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Originally Posted by Reaper
Corelation does not equal causation.
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Yeah - because they thought they'd waste years of research studies, millions of dollars of grants, hospital hours, nurse and patient hours and Dr.'s time when they could have gotten that little tidbit from you. If only everyone involved in all these studies had come to you first for that little gem!
http://www.cbc.ca/player/Shows/Shows...ID/1398511775/
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Marijuana cannot cause mental illness on its own. It is one of a number of risk factors, which include: 1) a family history of mental illness, 2) a "psychosis-prone" personality, 3) a history of childhood trauma, 4) where you live, since urban dwellers have a higher rate of schizophrenia.
Scientists liken a teen's brain to his or her messy bedroom. It's a tangled jumble of circuits and it needs to go through a streamlining process to work more efficiently - a process called 'neural pruning'. Scientists believe any substance, like marijuana, that interferes with that untangling of the brain can produce long-lasting and potentially devastating psychological effects.
Dr. Jim Van O's research shows that, "If you use marijuana regularly, your chances of becoming schizophrenic are twice as great as someone who does not smoke marijuana. If you use marijuana before the age of 16, you are four times as likely to become schizophrenic."
One question facing researchers is the 'chicken & egg' scenario: is it possible that marijuana use could be an attempt to ease the earliest or 'prodromal' symptoms of mental illness? The weight of evidence suggests that marijuana use precedes the illness, but selfmedication for pre-existing mental instability is part of the research considerations.
What if there was a simple genetic test that could tell us exactly which kids are at risk for marijuana-induced psychosis? There may be one soon. A gene called COMT, discovered in 2002, regulates dopamine levels. There are two variants of COMT, and your susceptibility to marijuana-induced psychosis depends on which combination of variants you have.
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