Good news for people who’ve worried that smoking too much marijuana (cannabis) — especially as a teenager — might lead to some dramatic problems in the future, even schizophrenia.
New research from Harvard Medical School, in a comparison between families with a history of schizophrenia and those without, finds little support for marijuana use as a cause of schizophrenia.
“The results of the current study suggest that having an increased familial morbid risk for schizophrenia may be the underlying basis for schizophrenia in cannabis users and not cannabis use by itself,” note the researchers.
The new study is the first family study that, according to the researchers, “examines both non-psychotic cannabis users and non-cannabis user controls as two additional independent samples, enabling the examination of whether the risk for schizophrenia is increased in family members of cannabis users who develop schizophrenia compared with cannabis users who do not and also whether that morbid risk is similar or different from that in family members of schizophrenia patients who never used cannabis.”
Marijuana use is becoming increasingly commonplace as two U.S. states have already legalized its use next to alcohol for adults. Some previous studies have suggested that there may be a correlational link between teenage marijuana use and the increased likelihood of being diagnosed with schizophrenia in the future.
So researchers from Harvard Medical School and the VA Boston Healthcare system got together to determine whether family risk for schizophrenia is a crucial factor underlying the association between the development of schizophrenia in teens who smoke marijuana.
The researchers recruited 282 subjects from the New York and Boston metropolitan areas who were divided into four groups: controls with no lifetime history of psychotic illness, cannabis, or any other drug use; controls with no lifetime history of psychotic illness, and a history of heavy cannabis use during adolescence, but no other drug use; patients with no lifetime history of cannabis use or any other drug and less than 10 years of being ill; patients with a history of heavy cannabis use and no other drug use during adolescence and prior to the onset of psychosis.
Information about all first-, second-, and third-degree relatives was obtained, as well as information about any other relative who had a known psychiatric illness. This resulted in information on 1,168 first-degree relatives and a total of 4,291 relatives. The study gathered together information regarding cannabis use, and family history regarding schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and drug abuse.
The researchers concluded that the results of the current study, “both when analyzed using morbid risk and family frequency calculations, suggest that having an increased familial risk for schizophrenia is the underlying basis for schizophrenia in these samples — not the cannabis use.
“While cannabis may have an effect on the age of onset of schizophrenia it is unlikely to be the cause of illness,” said the researchers, who were led by Ashley C. Proal from Harvard Medical School.
“In general, we found a tendency for depression and bipolar disorder to be increased in the relatives of cannabis users in both the patient and control samples. This might suggest that cannabis users are more prone to affective disorders than their non-using samples or vice versa.” Future research is needed to understand this relationship.
Drug abuse also appears to have an important genetic component.
“Drug abuse is present more frequently in family members of all 3 samples compared to those of non-cannabis abusing controls. This is in line with past research confirming a genetic predisposition for drug use.”
The research was published earlier this month in Schizophrenia Research.
Source: Schizophrenia Research
Originally Published by: John M. Grohol, Psy.D. in August 2018 at https://psychcentral.com/news/2013/12/10/harvard-marijuana-doesnt-cause-schizophrenia/63148.html?fbclid=IwAR38zTvmfLeXKZ8fS_Zt3e0pTZKzLzV6rYPHiTjSmXsu7-uqFwOWErWtyX4
An amazing study authored by professors D. Mark Anderson (University of Montana) and Daniel Rees (University of Colorado) shows that traffic deaths have been reduced in states where medical marijuana is legalized.
The study notes that this is equal to the effect raising the drinking age to 21 had on reducing traffic fatalities.
One key factor is the reduction in alcohol consumption. The study finds that there is a direct correlation between the use of marijuana and a reduction in beer sales, especially in the younger folks aged 20-29.
A drop in beer sales supports the theory that marijuana can act as a substitute for liquor.
The study also finds that marijuana has the inverse effect that alcohol does on drivers. Drivers under the influence of alcohol tend to make rash decisions and risky moves, whereas those under the influence of marijuana tend to slow down, make safer choices, and increase following distances.
