A few pot facts .... posted by koan:
Marijuana users purport its mental health benefit. But research shows it can exacerbate mental health problems, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, in people with a predisposition for these conditions.
“If you have underlying psychosis, particularly schizophrenia, marijuana induces a psychotic state,” Dr. Tashkin said.
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“People think it mellows them out, but [THC] causes an average increase in heart rate of 16 beats per minute,” Franson, the pharmacologist, told The Denver Post. “That’s why people who take high doses they are unaccustomed to can experience significant anxiety or paranoia.”
What weed users are really feeling is short-term cognitive and motor impairment.
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One study by Dr. Tashkin found “no association at all” between marijuana use and lung cancer, perhaps even finding a protective effect. Still, there are respiratory risks, he said. “There are known carcinogens in marijuana smoke the same that’s in tobacco smoke. We also know that there are pre-cancerous changes in the [airways] of heavy marijuana users who don’t smoke tobacco.”
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Recently, a college student in Colorado jumped to his death after consuming a marijuana brownie, according to The Denver Post.
His friends said he was agitated after eating the brownie — one side effect of edible pot that’s not usually seen when the drug is smoked. Edibles are also more likely to make an individual paranoid and dizzy, Franson said at the AHCJ conference.
Another issue with edibles: People often eat the recommended dose, think the drug didn’t work and then eat more — only to feel both doses kick in at once.
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Some studies have found lower IQ rates and poorer cognition in teens who smoke pot. But these are associative studies — it might be that regular teen marijuana users have lower IQs from the beginning.
“The evidence is not clear as to whether or not there may be impairment in cognition, or what the long-term consequences of marijuana use [may be]” Dr. Tashkin said.
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