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.

When regulated by a licensed doctor it can be medicinal.

I think it's very much like alcohol. It depends on the person using it. Where most of us will be fine those who have a predisposition to MH issues and addiction can't handle it.

I do think it should be legalised and taxed. It is so easy to get hold of, it being illegal isn't protecting anyone.

I'm sorry about your father but not sure what point you're trying to make

I'm in favour of legalisation of cannabis so it could be controlled and taxed. Although it isn't harmless, I believe it's less harmful than alcohol, when you take into account social as well as health impact (e.g. fights, injuries and resulting hospitalisation). I did used to smoke it quite frequently before children, but outgrew it because it made me too inward looking and insular. I personally have witnessed far greater devastation of all aspects of life through alcoholism than cannabis dependency. It's the newer drugs that scare the shit out of me where my children's futures are concerned - including new cannabis variants laced with other substances. Legalise, tax, control.

A lot of people with poor MH self medicate with cannabis so it is difficult to separate correlation and cause

This.

I’ve seen cannabis ruin at least 2 people’s lives. One of them was already struggling with their mental health because they lost their dad to suicide. He used cannabis as a coping mechanism but it made his mental health worsen a lot to the point he was regularly attempting to take his own life. He was very vulnerable and fell into the wrong crowd and got into serious trouble with the police for reasons I won’t go into on this post. I don’t know what happened to him. The other was to begin with, a young man with a bright future ahead of him. He came from a comfortable middle class background, his dad was a head teacher from one of the local schools, came from a loving family. He then struck up a friendship with another boy in our school (late teens at the time) and this other boy got him into cannabis and it’s what he spent most of his spare time doing. He went from being a bright kid with his whole future ahead of him to a doped up stone head, away with the fairies every time I saw him. It was so sad to see. I’ve tried looking him up years later to see what happened to hi. But can’t find anything.

I always feel so frustrated when I hear people claiming cannabis is harmless. It is not and often leads onto much worse things.

Heavy alcohol use also wrecks memory and cognitive function. Heavy use of any mind altering substance will do this.

The question isn’t “Is cannabis harm-free?” Of course it’s not. The question is whether the harm is enough, proportional to other legally available drugs, to ban it.

The risks of many Class A drugs (opioids and cocaine being the obvious examples) are clear and completely offset any notional benefits they offer. There is no legal justification for legalising these drugs.

Cannabis is a much more complicated picture. There are certainly risks but there are also enough benefits that the justification is far less clear.

I completely agree. Almost every time I go out to a town, I can smell it somewhere. SOMEone is nearly always smoking it. It's fucking everywhere! Even in my village I smell it now and again. Two of my neighbours (both single mums) smoke it. 4 doors down on the same side as me, and 5 doors down opposite. Both in charge of toddlers too. Call me judgy (I don't care) but there's something unsavoury and grim about smoking weed when you have a small child. It fucking stinks vile too. Yet they can't smell it themselves! They are sometimes drunk too - as well as stoned!

It's also a myth that cannabis is legal. It's not. Not even for 'personal use.' If I reported these 2 women, they would possibly get arrested, and maybe even get the child taken away. Don't think I'm not tempted, especially as the two women constantly have different men in (a new bloke every few months.) That, combined with cannabis use and getting pissed (whilst they have a toddler in their care,) throws out some red flags! (Both women have one child - one is 2, and one is 3.)

I am stunned countries like Canada legalised it and worry about the impact. People with mh conditions use it as a crutch despite evidence suggesting it’ll make mh worse in long term. I really cannot get my head around legalising it.

How many addicts who solely used cannabis did you see in this drop in? I don't believe it was many. Drop in centres for addicts tend to see alcohol and street drugs like heroin and crack, not cannabis. Those addicts will use cannabis to manage symptoms of withdrawal or excess of their chosen substance but there are very few people who would go to a drop in centre and solely be using cannabis!