Originally Published By: Travis Okulski on Dec. 19, 2011, 10:55 AM at https://www.businessinsider.com/it-turns-out-that-smoking-marijuana-may-actually-make-you-a-better-driver-2011-12?international=true&r=US&IR=T&fbclid=IwAR214UmrezPQFFh1cfbq0Xbhp4n9LLQewu2w-SrYTDse5o85EgAvt3R5sII
My name is Mike Wise, and I want to share my story of how I cured Crohn’s disease using cannabis oil produced via the Rick Simpson protocol.
Before I get into the details, I would like to share my symptoms with you because throughout my life I have had many friends with similar symptoms. Yours may not be as bad as mine was, but if left untreated it will get progressively worse.
I have always been on the go, an “A-Type” personality as they say. It’s hard for me to sit still or remain idle, so my days are never-ending and I am always moving. My entire life has been on the road, traveling constantly; first as a professional skateboarder in my pre-college years then working as a broadcast television camera operator and filmmaker after graduating from The University of Texas. I never really developed good eating habits so eating fast food from drive through restaurants, drinking sodas daily, and taking acetaminophen (over-the-counter pain/headache medicine) were commonplace activities during my life on the road.
It all started around 2001, as an occasional bloating type feeling and general discomfort after meals. At first, a few belches would relieve the discomfort. Then over the years, a few belches after each meal then became dozens of belches during, and after meals, and all throughout the day. The general discomfort turned into sharp chest pains, so sharp that it would cause vomiting. Eventually it got so bad that it would affect my sleep and it became impossible to get more than 4 hours of sleep each night. I would have to eat a snack every 2 to 4 hours or I would become extremely nauseous. My symptoms now affected me during every hour of my life.
I would be nauseous all day, and no longer had an appetite; ever. I had to eat something or the excruciating chest pains would return. Then the vomiting. Every 2 to 4 hours, extremely sharp pains and vomiting… but I could not eat every 2 to 4 hours at night. This is the time which most people sleep. How could I eat if I was asleep? So every night, I would sleep for as long as I could; which was never longer than 2-4 hours. I would wake up, run to the toilet, and vomit. Every morning. This was how I started my day. Every day. I began to live in the bath room. The vomiting became more and more frequent. From once a day, to dozens of times per day. Then came the blood…
Every time I would vomit there would be blood in it. It alarmed me at first, but began to happen so frequently it became normal. Then the diarrhea started. Then that got worse. The diarrhea then began to have blood in it. Occasionally at first, but then the blood became more and more frequent. Every trip away from my home was meticulously planned to keep me within easy access to a toilet every 30 minutes. My life became a series of destinations to different toilets. Everything else was secondary to the disease. It controlled my life… Until I found about about Rick Simpson Oil.
Rick Simpson Oil, RSO, High THC Cannabis Oil, FECO (Fully Extracted Cannabis Oil), Golden Oil, Hemp Oil, Honey Oil, Amber Oil… New names seem to come out every day, but they are all referring to the same thing. An extract produced by washing the resins off the cannabis plant with a solvent, then boiling that solvent off. These are the essential extracts from the cannabis plant. The real medicine. When done correctly, this process will leave you with a pure, clean oil.
No coconut oil, mct oil, grapeseed oil, etc. are added when making this oil. These type of oils are known as “carrier oils” and will help to get the cannabinoids into your blood stream more efficiently through “bio-availability”. For this reason, I add a small amount of coconut oil into my suppositories (complete process is outlined in my free video, link provided below). I do not dilute my dose with it, but instead add some into my suppository along with my full dose. This is completely different from products sold by most within the “cannabis industry” that I will refer to as a tincture, which are primarily composed out of these carrier oils with very little cannabinoids contained inside.
Please understand that these ingredients are traditionally added to dilute the oil into a nicely packaged “product” developed to be sold to you; not to cure you. During the peak of this protocol you should be ingesting 1000mg of cannabinoids daily, primarily THC. Do not believe the “golden oil” hype: Tinctures which are touted as being better because of their golden oil color which are made completely out of carrier oils and typically contain around 150mg of cannabinoids. You would have to be consuming just under 7 bottles of these tinctures a day to be consuming the necessary amount of cannabinoids needed for this protocol!!
