Johnny Stack struggled with social anxiety and panic attacks in high school, which were successfully managed with support, prescription medications, and therapy. He could have been fine. Then at about 16 years old (when he could drive), Johnny discovered marijuana and believed it helped his anxiety. (Yes, we live in Colorado. Yes, it is everywhere. Yes, your kids can get it too unless you chain them to their beds.) He started “dabbing” high-THC marijuana (they smoke a very potent wax or shatter form), which triggered bizarre episodes of psychosis, a first suicide attempt, and delusional thinking (the FBI was after him, the world “knew about him,” the mob had it in for him, we were “in on it,” etc.).
We would dis-enroll him from his current university, admit him to mental hospitals, and they would stabilize him with medications, and he’d recover…until he did the drugs again.
Shane was my first-born son who grew into a handsome 6’4” young man. He always seemed larger than life and he had a big heart, infectious smile, and zest for life. He excelled at sports, especially water sports, from a young age. Shane was a very normal, healthy teen and even weathered a back injury and surgery which made high school team sports no longer possible–so he transferred his athletic skills to wakeboarding !
When Shane moved away from home at age 19, he began using recreational marijuana (unbeknownst to his family). At age 22, Shane endured prolonged physical rehab to his knee following a serious boating accident. It was later realized Shane had increased his use of pot as he was intolerant of the prescription pain medications.
Shane was determined to proceed with his wedding to his long-term girlfriend...
Andy was born in 1982 and had a joyful life easily making and keeping friends. It was his mission to make friends and family laugh and have a good time and he was GOOD at it. He was class clown. He made parties come alive. When he grew older he helped good friends with their mental health and substance abuse issues.
But it all began to get harder for him to do as he became a teen and thought he had to participate in drinking and drugs to fit in. He was good at hiding the extent to which he indulged in these activities and surprised everyone with his statements in a suicide note:
“My soul is already dead. Marijuana killed my soul + ruined my brain.”
This story also ran on This story can be republished for free ( NBC News. details). KHN correspondent Shefali Luthra reported this article from Germany as a 2019 Arthur F. Burns Fellow. HAMBURG, Germany ― In 2016, 10 times as many Americans as Germans died as a result of drug overdoses, mostly opiates.
A Progressive Takes a Stand Against the “Green Rush” and Legal Cannabis
Colorado’s vote in 2012 to legalize marijuana united the progressive end of the liberal political spectrum with conservative libertarians. Progressives had long felt that the war on drugs was cruel and unfairly targeted minorities and, in many cases, agreed with libertarians that folks should be allowed to smoke a joint in peace without government interference.
Pennsylvania Newspaper Editors Take Anti-Legalization Stance
Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf announced his support last week for the legalization of recreational marijuana, and called on the Republican-controlled General Assembly to draft a bill that decriminalizes nonviolent and small cannabis-related offenses and offers a “path to restorative justice through the expungement of past convictions of nonviolent and small cannabis-related crimes.”
Thousands of young people hospitalized due to cannabis and other substance use, report reveals A
new report says thousands of young people in Canada were hospitalized
last year due to cannabis, alcohol and other substance use, and experts
say the numbers highlight the need for more mental health supports in
the community.
A new report says thousands of young people in Canada were hospitalized last year due to cannabis, alcohol and other substance use, and experts say the numbers highlight the need for more mental health supports in the community.
Depression/Anxiety Could Stem from Young People Using Cannabis
Cannabis use in young people may be linked to increases in depression, anxiety and other neurological disorders, a new study out of Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health suggests. In particular, the research found that subjects who regularly smoked pot had significantly higher levels of a protein in their brains that is elevated when there is inflammation within the organ.
Kentucky Governor Warns Marijuana Legalization Leads to Social Ills
Governor Matt Bevin in a radio interview Wednesday repeated his criticism of those who favor legalizing marijuana and casinos in Kentucky to directed additional tax revenue toward the state’s underfunded pension system, adding that recreational marijuana would lead to an increase in homelessness, emergency room visits and “disease.”
Canadian Columnist was Right, Her Editors WRONG on Legalizing Weed
Some years ago, in conversation with his wife, a forensic psychiatrist specializing in mentally ill criminals, former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson observed that the perpetrator of a recent violent crime had been high at the time, and had smoked pot regularly all his life.
by David G. Evans, Esq. Drug legalization advocates claim that prisons are overflowing with people convicted for only simple possession of marijuana. This claim is aggressively pushed by groups seeking to relax or abolish marijuana laws. A more accurate view is that the vast majority of inmates in prison for marijuana have been found guilty of more than simple possession.
