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

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 they became 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.
paul yelled. help! his voice echoed. throughout the empty house. falling to his knees he cried out please someone anyone. please help me. but no one did no one except the tiny voice that his had become. weak from the subzero cold he fell into a panic . he knew his only chance of survival was to leave what he thought was a shelter and return to the mountian that he called home.
They raised 8 mil so far BFDeal!!! All this bullshit about dope being legal and we'll tax it and save the country!!The costs that will pile up from auto wrecks,family wrecks, and all the other wrecks will be it's legacy. Medical yes recreational no!!
Yup, I'm sitting here in my private residence (a house) by myself getting high as shit…. legally. The stuff I got is Casey Jones it's not bad by I prefer Moby Dick
Come on people are you really against marijuana that has not caused a death or overdoes ever? But are willing to stand by and watch millions killed by alcohol, tobacco, and prescription pain pills…. You wanna stop something go after that stuff and leave the peace makers alone… 420 history!!
If alcohol is ok to be legal, then why not weed? Alcohol has a far more adverse impact on society than weed ever could. Nobody beats their wives because they are high. They are too high to do anything.
hats off to Rocky Mountain High Colorado!!! do you think John Denver have it right all those years ago. I am an out of state ur and can't think of a half dozen businesses to get into that Colorado groove. iPredict within 3 years prison in Colorado will go up 45 to 50 percent. in the small towns the old silver mining town properties will go through the roof in value. this is going to be bigger than the Colorado California Gold Rush. just wish I lived closer Florida is over 2,000 miles away by car
A Quarter Ounce For Out Of Staters, Wtf I Wanna Visit One Day Thats The Welcome Im Going To Get? A Fucking Qaurter Ounce? Im Over Here Excited About Buying A Whole QP !
I agree with @JosephineDays below. Again, this is a way for the Government to make money and profit off of Marijuanna. They may NOT actually do it in 'plant' form, but in 'the form of paper'. If they truly felt compassion about people's decisions about weed, then they wouldn't make you go through this bullshit, in order for you to sell, distribute, or even become licensed. I think the 'independent sellers' are doing just fine without the need for 'legal permission' to sell a plant that has CLEARLY proven to not only calm your nerves, but to help save lives by destroying unnecessary diseases, such as Cancer. The government can clearly go to Hell on this one! #TheWorldIsAGhetto#CrackerBye#WeDoAsWePlease#ThankYou
Finally some people see the lights. It should not be a problem as long as they treat like alcohol. PS: Don't smoke weed and drive, people. Just sit back and relax, enjoy smoking!!! 😉 People also should know that most pot users are an "intelligent community" and the change in the law would not lead to binge smoking and trouble in 2014. OK what about our Australia?????????
What the fuck is happening there?! They fight decades against pot, they spent so much billions in tracing the big dealers, and now they begin to turn completely over?! It´s not the sense of the plant they support, it´s again a money game.
Very intelligent move as long as there is no reason for a person to need high energy levels and quick reaction times, I'm all for the refinement of the plant as long as you don't throw in additives which would be hard to do without. That would ruin the level of societal healing you can achieve by sticking to the expansion without the additives?
psychosis
POSTED MARCH 07, 2011, 11:03 AM , UPDATED NOVEMBER 30, 2011, 2:28 PM

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 they became 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.
paul yelled. help! his voice echoed. throughout the empty house. falling to his knees he cried out please someone anyone. please help me. but no one did no one except the tiny voice that his had become. weak from the subzero cold he fell into a panic . he knew his only chance of survival was to leave what he thought was a shelter and return to the mountian that he called home.
I just wanna hit (instantstrains dot kom) for some real kush. USA will soon take off against Germany and i think i should hit
(straindr at gmail dot kom) and get some bud to stop my nervousness. If you think USA will qualify for the 16 round of FIFA world
cup then shout out loud so our nation gain this victory.
and don't forget to text 417-695-0547 and say what exactly you want
Now Colorado needs to spend that tax money on county water lines so they can populate more people. I'm in the SLV and I want county water.
