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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Australia: Web: Research Links Heavy Cannabis Use To Schizophrenia
ccguide Tuesday 01 Oct 2002 Pubdate: Mon, 30 Sep 2002 Source: Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Australia Web) Copyright: 2002 Australian Broadcasting Corporation Contact: Website: http://www.abc.net.au/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/34 RESEARCH LINKS HEAVY CANNABIS USE TO SCHIZOPHRENIA New research by the Centre for Hunter Mental Health Services and the University of California has revealed that smoking cannabis can create the same effects on the brain as a schizophrenic episode. For the first time, structural brain imaging equipment is being used to examine what effect cannabis has on the brain. The centre's senior registrar in psychiatry, Martin Cohen, says the research shows that far from being a benign drug, cannabis actually heightens the likelihood of developing a mental illness. "People who use cannabis heavily develop cognitive deficits, thinking problems, which are really similar to the negative symptoms of schizophrenia," Dr Cohen said. "It's suggesting that there's a common underlying pathology and that is then translated into an increased risk of adolescents that use cannabis developing schizophrenia. "Anecdotal thinking that cannabis is a fairly inert substance - you get stoned and then perhaps a few weeks later you pick up, and your thinking sort of recovers again, is actually getting mitigated against by this emerging body of evidence. "Consequently, we need to perhaps look at public health initiatives to help our youth actually understand how serious this can be." - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom
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