[Purple]

Doctors: Pot triggers psychotic symptoms
By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer Tue May 1, 6:23 AM ET
LONDON - New findings on marijuana's damaging effect on the brain show the drug triggers temporary psychotic symptoms in some people, including hallucinations and paranoid delusions, doctors say.
British doctors took brain scans of 15 healthy volunteers given small doses of two of the active ingredients of cannabis, as well as a placebo.
One compound, cannabidiol, or CBD, made people more relaxed. But even small doses of another component, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, produced temporary psychotic symptoms in people, including hallucinations and paranoid delusions, doctors said.
The results, to be presented at an international mental health conference in London on Tuesday and Wednesday, provides physical evidence of the drug's damaging influence on the human brain.
"We've long suspected that cannabis is linked to psychoses, but we have never before had scans to show how the mechanism works," said Dr. Philip McGuire, a professor of psychiatry at King's College, London.
In analyzing MRI scans of the study's subjects, McGuire and his colleagues found that THC interfered with activity in the inferior frontal cortex, a region of the brain associated with paranoia.
"THC is switching off that regulator," McGuire said, effectively unleashing the paranoia usually kept under control by the frontal cortex.
In another study being presented at the conference, a two-day gathering of mental health experts discussing the connections between cannabis and mental health, scientists found that marijuana worsens psychotic symptoms of schizophrenics.
Doctors at Yale University in the U.S. tested the impact of THC on 150 healthy volunteers and 13 people with stable schizophrenia. Nearly half of the healthy subjects experienced psychotic symptoms when given the drug.
While the doctors expected to see marijuana improve the conditions of their schizophrenic subjects — since their patients reported that the drug calmed them — they found that the reverse was true.
"I was surprised by the results," said Dr. Deepak Cyril D'Souza, an associate professor of psychiatry at Yale University's School of Medicine. "In practice, we found that cannabis is very bad for people with schizophrenia," he said.
While D'Souza had intended to study marijuana's impact on schizophrenics in more patients, the study was stopped prematurely because the impact was so pronounced that it would have been unethical to test it on more people with schizophrenia.
"One of the great puzzles is why people with schizophrenia keep taking the stuff when it makes the paranoia worse," said Dr. Robin Murray, a professor of psychiatry at King's College.
Experts theorized that schizophrenics may mistakenly judge the drug's pleasurable effects to outweigh any negatives.
Understanding how marijuana affects the brain may ultimately lead experts to a better understanding of mental health in general.
"We don't know the basis of paranoia or anxiety," said McGuire.
"It is possible that we could use cannabis in controlled studies to understand psychoses better," he said. McGuire theorized that could one day lead to specific drugs targeting the responsible regions of the brain.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070501/..._mental_health

[Suki]

...i'm schizophrenic, and so aren't i.....


interesting read.

[Cheeky]

In the 35 years I have been faithfully smoking the ganja I have NEVER EVER had a hallucination, I want some of what they been smoking.

[Purple]

Originally Posted by Cheeky ... I have NEVER EVER had a hallucination, I want some of what they been smoking.

Me either. Never, not once.

[Chiapit]

Ahhh...these people they tested already had problems...this is silly to me. First of all I think marijuana has a definate place for medical reasons, its proven that those with cancer going through chemo have a better appetite and do better with medicinal smoking...

And then of course no one ever gets stoned and thinks they can kick everyones ass like they do when they are drinking...its then that you know you are stupid...and a little hungry...

[Judy]

mmmm Doritos

[Marty]

If they ever need a Guinea-pig I'll be one

[DryCreek]

I've never suffered from paranoia nor had hallucinations from smoking the green. In fact, it's the ONLY drug that controls my seizures 100%.

Granted, not all people are wired properly for doing drugs of any kind.

I'd be interested in finding out what their view of a small dose of straight up THC is. Is it the equivalent of 1 joint or 20? And why would they expect straight up THC to have the same effect that the combo of THC and CBD does? Removing the regulatory calming effect of the CBD sets the whole experiment up for failure.

THC may have a link to psychoses, but the combo of THC and CBD, which is what you smoke when you green up, does not.

Just another sub factual article pushing the anti pot agenda.

[MercedesMama]

I havent smoked in a while, but I never had any problems, except for running out of money for munchies!

[chinasmom]

Just made me want to kick back and chill.

[Michele]

so that explains why I've been acting this way....

[Alan]

Originally Posted by chinasmom Just made me want to kick back and chill.

ME TOO! I havent done that for prolly 25 years and even then I was never big into it. I never at any time owned any. I jdid share with friends on many occassions over the course of a few years. It made me not want to do anything but sit and be lazy. I used to install car stereos. Back then I could wire one in minutes. I spent all day doing my uncles one day when he insisted we get stoned first. I still had the left and right speaker mixed up. It just flat out made me stupid and lazy.

[buddysmom]

This study was flawed in a few ways, mostly IMO because it used isolated components and as with anything natural you don't get the real effect that way. For example eating carrots is WAY better for you than taking beta carotene pills. There's just so much more going on in the natural chemistry.

I am more in the "used to" club. Sometimes something REALLY good would give me "kinda" hallucinations (swirly colors). Now it makes me hyper, so i only do it rarely like if i plan on cleaning my house celing to floor for the next few hours, or just before a 6 mile hike, it's perfect!

I don't think pot's completely harmless but I do think it's in general much safer than the big 2 legal drugs, alcohol and cigarettes.

[purplebaby]

i smoked it some "back in the day" until i had an episode of really bad paranoia. that was it for me. too afraid to repeat that...
i now have students that have reported both side effects. we figured it might be laced with some thing but now i have to wonder.

[Wiggle_Butt]

I'm not as think as you stoned I am.

[Debbie]

That is such B.S..........
I smoked for 20 + years and I've done a variety of other things as well (socially not addicted) ...and I don't suffer any kind of lasting effects from any of it.......do I ?

[fearlessknight]

LMAO......ya, what a joke! I have a hard time believing that!

PURPLEBABY:
I love your sig!

[Zoe]

What?! Can you pass those chips?

Man it's not true! I'm tellin' you it's not! Who is that? Seriously.....really man.......it's not ture. Oh man!!!!! Who is that? Gotta go..........gotta go now! Towelie wants to talk to me! Oh man who is that?

[mandreweav]

I dont smoke anymore but if i did i would be parenoid as hell and my anxiety would be through the roof. I used to smoke all day long for years and never had any problems. then i had to quit for a little while due to drug testing from the court and then i smoked again and got parenoid as hell