They raised 8 mil so far BFDeal!!! All this bullshit about dope being legal and we'll tax it and save the country!!The costs that will pile up from auto wrecks,family wrecks, and all the other wrecks will be it's legacy. Medical yes recreational no!!
I definitely taking a trip out Colorado
I wanna try the other ways to consume marijuana, but I enjoy the taste and the feel of smoking it.
10billion LOL only cuz god blessed us with CANNIBIS RECEPTOR
IT CAN SOON BE WHAT???? WILL WE EVER KNOW??! D:
Yup, I'm sitting here in my private residence (a house) by myself getting high as shit…. legally. The stuff I got is Casey Jones it's not bad by I prefer Moby Dick
I wanna live here 🙁
I have not met a single person against pot legalization that is even slightly educated about it
Lmfao bro a quo of bubba kush is like 25 %thc man two bowls and ur gone so stfu talkin bout only a quarter
its 2014 for fuck sakes there should already be a McStoner's down the street from my house! why is this taking so long
Come on people are you really against marijuana that has not caused a death or overdoes ever? But are willing to stand by and watch millions killed by alcohol, tobacco, and prescription pain pills…. You wanna stop something go after that stuff and leave the peace makers alone… 420 history!!
If alcohol is ok to be legal, then why not weed? Alcohol has a far more adverse impact on society than weed ever could. Nobody beats their wives because they are high. They are too high to do anything.
$$
time for me to start packing
hats off to Rocky Mountain High Colorado!!! do you think John Denver have it right all those years ago. I am an out of state ur and can't think of a half dozen businesses to get into that Colorado groove. iPredict within 3 years prison in Colorado will go up 45 to 50 percent. in the small towns the old silver mining town properties will go through the roof in value. this is going to be bigger than the Colorado California Gold Rush. just wish I lived closer Florida is over 2,000 miles away by car
that's a quarter ounce per day dude… pay attention to the program now.
A Quarter Ounce For Out Of Staters, Wtf I Wanna Visit One Day Thats The Welcome Im Going To Get? A Fucking Qaurter Ounce? Im Over Here Excited About Buying A Whole QP !
if this done 'professionally ' as they say, I expect the cutter to use sterilized gloves to cut and trim … come on now..
I agree with @JosephineDays below. Again, this is a way for the Government to make money and profit off of Marijuanna. They may NOT actually do it in 'plant' form, but in 'the form of paper'. If they truly felt compassion about people's decisions about weed, then they wouldn't make you go through this bullshit, in order for you to sell, distribute, or even become licensed. I think the 'independent sellers' are doing just fine without the need for 'legal permission' to sell a plant that has CLEARLY proven to not only calm your nerves, but to help save lives by destroying unnecessary diseases, such as Cancer. The government can clearly go to Hell on this one! #TheWorldIsAGhetto #CrackerBye #WeDoAsWePlease #ThankYou
Finally some people see the lights. It should not be a problem as long as they treat like alcohol. PS: Don't smoke weed and drive, people. Just sit back and relax, enjoy smoking!!! 😉 People also should know that most pot users are an "intelligent community" and the change in the law would not lead to binge smoking and trouble in 2014.
OK what about our Australia?????????
What the fuck is happening there?! They fight decades against pot, they spent so much billions in tracing the big dealers, and now they begin to turn completely over?! It´s not the sense of the plant they support, it´s again a money game.
Very intelligent move as long as there is no reason for a person to need high energy levels and quick reaction times, I'm all for the refinement of the plant as long as you don't throw in additives which would be hard to do without. That would ruin the level of societal healing you can achieve by sticking to the expansion without the additives?
They should start growing it organically, because the chemical pesticides can be very harmful to ingest or inhale and cause disease.
$1M to $10B industry in 5 years (2013-2018) ?! Wow.
Damn can't wait
This is going to give the cartels a run for their money
Im moving!
crazy
January 1st!!! not 1
I hope weed become 10x stronger
Don't get them ain't harming anybody
get them