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   From: froid@sane.org   
      
   Newman  wrote in news:shi724$kri$1@dont-email.me:   
      
   > Pot smokers are faggots.   
      
   Over the last decade of diagnosing countless young patients with new   
   psychotic disorders, one striking result has stuck out for New York City   
   psychiatrist Dr. Ryan Sultan.   
      
   “Of all the people I’ve diagnosed with a psychotic disorder,” he said, “I   
   can’t think of a single one who wasn’t also positive for cannabis.”   
      
   Sultan, an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia Irving   
   Medical Center, is one of many experts raising serious concerns about the   
   increasing marijuana use by adolescents and young adults.   
      
   And the evidence is growing of marijuana’s association with psychiatric   
   disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia,   
   especially in young men.   
      
   New research published this month, involving millions of people worldwide   
   over decades, is adding to worries that heavy use of high-potency cannabis   
   and legalization of recreational weed in many U.S. states could exacerbate   
   the nation's mental health crisis in young adults.   
      
   “There is a big sense of urgency not just because more people are smoking   
   marijuana, but because more people are using it in ways that are harmful,   
   with higher and higher concentration of THC,” Dr. Nora Volkow, director of   
   the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), said in an interview.   
      
   One of the studies, from researchers in Denmark in collaboration with the   
   U.S. National Institutes of Health, found evidence of an association   
   between cannabis use disorder and schizophrenia. The finding was most   
   striking in young men ages 21-30, but was also seen in women of the same   
   age.   
      
   The paper, published in the journal Psychological Medicine, looked at data   
   from almost 7 million men and women in Denmark over the course of a few   
   decades to look for a link between schizophrenia and cannabis use   
   disorder.   
      
   High-potency marijuana products pose new risks to teenagers   
   APRIL 28, 202202:33   
      
   The magnitude of the connection between cannabis and schizophrenia for   
   young men surprised study author Volkow, who was expecting the number to   
   be closer to 10%.   
      
   “This is worrisome,” she said.   
      
   There are now 22 states that allow recreational use of marijuana, with   
   Minnesota likely to become the next state to legalize it.   
      
   Whether recreational cannabis laws contribute to underage consumption is   
   unclear, but Volkow has made addressing cannabis use among teenagers one   
   of NIDA’s top priorities. Daily marijuana use among young adults has risen   
   to record highs, with more than 1 in 10 of young adults ages 19-30 now   
   reporting daily use, and almost half reporting use within the last year,   
   according to the agency's most recent data.   
      
   Another study, led by Sultan and Columbia researchers published earlier   
   this month, found that teenagers who use cannabis only recreationally are   
   two to four times more likely to develop psychiatric disorders, including   
   depression and suicidality, than teenagers who don’t use cannabis at all.   
      
   Because research to date has been observational and doesn’t directly prove   
   cause and effect, the connection between marijuana and psychiatric   
   disorders is controversial. It’s unclear whether people who already have   
   or are developing psychiatric conditions are more likely to turn to   
   cannabis as a way to self-medicate or whether cannabis use triggers mental   
   problems.   
      
   Volkow is optimistic that a large ongoing study on adolescent brain   
   development at the National Institutes of Health can help answer this   
   question.   
      
   Sultan acknowledged the limitations of the evidence. “It’s sort of this   
   circular feedback where they’re kind of just feeding off each other,” he   
   said.   
      
   Dr. Deepak D’Souza, a psychiatrist at Yale University who has been   
   studying cannabis for 20 years, insists there are too many lines of   
   evidence to ignore.   
      
   “We may be grossly underestimating the potential risks associated with   
   cannabis,” he said.   
      
   Given increasing legalization and rising potency in cannabis products,   
   D’Souza has never been more worried about the mental health effects of   
   cannabis use among youth.   
      
   “This is a massive concern,” he said. “We have been woefully inept in   
   educating the public and influencing policy.”   
      
   Is legalization affecting rates of marijuana use?   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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