought it was ghosts doing it! I know from my experience that the guy playing chess is the one who powered the machine that wasn't plugged in. Lots of stuff like that in my life. I get a pressure around the top of my head like I'm wearing a headband. Wondered why they call a strain I grow headband. Then I figured it out. 

Yes, the phone and getting a thought of a certain person and then seeing them has happened more than a few times to me. Don't know much of anything about finding frequency though. I'll have to see what exercises are used and how you know you've hit it. The most common one is my wife and I thinking about each other, then we hear one another, as if we'd said something. The interesting thing with that one is we do hear each other's voices when it happens. We also used to play with the 3rd eye and see if we could move a small paper clip looped over a coat hanger. Basically causing as little friction as possible with the lightest thing we could find. We'd have little tugs-of-war, and see who would win. We would see it move slightly and pull in either direction, then slack when we'd "let go" per say. Nothing huge, just enough to make a little something happen and know it's real. Not super practical in any sense, but fun to see:)

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1 hour ago, naturalizm said:

... We also used to play with the 3rd eye and see if we could move a small paper clip looped over a coat hanger. Basically causing as little friction as possible with the lightest thing we could find. We'd have little tugs-of-war, and see who would win. We would see it move slightly and pull in either direction, then slack when we'd "let go" per say. Nothing huge, just enough to make a little something happen and know it's real. Not super practical in any sense, but fun to see:)

Too bad that the James Randi paranormal challenge was officially terminated in 2015 since you have could claimed the million bucks.

But not to worry, the Australian Skeptics are offering $100K. If you want to enter, here you go: https://www.skeptics.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Aust-Skeptics-100k-Challenge.pdf

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An energetic practice with cannabis involves focusing on the "buzz", you can increase and decrease the waveform and also move it around your body.
And a way of gathering energy in the pineal gland is continuously flexing the inner ear muscles, most people know the low rumbling sound one has in their head when they are yawning, learn how to produce this and continuously to produce an endogenous high.

I once caused a necklace to leap from my chest while practicing these methods whilst lying down.
With simple thought I can quickly force much energy down to my toes than back up to my crown.

This is the same sort of energy that keeps our hearts beating and physical body performing, but it's not all confined to the body.

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1 hour ago, zeebudz said:

Too bad that the James Randi paranormal challenge was officially terminated in 2015 since you have could claimed the million bucks.

But not to worry, the Australian Skeptics are offering $100K. If you want to enter, here you go: https://www.skeptics.com.au/wp-content/uploads/Aust-Skeptics-100k-Challenge.pdf

lol, that would be crazy to win that much for something so small. Seems like anyone could do it if they tried.

Checked it out, and only counts for Australian residents I guess.

Also, def wouldn't want anyone to know who I am. Would be terrible getting that much attention.

Edited by naturalizm
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16 minutes ago, Panama Jack said:

An energetic practice with cannabis involves focusing on the "buzz", you can increase and decrease the waveform and also move it around your body.
And a way of gathering energy in the pineal gland is continuously flexing the inner ear muscles, most people know the low rumbling sound one has in their head when they are yawning, learn how to produce this and continuously to produce an endogenous high.

I once caused a necklace to leap from my chest while practicing these methods whilst lying down.
With simple thought I can quickly force much energy down to my toes than back up to my crown.

This is the same sort of energy that keeps our hearts beating and physical body performing, but it's not all confined to the body.

That's very interesting. Always wondered what was happening when you get the rumble from yawning.

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4 hours ago, naturalizm said:

lol, that would be crazy to win that much for something so small. Seems like anyone could do it if they tried.

Checked it out, and only counts for Australian residents I guess.

Also, def wouldn't want anyone to know who I am. Would be terrible getting that much attention.

"Seems like anyone could do it if they tried."

So why is it that NO ONE can demonstrate telekinesis (as you are claiming) under controlled conditions?

