To think cannabis isn't harmless?

[freedom26]

Cannabis seems to be normalised and many people don't even consider it a drug. My brother-in-law is a psychiatrist and he says that he fears legalization in the UK as it would increase

In his 20 years of work, he says that the patients who only used, alcohol, or prescription drugs had a far better outcome for their mental health than those who smoked cannabis regularly (apart from the addiction) who regularly visited after suffering a psychotic break.

Cannabis is obviously far safer in terms of physical health than other drugs and not everyone gets the bad effects, but people seem to downplay the potential harm it can cause if you're predisposed to psychosis/schizophrenia.

If I think back my childhood, I went to a high achieving private school were many people I knew dabble in all sorts of drugs and it seemed that even among the excessive users, those who used cannabis and didn't develop psychosis still fared worse in terms of academic achievement than those dependent on alcohol who usually reduced their drinking as they age.

My understanding is that it can be harmless for some people but have devestating consequences for others.

The people who come here and say they and all their friends used it and had no problems fall into the first category.

Some of my extended family fall into the second.

A lot of people with poor MH self medicate with cannabis so it is difficult to separate correlation and cause. My main issue, having grown up in a country when it is widely used and legal, is that in the UK a LOT of young people are vaping Spice and other dangerous substances believing they are cannabis. Legalised would be controlled and taxed and so those wanting to use would know what they are doing. People will take drugs, they always have. We will not stop it. I think legalising them allows far better advice for users and is safer. Proper trials can also be carried out and the drugs effects better understood.

Nothing is harmless, but it does do less harm than many other substances that are currently legal.

Legalisation where you could buy it from a proper dispensary supplied by legitimate companies would allow people to know exactly what they are buying as well as have choice over the strength available (and know for sure that they get what they ask for). Many people would prefer to use a much lower strength mellower version but sellers go for potency as it's the best profit as smaller amounts are needed and higher prices can be charged. It would also reduce other harms done in the current supply chain and stop funding that goes towards other crimes

As it would no longer be illegal people who are struggling with their use would be able to engage with services more freely without fear of judgement and punishment. Often people struggling with it are told they need to quit before they can be offered help which puts them in a catch 22 situation.

Overall I do believe legalisation will lower the harm done by weed overall. It would also allow people who get genuine medical results from it to access it safely.

When I was in my 20's I had a boyfriend whose best friend had a psychotic break due to cannabis. He thought he was some kind of second coming and was suddenly very religious. I don't know what happened to him though as we didn't last long.

It's a fairly mild substance (in the way alcohol is also fairly mild) which can be harmful for people with some mental illnesses or who use it as a crutch to manage difficult life circumstances. By itself it's not particularly harmful, as it's not physically addictive, cannot cause serious illness or death and has fairly benign effects (people aren't likely to go and hurt themselves/start fights etc after smoking cannabis unlike alcohol).
Legalising doesn't increase use, that's a myth that has been dispelled by successful legalisation bills across the world. Cannabis is also legal already in the UK for medical use on prescription so it's acknowledged that it does have some benefits.
Anecdotally, it's used a huge amount by people with ADHD symptoms and seems to be beneficial to a degree. I would like to see more research into cannabis and ADHD and exploration of whether it's a viable alternative to pharmaceutical drugs.
As pp says above, it's used a lot by people with mental ill health and also limited life circumstances so it's simplistic/conflating correlation and causation to say it causes mental health problems.
Fundamentally if it were legalised it would likely lead to no increased use, it could have some benefits for people who can't currently access it on the NHS and would remove the criminal element involved in growing and importing it. It's a net positive.

It is so far from harmless. It is a noxious addictive substance that causes mental health issues and toxicity in otherwise normal people

I think the perception of it as harmless comes from the 60s and 70s when people were basically smoking oregano. What’s around today is much stronger and there’s a very clear link with psychosis. It is not safe or harmless.

I also had a boyfriend in my early 20s who had a psychotic episode after smoking a lot of weed. However after hospitalisation and treatment it turned out he had an existing mental illness that had been untreated for years and persisted after he stopped smoking weed, the weed just created a crisis. His mental illness wasn't caused by cannabis.