This simple process can be done at home using basic kitchen appliances, and producing the oil yourself is the only way to ensure that you are getting the real thing. I have made a video that is available to watch for free at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKT9tRcA-RU which completely describes the entire process along with everything you need to know about dosing, and various methods of ingesting the medicine.
Around September 2016, I produced my first batch of oil at home using 1 ounce of indica buds and began to ingest the oil. Immediately, I noticed a relief of my symptoms. In an instant, I had regained my appetite and slept a full 8 hours the first night I took the oil. For the first two months, I was so happy with the results I was witnessing that I did not follow Rick’s protocol on dosing. Since I was feeling so good mentally and physically, and all my symptoms had subsided; I decided to embark on a cross-country tour with former NFL athlete Boo Williams to promote cannabis through his BooBeary Kares brand.
Everything was going great! We had traveled to about 13 states at this point and were educating people all across the US to the medical benefits of the plant all along the way. Then we got to Canada…
After a series of unfortunate events, I ended up detained in a Canadian jail cell at the border. They eventually let me go and allowed us to continue on our journey after paying a hefty fine, and confiscating my oil. The next week was absolute hell! The combination of not having the oil along with the stress of the incident caused my symptoms to immediately return. Once I got home, I made another batch but still didn’t follow Rick’s advice for dosing.
Then at the end of November, I flew out to Croatia to film with Rick for a new documentary I am producing. When I was out there, Rick saw the condition I was in (I was still vomiting if I didn’t eat every 6 to 8 hours or so at the time) and scolded me accordingly. “For god sake’s Mike, take the oil” he would tell me. “It would really benefit you.” So after I got back home to Colorado, I made some more oil and began to strictly follow the protocol for the first time. I bring this story up as a reminder to not get complacent as soon as your symptoms subside. It is EXTREMELY important to ingest at least 60 grams of the extracts in 90 days and to then continue a maintenance dose of at least 1 gram per month.
The dosing protocol goes like this: ingesting a rice grain size amount three times a day, then doubling that dose on the fourth day. Every four days until you are taking a gram total per day. Along with following this protocol, I believe that is also very important to switch your diet to one that is referred to as a “high alkaline” diet (google it for more info). Taking out all refined sugars and carbohydrates, and to reduce your stress levels. Removing all sources of stress from your life is also a good idea. I did this for 120 days total, ingesting 90 grams over that time.
Halfway through my regimen, I discovered the importance of ingesting the medicine via suppository. This is the most effective and medically beneficial method of ingesting the medicine. To make the suppositories, I simply go down to the nearest health food store and purchase some empty gelatin or vegetable capsules along with some organic coconut oil. I take them home, open them up, and add a small amount of the coconut oil into the capsule. I then add my dose and use the coconut oil as a lubricant. Simple and clean.
When it was all said and done, I took the first 45 grams orally; then the second 45 grams via suppository in a total of 120 days. My oil was made with 5-6 indica strains mixed together, is full spectrum, and extremely high in THC (50%-95%) and only about 1% CBD. Since March of this year, I stopped taking the oil daily and have been ingesting 1 gram per month as a maintenance dose via suppository. My symptoms have completely subsided since beginning this protocol, and have not returned.
Since I began to make the oil for myself, I have also made it for over 1000 patients around the world. As well as educating hundreds of thousands on how to make it themselves. Every single person has reported positive results for whatever condition they were treating. Everyone who strictly followed the regimen has cured or controlled their disease, just like I have. From brain tumors and cancers (unless undergoing chemotherapy or radiation, patients who have taken those pharmaceutical poisons will most likely need to consume a gram a day, for the rest of their life), to Alzheimer’s, COPD, Lyme, chronic pain, various skin conditions, addiction issues, etc., etc., etc. The list goes on and on. Cannabis Saves Lives. Prohibition needs to end. Now!!