Who said cannabis is legal, other than on prescription? I can promise you that if you reported your neighbours they would neither get arrested nor have their children removed 😆

The message here seems to be that it’s really not good for people with ADHD.

https://www.additudemag.com/cannabis-use-disorder-marijuana-adhd/amp/

It can be very harmful. I’d be extremely upset if my dc went down this road.

There’s a lot of factors which make it hard to compare alcohol and cannabis, the fact cannabis is illegal being a big one. If you smoke cannabis you need to find and engage with a dealer, you need to pick up or get it dropped off, you need to accept the risk of criminal repercussions, there are also potential social repercussions from being judged by those who wouldn’t ever touch drugs. I don’t smoke weed, although I did regularly when younger, because I have a professional career requiring a dbs and I just don’t want to risk being caught with drugs. I know the risk is low as it’s unlikely police would care about a bit of weed but I don’t want to find a dealer and arrange to either go and pick up somewhere or give them my address to drop off and wouldn’t want them to have my number, I just don’t want that in my life. If it was legal maybe I would buy it from time to time. But my point is that in order to regularly smoke weed you kind of have to accept that you’re going to do something illegal and be involved with dodgy people to obtain it, this probably means that there are more people who are disengaged with society and likely disadvantaged and disenfranchised who are regularly smoking weed. That might be a factor into why more people also have mental health issues or issues with addiction etc.

I agree, take it away from the gangs and regulate the quality. The police have a roadside test now to catch drivers, who drive under the influence. The war on drugs has failed.

Plus, the taxes would be beneficial.

Because weed isn't the problem for most people, it's the underlying issues that are masked by weed.

This. Weed use in and of itself is unlikely to trigger major health risks. It’s used by people with underlying mental health problems to mask their issues.

It can be used reasonably safely or it can become a “gateway drug” to more serious drugs. But the people who would have gone on to become alcoholics or heroin addicts would have got there via another route.

Great post.

You are not being unreasonable at all. My brother has schizophrenia, and it was caused by years of smoking weed. It screwed up his life and he can't work, has brain damage and lives in assisted living where they manage his medication. He has been sectioned many times, and having lived with him when he was not on any schizophrenia medication, I can say that his behaviour was terrifying. He tried to kill me once and used to wander the streets barefoot. He once grabbed an unsuspecting passerby by the throat and shoved him against a wall as he thought he was a witch. I know it doesn't affect everyone like this, but I just think why take the risk.

@LikeWhoUsesTypewritersAnyway I doubt anything would happen if you reported these women. There would have to be pretty definite evidence of neglect or abuse I think for anything to happen.

The fact that they are happy to inflict the vile smell and passive smoking risks on their children is disgusting IMO but it's on them. There's also evidence that children are more likely to start smoking if they have a parent who smokes (whether just tobacco or other substances) - I assume these mothers aren't bothered about that

Smoking cannabis is far more harmful to lung health than smoking tobacco

I think that alcohol is far, far more damaging and costly for society as a whole than cannabis ever has been. Cannabis is quite complex, and while a minority of people can experience a severe reaction to it, others can find it extremely beneficial to their health. I think it should be fully legal, taxed and available on prescription through the NHS (it is currently available via private prescription for certain conditions).

My brother had a psychotic break after cannabis use. Never really recovered. Dead by 30. I think on balance it’s probably better to have it regulated as an industry. I do think some people add in “extras” to make it super strong which obviously has a more substantial effect.

I couldn't agree more.

I've seen the consequences. It certainly isn't harmless.

It's amazing how the very substance that people want to legalise always turns out to be a legitimate medical cure for just about everything. You'd think Big Pharma would be on to it by now.

Legalisation/regulation doesn't come without its problems - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/amid-explosion-of-illegal-marijuana-production-oregon-looks-to-toughening-laws

Of course it's true that cannabis [and other street drugs] gets adulterated with other psycho-active substances

Source - local police who analyse drugs they have seized