You're absolutely right. I have known at least three people have their lives turned upside down after just trying it. Some people find it helpful but it's quite the risk.

My parents are life long weed smokers. In the 70s they were smoking very pure hashish from Morocco. I'm not sure why you think cannabis was weak in the 60s and 70s, this isn't true at all.

I think its a well known fact? In a way, cannabis is similar to alcohol: some people can have a little, enjoy, and it doesn't affect them and their life. Others get dependent/ have health issues as a result - and, in case of cannabis, its mental health more than physical.

I've heard of people suffering psychotic episodes because of cannabis overuse.

Edited: on balance, I know people who smoke regularly and they are fine.

What??

My understanding is that it can be harmless for some people but have devestating consequences for others.

This is accurate - but then I guess that is true for alcohol.

I never really got why people are so into cannabis. Just makes me super sleepy. There are far better drug’s out there….

It's much stronger than it was in the 90s when I used it occasionally and I think more likely to cause MH issues.

My BIL has been badly affected and while you could say he was pre-disposed, when he doesn't take it, he is generally fine. But it took him years to work that out, he was using it to self-medicate and it was making things far worse

I use it for pain relief.
Albeit I'm a complete light weight, so I barely use much.

Never had any negative side effects, I think it goes without saying if you suffer with bad mental health not to take it.

It's a drug and depending on you, your genetics, sex, all drugs potentially can cause harm as well as good. Having seen the issues with three family members (I believe there is a genetic pre-disposition to harm with cannabis) and how it impacted on them, to the extent that two are no longer with us due to cannabis, I'd agree, it is definitely not harmless!

We have choice, medical cannabis helps many, but illegal drugs fuel harm along a very long chain, so the user could be fine, but what you fund is extremely damaging elsewhere in society. Legalisation? I don't think we should, as we can't even control the food industry, so how we'd control the drugs industry, given the money involved is debatable and I'd fear that the many would be put at harm to benefit the few again!

There is very little in life that is "harmless". Why pick out cannabis in particular? Your brother in laws opinion on harm ratios is not scientific evidence of anything. Whilst I am not advocating the use of cannabis, alcohol and even prescription drugs do immense harm - the latter especially when doled out ad infinitum as drugs for mental health issues often are. He is choosing to make a comment based on personal experience on a specific type of demographic. That isn't empirical research.

To be transparent, whilst I agree that in some people cannabis is problemmatic, I can see no justification for it to be illegal when alcohol, which is as problemmatic (possibly more so) isn't. I favour the legalisation of many illegal drugs, purely on the basis that there is not a shred of evidence to show that criminalising drug use has prevented drug use - it has simply handed a profitable business to criminals and fuels other crime related activity. There is something to be said about removing drug profits from the hands of criminals and applying them to support the services that have to deal with drug use (the country does very well out of the taxes raised from cigarettes, which are very harmful and yet legal). I wouldn't support a free for all market economy in drugs, but there are ways in which sale could be limited and supervised, quality monitored, and criminals pushed out of the equation.

It absolutely stinks so if it were ever legalised, it should be only for use in one's own home. And it's often smoked with tobacco which is definitely very harmful (and also smells disgusting)

It can trigger psychosis in those vulnerable to mental health issues. A dear friend lost her 18 year old son, he ended his life after smoking cannabis and becoming psychotic and suicidal.

It’s not cool and definitely not harmless. I brought my DC up to avoid like the plague.

Its much stronger/ dodgier nowadays because its often laced with chemicals; also there are new varieties available which are more potent than ordinary cannabis.

So the cannabis 'just' created a crisis, are you suggesting that's no big deal?

I'm not sure where this belief has come from. Most cannabis isn't laced with anything, and you can buy different strains just as you always could. It's not all super skunk.

Of course not, I lived it, it was awful. I'm just saying the cannabis didn't cause his mental illness.

I agree that the stink is so antisocial. If it is legalised, maybe the stink could be removed. I think flats would have to have a rule, either it's allowed in the building or it isn't (like pets) because the stink would be pervasive if one tenant uses it).

The person I know who used it fried his brain, he's basically a zombie.

There is some evidence that smoking cannabis causes lung cancer, though it’s not as strong as the links with tobacco. Isn’t weed normally mixed with tobacco to smoke it?