In any event, here is something in the USA:

http://www.iighq.org/index.php/9-challenge/7-the-iig-100-000-paranormal-challenge

The IIG is an international network of trained investigators who will not only look into paranormal, fringe science, and extraordinary claims in their own regions, but also administer the IIG $100,000 Challenge. The IIG conducts all demonstrations and tests at our site in Hollywood, California or at one of our affiliates, except in special circumstances.

If your excuse is that you wouldn't want anyone to know who you are (but why not, if "anyone" could do it?) you could request anonymity.

If you succeed, I guarantee that there would be A LOT more than 100K coming your way. You'd make millions.

 

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45 minutes ago, zeebudz said:

"Seems like anyone could do it if they tried."

So why is it that NO ONE can demonstrate telekinesis (as you are claiming) under controlled conditions?

In any event, here is something in the USA:

http://www.iighq.org/index.php/9-challenge/7-the-iig-100-000-paranormal-challenge

The IIG is an international network of trained investigators who will not only look into paranormal, fringe science, and extraordinary claims in their own regions, but also administer the IIG $100,000 Challenge. The IIG conducts all demonstrations and tests at our site in Hollywood, California or at one of our affiliates, except in special circumstances.

If your excuse is that you wouldn't want anyone to know who you are (but why not, if "anyone" could do it?) you could request anonymity.

If you succeed, I guarantee that there would be A LOT more than 100K coming your way. You'd make millions.

 

Man, not sure how to deal with someone coming at me like this.

Thanks for looking all of that up for me though, I appreciate it!

Either way, you should totally think something like this is BS. To me, just about everything is BS until I see it happen in front of me.

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11 hours ago, zeebudz said:

"Seems like anyone could do it if they tried."

So why is it that NO ONE can demonstrate telekinesis (as you are claiming) under controlled conditions? 

In any event, here is something in the USA:

http://www.iighq.org/index.php/9-challenge/7-the-iig-100-000-paranormal-challenge

The IIG is an international network of trained investigators who will not only look into paranormal, fringe science, and extraordinary claims in their own regions, but also administer the IIG $100,000 Challenge. The IIG conducts all demonstrations and tests at our site in Hollywood, California or at one of our affiliates, except in special circumstances.

If your excuse is that you wouldn't want anyone to know who you are (but why not, if "anyone" could do it?) you could request anonymity.

If you succeed, I guarantee that there would be A LOT more than 100K coming your way. You'd make millions.

 

Great question. Wish I knew the answer. It just happens. I can't make it happen. When it does happen there is no effort involved. That guy who made his chess machine come on without it plugged is documented. He did it over and over. I only turned on the sound machine once. 

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  • 3 months later...

According to 10 research studies that have examined the long term association between cannabis and psychotic disorders.  None of the studies were perfect and all of them looked at the question a little bit differently, which is one reason why it is so easy for people on either side of the issue to cherry pick studies that support one’s prior opinions. Seven of the 10 studies found a statistically significant link between cannabis use and later psychotic symptoms and disorders.  Putting all 10 studies together, a 40% increase risk of psychosis was found comparing people who had used cannabis to people who have never used it.  These odds tend to increase in studies that examine people who use cannabis more heavily.

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40 minutes ago, Online Medical Card said:

According to 10 research studies that have examined the long term association between cannabis and psychotic disorders.  None of the studies were perfect and all of them looked at the question a little bit differently, which is one reason why it is so easy for people on either side of the issue to cherry pick studies that support one’s prior opinions. Seven of the 10 studies found a statistically significant link between cannabis use and later psychotic symptoms and disorders.  Putting all 10 studies together, a 40% increase risk of psychosis was found comparing people who had used cannabis to people who have never used it.  These odds tend to increase in studies that examine people who use cannabis more heavily.

I bet it's getting harder and harder to find people who have never used cannabis. 

If someone wants on to one of these studies, get paid, they are going to have to lie about their cannabis use. 