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it has issued a warning letter to Curaleaf Inc., of Wakefield, Massachusetts, for illegally selling unapproved products containing cannabidiol (CBD) online with unsubstantiated claims that the products treat cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, opioid withdrawal, pain and pet anxiety, among other conditions or diseases.
New York Times notes, the CBD industry is pushing FDA to loosen restrictions on CBD products. But FDA’s acting Commissioner, Norman Sharpless, MD, pointed out in his opening remarks to some 140 people waiting to testify, that FDA statutes prohibit active drug ingredients from being added to food or dietary supplements.
WASHINGTON (ABC7/WJLA)- The cannabis derivative, CBD, is popping up everywhere- lip balm, body cream and even as a shot in your morning espresso. But not all CBD is created equal. The ABC7 I-Team has been given exclusive access to the largest set of test results and analysis on CBD products to date.
BOMBSHELL Study on Adolescent Marijuana Use: Anxiety, Depression, Suicide
Question Is adolescent cannabis consumption associated with risk of depression, anxiety, and suicidality in young adulthood? Findings In this systematic review and meta-analysis of 11 studies and 23 317 individuals, adolescent cannabis consumption was associated with increased risk of developing depression and suicidal behavior later in life, even in the absence of a premorbid condition.
Why Social Justice Arguments for Marijuana Are Flawed
Public health and addiction prevention professionals have been closely watching the development of regulations for, and roll-out of, a recreational marijuana industry in Massachusetts. Many concerning policies are being institutionalized with many public health and prevention professionals sounding the alarm regarding the “Social Equity Program” and all associated components included in the Cannabis Control Commission’s regulations, driven by industry representatives, both internal and external to the process.
The owner of a large Vermont organic vegetable farm said he’s been “sick to my stomach” since learning plants he thought were hemp had tested positive as high-grade marijuana.
CLOSE As more teens vape, schools have struggled to keep the practice in check. Now, area schools are seeing a disturbing twist – students vaping marijuana. Just as with tobacco, students can vape right under a teacher’s nose and go undetected.
Important New Study: Meta Analysis of Research on Marijuana and Violence
JavaScript is disabled on your browser. Please enable JavaScript to use all the features on this page. * Findings showed a moderate cannabis-violence association in severe mental illness. * The association was higher for cannabis misuse in comparison to cannabis use. * Cannabis use should be considered in violence risk prevention and management.
Roman, who operates Nature’s Way Medicine in Old City, was one of the first doctors to issue recommendations, similar to a prescription, for medical cannabis in the Keystone State. Since the launch of the medical marijuana program, Roman’s practice has been limited to accepting $200 payments from a stream of patients seeking to access legal weed.
Whoopi Goldberg wrote in her opening 2014 epiphany column (“My Vape Pen and I, A Love Story”) in The Cannibist: “The vape pen has changed my life. No, I’m not exaggerating. In fact, her name is Sippy. Yes, she’s a she.
The Marijuana Delusion
The History Behind MJ Legalization & Its Destructive Path Across America
Our first news article is a well done piece with historical perspective along with current knowledge of marijuana dangers.
After Colorado and Washington State voters gave a thumbs-up to recreational marijuana use in 2012, cannabis advocates needed another six years to win legalization battles in eight additional states. But in 2019 alone, at least eight more states seem ready to pass laws permitting recreational pot.
Scientific American: Link Between Adolescent Pot Smoking and Psychosis Strengthened
In an interview Murray said his research with users in London has shown that high-potency cannabis—approximately 16 percent THC(tetrahydrocannabinol)—was involved in 24 percent of all cases of a first episode of psychosis. (New laws permitting recreational pot use do not make it legal for teens to consume cannabis, but that has not impeded access.)
As physicians, we need to say clearly what is happening and what is not,” says Peter Falkai, a psychiatrist at the Munich Center for Neurosciences at Ludwig Maximilian University. “Looking into the data, clearly yes, the data show increasing risk of psychosis.”
Society’s embrace of cannabis to treat nausea, pain and other conditions proceeds apace with the drive to legalize the plant for recreational use. Pot’s seemingly innocuous side effects have helped clear a path toward making it a legal cash crop, with all of the marketing glitz brought to other consumer products.
Canadian Mental Health Expert Predicts Rise in Cannabis Psychosis Cases After Legalization
Even before nationwide marijuana legalization in Canada, there was a concerning rise in psychosis cases amongst marijuana users.
Fact is that while you’re a teen (and even into your early 20’s!), you’re still growing and developing, and drug abuse during these years in particular can have a lasting impact. Another fact to consider: the brain is much more vulnerable to addiction during these years. 90% of Americans with a substance abuse problem started smoking, drinking or using other drugs before age 18.
