[quote]Headhunter wrote:
Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) РYoung adults who used marijuana as teens were more likely than those who didn̢??t to develop schizophrenia and psychotic symptoms including hallucinations and delusions, an Australian study found.
Those who used the drug for six or more years were twice as likely to develop a psychosis such as schizophrenia or to have delusional disorders than those who never used marijuana, according to research released online by the Archives of General Psychiatry. They were also four times as likely to score high on a list of psychotic-like experiences.
The findings build on previous research and shows that marijuana use isnâ??t as harmless as some people think, lead study author John McGrath said yesterday in an e-mail. The study was the first to look at sibling pairs to discount genetic or environmental influence and still find marijuana linked to later psychosis, the authors said in the study.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601124&sid=aaEUcOXHDhsg
And no, I don’t do weed. 
[/quote]
I’ve heard dementia is quite funnnn.
“The nature of the relationship between psychosis and cannabis use is by no means simple. In keeping with previous findings,33 we confirmed that those with early-onset hallucinations were more likely to have longer duration since first cannabis use and to use cannabis more frequently at the 21-year follow-up. This demonstrates the complexity of the relationship: those individuals who were vulnerable to psychosis (ie, those who had isolated psychotic symptoms) were more likely to commence cannabis use, which could then subsequently contribute to an increased risk of conversion to a nonaffective psychotic disorder. In addition, analyses that incorporated adjustments for depressive and anxiety-related disorders led to a reduction in the strength of the association between cannabis use and psychosis-related outcomes. This suggests that depression and/or anxiety disorders may mediate or moderate the pathways between cannabis use and psychosis-related outcomes. We plan to further explore these issues in more detail in future studies.”
Quite interesting, although I wish they had separated it by amount consumed and total length of time since first use. Because frequency of smoking could change, and did over time, the text noted. Is it the early starting age that causes this, the total length of time during brain development, the frequency at different ages, some complex coordination between these factors?
Also, it would be interesting to note if the effects are reversible. I’ve wondered about marijuana’s link with certain forms of psychosis because of its effect on dopamine levels, long term neurotransmitter imbalances in the brain, especially at a young age when the brain is still developing could affect long-term dopamine production. But did their brain start actually producing permanently less, or are the dopamine receptors just desensitized?
At any rate, all this really tells is is common sense, if you abuse drugs often and at a young age, you will change your body, mostly negatively. Interesting article, especially to me as I regularly partake of the ganja.
