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  1. psychosis

    POSTED MARCH 07, 2011, 11:03 AM , UPDATED NOVEMBER 30, 2011, 2:28 PM

    ïżŒ

    Ann MacDonald
    Contributor, Harvard Health

    Teenagers and young adults who use marijuana may be messing with their heads in ways they don’t intend.
    Evidence is mounting that regular marijuana use increases the chance that a teenager will develop psychosis, a pattern of unusual thoughts or perceptions, such as believing the television is transmitting secret messages. It also increases the risk of developing schizophrenia, a disabling brain disorder that not only causes psychosis, but also problems concentrating and loss of emotional expression.
    In one recent study that followed nearly 2,000 teenagers as theyÂ ïżŒbecame young adults, young people who smoked marijuana at least five times were twice as likely to have developed psychosis over the next 10 years as those who didn’t smoke pot.
    Another new paper concluded that early marijuana use could actually hasten the onset of psychosis by three years. Those most at risk are youths who already have a mother, father, or sibling with schizophrenia or some other psychotic disorder.
    Young people with a parent or sibling affected by psychosis have a roughly one in 10 chance of developing the condition themselves—even if they never smoke pot. Regular marijuana use, however, doubles their risk—to a one in five chance of becoming psychotic.
    In comparison, youths in families unaffected by psychosis have a 7 in 1,000 chance of developing it. If they smoke pot regularly, the risk doubles, to 14 in 1,000.
    For years, now, experts have been sounding the alarm about a possible link between marijuana use and psychosis. One of the best-known studies followed nearly 50,000 young Swedish soldiers for 15 years. Those who had smoked marijuana at least once were more than twice as likely to develop schizophrenia as those who had never smoked pot. The heaviest users (who said they used marijuana more than 50 times) were six times as likely to develop schizophrenia as the nonsmokers.
    So far, this research shows only an association between smoking pot and developing psychosis or schizophrenia later on. That’s not the same thing as saying that marijuana causes psychosis.
    This is how research works. Years ago, scientists first noted an association between cigarette smoking and lung cancer. Only later were they able to figure out exactly how cigarette smoke damaged the lungs and other parts of the body, causing cancer and other diseases.
    The research on marijuana and the brain is at a much earlier stage. We do know that THC, one of the active compounds in marijuana, stimulates the brain and triggers other chemical reactions that contribute to the drug’s psychological and physical effects.
    But it’s not clear how marijuana use might lead to psychosis. One theory is that marijuana may interfere with normal brain development during the teenage years and young adulthood.
    The teenage brain is still a work in progress. Between the teen years and the mid-20s, areas of the brain responsible for judgment and problem solving are still making connections with the emotional centers of the brain. Smoking marijuana may derail this process and so increase a young person’s vulnerability to psychotic thinking. (You can read more about how the adolescent brain develops in this article from the Harvard Mental Health Letter.)
    While the research on marijuana and the mind has not yet connected all the dots, these new studies provide one more reason to caution young people against using marijuana—especially if they have a family member affected by schizophrenia or some other psychotic disorder. Although it may be a tough concept to explain to a teenager, the reward of a short-time high isn’t worth the long-term risk of psychosis or a disabling disorder like schizophrenia.

  2. Long shot. By decriminalizing it, that means for many that they truly lost their retaliatory weapon against those that fought against the Vietnam War. Nixons folley. In Wisconsin…well.. probably not. Too many tight asses. A maybe in Wisconsin????? Well maybe, if the stoners straightened up for a few days beforehand and actually vote. Who really knows what will happen. One thing for sure, denial and punishment doesnt work. Marijuana is here already and needs to be dealt with rationally because…like alcohol..its not ever going to go away. Time to deal with it from a reasonable and functional perspective. Vote please.

  3. Prosecution for weed is a fucking joke from these money sucking devils from the state it’s ridiculous to say the least the system towards marijuana is a fucking joke. Then you have alcohol that’s 100% legal.

  4. There are only two kinds of people that oppose the legalization of cannabis the ones that are ignorant on the subject and the ones that make money off of it being illegal. The DA is part of that last group,you got to wonder how crooked is she.

  5. Wisconsin is known by the rest of the country as the prison state. Zero compassion for human life. The GPS law was only about creating more government jobs, your kids, and illegal immigrants are wearing GPS now violating the rights of the person wearing it and the ones around them. Tell you to be very afraid and spread fake news on tv to the public so you don't care about the person being abused. The wi government sends CHILDREN to private prisons for profit. Lincoln hills, whales boys prisons where you are locked in a room all day like a dog, and if you speak out, your burried in segregation like an animal. Write conduct reports on the kids everyday so they have no chance of getting out sooner, and the same happens to the adults. Then they type in your families history and yours into a computer and say the data said you are too high of a risk to be free even if your a model inmate, even if you did everything they ask you to do. If your about to be released and someone starts a fight with you, guess what happens? You ain't getting released , even if it's on camera that you did nothing, a correctional officer who is an ordinary citizen has the ability to keep you in prison as long as he or she wants, and lie, and cover it up, and go home to his family. Came here when I was 15 and I will never have a normal life again. Then to top it off, the Dr's will prescribe you every psychotic pill available until you no longer care about anything and only feel numb. The government here don't care about shit unless it's profit for them. Do not move here because the only psychopaths around here is the government. Would not give you a glass of water if you was dehydrated for RISK of losing their jobs, and their bosses train them to be that way because if they show any kind of human compassion, they get fired. All these bastards sell a dream to the public, get rich quick, then get to go home and retire comfortably not caring how many lives they destroyed to be happy. Every election, every time. It seems like they have the best running gang organization to date. The largest criminal empire in the world, and have everyone's money to back themselves up

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