Which makes me think about someone famous who once said they smoked cannabis but didn't inhale. An obvious lie.

I don't think people are truthful enough about their use for a study like this to work. Whole lot of deception going on for various reasons. People telling others what they think they want to hear.

From my own observations over the decades, cannabis users are a more stable group as a whole as compared to those who drink alcohol more than an occasional drink. 

In other words you see a lot more freaky drinkers than smokers. Whole lot of freaky people out there. Trying to pin it on cannabis is a fools errand and smells like 'agenda'.

 

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10 hours ago, Restorium2 said:

I bet it's getting harder and harder to find people who have never used cannabis. 

If someone wants on to one of these studies, get paid, they are going to have to lie about their cannabis use. 

Which makes me think about someone famous who once said they smoked cannabis but didn't inhale. An obvious lie.

I don't think people are truthful enough about their use for a study like this to work. Whole lot of deception going on for various reasons. People telling others what they think they want to hear.

From my own observations over the decades, cannabis users are a more stable group as a whole as compared to those who drink alcohol more than an occasional drink. 

In other words you see a lot more freaky drinkers than smokers. Whole lot of freaky people out there. Trying to pin it on cannabis is a fools errand and smells like 'agenda'.

 

 

Health studies that rely on self-reporting are generally the most unreliable.

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  • 6 months later...

Studies have found that when you’re high on marijuana, you can have psychotic symptoms. The effect goes away as the high wears off. If you already have schizophrenia and use the drug, your symptoms may get worse. Researchers also have found that if you carry certain types of specific genes that affect brain chemistry, marijuana use can raise the chance you’ll have schizophrenia.

 

 

 

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  • 10 months later...
On 12/26/2019 at 2:12 PM, ScarletSmith said:

Studies have found that when you’re high on marijuana, you can have psychotic symptoms. The effect goes away as the high wears off. If you already have schizophrenia and use the drug, your symptoms may get worse. Researchers also have found that if you carry certain types of specific genes that affect brain chemistry, marijuana use can raise the chance you’ll have schizophrenia.

 

 

 

I completely agree. Schizophrenia in itself reminds me of the effect of marijuana, a kind of distance from everything and immersion in your own world, where all feelings are sharpened. If you add more marijuana, the result can be shocking

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1 hour ago, AlexNillson88 said:

I completely agree. Schizophrenia in itself reminds me of the effect of marijuana, a kind of distance from everything and immersion in your own world, where all feelings are sharpened. If you add more marijuana, the result can be shocking

That's exactly why everyone needs to carefully select the strain they use, the choices and the effects they create are almost infinite.

From a lifetime of observation of cannabis use among many individuals, dosage makes a big difference on these pseudo schizophrenia symptoms. Back off on the dosage if you feel anti social. 

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  • 3 months later...

I don't think so, but of course, it depends on what products you use and for how long you use cannabis I was always against marijuana and I would always tell all my close ones that marijuana products are hell. However, a few months ago, I started feeling unbearable knee pain. I couldn't even walk, but gathered all my self-motivation and went to the doctor. He saw me and said I should try CBD. First, I was afraid to do that, but the pain was unbearable, so I decided to follow his recommendation. To my surprise, it helped me and in only three days, I had no pain at all. Now, I don't use CBD anymore, but sometimes I take THC edibles on the same online store which is https://www.justcannabis.shop/product-category/buy-edibles-online/. My doctor recommended this online store.

Edited by VictorLewis
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  • 2 months later...

There is a high association between cannabis and the onset of schizophrenia. A person with a risk of psychosis (not yet schizophrenia) risk factors include genetics and abuse, who use weed are at risk for first psychosis which can lead to schizophrenia (it might not be immediate , it might even take 2-3 years before the damage starts. At risk mostly the age group 15-24 years old ) . In short don’t do drugs. Source : rotation in psychiatry.

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