In the largest known brain imaging study, scientists from Amen Clinics (Costa Mesa, CA), Google, John’s Hopkins University, University of California, Los Angeles and the University of California, San Francisco evaluated 62,454 brain SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) scans of more than 30,000 individuals from 9 months old to 105 years of age to investigate factors that accelerate brain aging.
New HHS Report: Marijuana Use Skyrocketing and Higher than Ever Before
There are now twice as many daily or near daily marijuana users in the US than just a decade ago, according to the most comprehensive survey on drug use released today by the federal government.
Commentary: Aldous Huxley Predicted Governments Would Encourage Drug Use to Gain More Control
“Brave New World,” a novel written in 1931 by Aldous Huxley, projects the futuristic developments in reproductive technology, sleep-learning and psychological manipulation that combine to profoundly change society by the year 2540 AD. Huxley describes a utopian society based on the consumption of the drug “soma.”
More and more Americans are reporting near-constant cannabis use, as legalization forges ahead. The proliferation of retail boutiques in California did not really bother him, Evan told me, but the billboards did. Advertisements for delivery, advertisements promoting the substance for relaxation, for fun, for health. “Shop. It’s legal.” “Hello marijuana, goodbye hangover.”
Cannabis and psychosis: what do we know and what should we do?
Abstract It is now incontrovertible that heavy use of cannabis increases the risk of psychosis. There is a dose-response relationship and high potency preparations and synthetic cannabinoids carry the greatest risk. It would be wise to await the outcome of the different models of legalisation that are being introduced in North America, before deciding whether or not to follow suit.
Cannabis is used by approximately 200 million people across the world. The current trend to popularise its medicinal properties, real and imagined, and to decriminalise or legalise it in many countries, is likely to be followed by greater use., However, cannabis is not as safe as was once thought., Just as longitudinal studies of tobacco smokers versus non-smokers nailed the link between cigarettes and lung cancer, so similar prospective studies have shown that heavy cannabis use carries with it an increased risk of psychosis.
Former Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) marked April 20th, a holiday in cannabis culture commonly referred to as “4/20,” by joining public health… read more Former Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-RI) marked April 20th, a holiday in cannabis culture commonly referred to as “4/20,” by joining public health officials and others to talk about federal marijuana policy.
This study replicates exactly what Henquet et al. found back in 2005 for the amount of use where you begin to see a rise in risk – 5 times of use.
On an afternoon I occasionally walk with my granddaughter in a London park where teens gather after school, and the smell of pot is unescapable. It’s more pungent than I remember and I presume stronger, possibly super skunk , which is flooding the UK.
“They may be infrequent and thus not problematic for the adolescent, (but) when these experiences are reported continuously, year after year, then there’s an increased risk of a first psychotic episode or another psychiatric condition.”
Marijuana is thought to cause psychosis-like experiences by increasing a user’s risk of depression.
he take-home message from research published last week in JAMA Internal Medicine – let’s liberalize access to marijuana as a way to address the raging opioid epidemic – captured the public imagination. We disagree. Supporting medical or recreational marijuana as an alternative to opioids for conditions like chronic pain is a bad idea, especially for America’s youths.
In a promo for his upcoming report on the role of marijuana in alleviating the opioid crisis, CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, MD, beckons viewers: “Join us as we investigate a search for answers and meet potential pioneers and outspoken critics. Whether you struggle with opioids or know one of the millions who do, …
Marijuana Induced Psychosis Causes Man with No Criminal Record to Attack Strangers
As the federal government prepares to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, an Ontario judge has ruled that cannabis-induced psychosis led a man to a seemingly hate-filled attack on a family, in what appears to be the first case of its kind in Canadian criminal courts.
Two ER physicians from both CO and CA present marijuana harms at SAM Summit
Doctor Who Was Taught to Overprescribe Pills Now Works to Counter the Marijuana Epidemic Ronnet Lev, M.D. ( ER physician at Scripps Mercy Hospital, San Diego, CA)
Karen Randall, ER physician in Pueblo, CO presents at the SAM Summit (Atlanta) 4-5-18 “join the fight against THC marijuana” Karen Randall, M.D. (ER physician at Parkland Medical Center, Pueblo, CO)
Britain could set off a schizophrenia timebomb if it ignores the dangers of super-strength ‘skunk’ cannabis, one of the UK’s most eminent psychiatrists warns today. Strong evidence now shows that smoking potent forms of the Class B drug increases the chance of psychosis, paranoid delusions and schizophrenia.
