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New Marijuana Study Discovers What Potheads Have Known for Years
Anthony Caroto The People's Media Company
Tuesday 01 May 2007 Did you know that marijuana can trigger temporary psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations and paranoia? Yep, it's true. According to a recent study, fifteen healthy volunteers were given small doses of cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), as well as a placebo. During such time, their brains were scanned. CBD is the active ingredient in marijuana that relaxes the user, while THC brings on the fun- temporary psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations and paranoid delusions. A placebo is the medical term for faking the patient out through the power of suggestion (and also the name of an amazing rock band from the UK). "We've long suspected that cannabis is linked to psychoses, but we have never before had scans to show how the mechanism works," said Dr. Philip McGuire, a professor of psychiatry at King's College, London. McGuire and his colleagues will present their findings and physical evidence at an international mental health conference in London next week. What they found: The inferior frontal cortex, which keeps our natural paranoia under control, is being compromised by the THC. "THC is switching off that regulator," McGuire said. In addition to their findings, mental health experts will discuss their findings in a connection between cannabis and mental health. According to scientists, marijuana worsens the psychotic symptoms of schizophrenics. During a different study, doctors at Yale University tested the impact of THC on 150 healthy volunteers and 13 people with stable schizophrenia. After sampling a little THC, almost half the group experienced psychotic symptoms. The results from those with stable schizophrenia, however, kind of threw the doctors off since they had expected to see the THC provide a relaxing effect. This was in fact, not true. "I was surprised by the results," said Dr. Deepak Cyril D'Souza, an associate professor of psychiatry at Yale University's School of Medicine. "In practice, we found that cannabis is very bad for people with schizophrenia," he said. The study was to include more patients with schizophrenia, but was halted much sooner since results thus far were so pronounced. Continuing further would have been considered unethical. I have friends that get unethical every weekend. "One of the great puzzles is why people with schizophrenia keep taking the stuff when it makes the paranoia worse," said Dr. Robin Murray, a professor of psychiatry at King's College. Experts, who are in all likeliness correct in their theories, claim that schizophrenics are placing the "fun" part of marijuana consumption over the not-so-fun effects. Could this mean that millions of Grateful Dead, Phish and Still Willis fans are actually on to something? Future studies plan to focus on a better understanding of the relationships between paranoia, anxiety and psychoses in their relation to brain responses. Ideally this will help further the medicinal needs and cures in relation to the brain. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/230587/new_marijuana_study_discovers_what.html?page=2
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