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As I understand it, mid-twenties is a pretty common age for schizophrenia to manifest in people predisposed to it even without drug use.
I didn't say he became schizophrenic in his twenties. I said he went into a decline - as in he was stoned most of the time and his job performance and relationships began to suffer.
Nothing personal KathrynAragon, but the "medical team" doesn't have any ideas why he lapsed into schizophrenia, that's why they've blamed the wonderful herb marijuana, nothing they could ever say would make me believe what they've told you for a second...alcohol used to excess can absolutely create delusional thoughts, I see it all the time...if anything the marijuana has probably helped your brother.
You yourself don't have a clue as to whether it was weed or alcohol or WHAT that caused my brother to become brain damaged and insane. Sorry, but I trust the opinions of a group of medical professionals who are familiar with him and his case over strangers on the internet. No offense intended.
Your statement about the MJ probably helping my brother tells me that you are quite biased toward whatever positives you find in MJ. Please don't try to pretend to be objective.
You yourself don't have a clue as to whether it was weed or alcohol or WHAT that caused my brother to become brain damaged and insane. Sorry, but I trust the opinions of a group of medical professionals who are familiar with him and his case over strangers on the internet. No offense intended.
Your statement about the MJ probably helping my brother tells me that you are quite biased toward whatever positives you find in MJ. Please don't try to pretend to be objective.
I was going to reply echoing the same sentiments. Harmless substance my ass.
Keep in mind that our tax dollars will also go toward the institutionalization of people who basically fry their brains on a substance that they believe is a "soft" drug and basically harmless.
Until this happened to my brother, I didn't consider weed to be a dangerous substance. I was wrong.
sorry, if you use it and it is legal to use it, and you mess yourself up using it, then you pay your own bills. I believe that completely. just like smokes and booze. if you cant afford to pay for the effects of it, then dont use it.
Happens to many alcoholics and is well researched.Ever heard of alcoholic delirium? Ever heard of a wet brain?
but yeah,keep blaming the weed....
I had a friend who was a die-hard alcoholic. Sadly, sober for 7 years and then went back to drinking and was even worse than before.
She started to imagine things that didn't really happen--one day claimed "a black woman" walked up to her in the driveway and punched her in the face. The whole side of her face was bruised. Neighbors saw her fall in the driveway--there was no one else around. She definitely had wet brain--she kept walking into the kitchen one day when there was a box of oranges on the counter and asking who bought them. Over and over and over again, all day long. Those are just a couple of examples.
Alcohol can definitely poison your brain to the point of permanent damage and psychosis, among other things.
Kathryn, I'm sorry for the loss of your brother. I know that pain runs deep, and lasts.
My wife died of alcohol poisoning. It took her 31 years. I was married to her for the last 27. We had two sons - both of whom have issues related to their mother's drinking while pregnant.
My soul brother was addicted to alcohol and, I believe, marijuana -- anything and everything that might dull his pain. There are people like that, people who hurt all the time. They seek, and eventually find, that which eases their pain.
It is my belief that of all the substances that alter our body's chemistry, marijuana is among the least dangerous, and most (potentially) helpful of them all. But of course that does not mean it cannot be abused.
But if it is, I believe it is less toxic to the body, mind and spirit than most all other mood-altering drugs - legal or non. Combined with other known intoxicants/mood alterers however, is another, probably more depressing story.
Certainly it is safe to say that any substance, however beneficial in and of itself, natural or not, prescribed or not, when mixed with other mood-altering substances, is potentially dangerous/toxic. So have a care if stepping into that territory.
Kathryn, I'm sorry for the loss of your brother. I know that pain runs deep, and lasts.
My wife died of alcohol poisoning. It took her 31 years. I was married to her for the last 27. We had two sons - both of whom have issues related to their mother's drinking while pregnant.
My soul brother was addicted to alcohol and, I believe, marijuana -- anything and everything that might dull his pain. There are people like that, people who hurt all the time. They seek, and eventually find, that which eases their pain.
It is my belief that of all the substances that alter our body's chemistry, marijuana is among the least dangerous, and most (potentially) helpful of them all. But of course that does not mean it cannot be abused.
But if it is, I believe it is less toxic to the body, mind and spirit than most all other mood-altering drugs - legal or non. Combined with other known intoxicants/mood alterers however, is another, probably more depressing story.
Certainly it is safe to say that any substance, however beneficial in and of itself, natural or not, prescribed or not, when mixed with other mood-altering substances, is potentially dangerous/toxic. So have a care if stepping into that territory.
What a thoughtful and eloquent - and balanced - post. Thank you.
Our drug laws have nothing to do with what is or isn't safe. How could people ruin their lives with MJ? Many people I know of say it saved their life! At worst, it's a safer way to relax than alcohol, tobacco, or pills. Recent poll: 1 out of 6 admits to using cannabis. So possibly almost 50 million Americans use MJ.
Alcohol & pills each kill 125,000 Americans a year. Tobacco & food each kill 400,000 people a year. Illegal drugs kill 15,000, including 0 for MJ. Yet people get up to 100 years in prison in US for possession.
Granny Storm Crow's list has over 1,000 studies about MJ, listing conditions helped alphabetically & some articles about it's safety. Also includes some interesting verifiable anecdotes.
Top expert Dr. Lester Grinspoon, retired from Harvard Medical School, has a website rxmarijuana.com/ that lists 120+ medical conditions it can help, often better than pills. Good site for learning about MJ, pills, & medical conditions.
Wikipedia has thousands of pages about MJ & sources must be cited, very good.
Pharmaceuticals cos. sold cannabis oil & tincture of cannabis in pharmacies until 1937, when cancer was rare. Now we have a cancer epidemic, with 60% of Americans getting it & half of those, 30% of all Americans dying from it. Some blame cancer epidemic on 85,000 approved toxins. Recent anecdotal reports say some are using cannabis oil to cure cancer & other sometimes fatal illnesses.
Cash Hyde, a 2 year old in Missoula, MT, had a brain tumor, so they went to a hospital in SLC, UT, for the standard treatments. When he was nearly dead, his dad ordered the chemo cocktail to be stopped, and put cannabis oil in the feeding tube. Cash Hyde is now 3 and cancer-free.
A Canadian in Nova Scotia, Rick Simpson, spent his entire life savings of $1.3 million treating people for free with cannabis oil. Many were old men in the local vets club. One 82 year old man was so close to death from lung cancer that his lungs were filling up with fluids. He was given cannabis oil and 3 months later, he was cancer-free! Rick was arrested, at request of US, but managed to flee to Europe. Rick has a 58 minute video "Run From The Cure".
Those who call themselves "recreational" users are probably using it to control depression, anxiety, anger, or other mood disorders. 26% of those who say they use it for medical reasons say they are using it to treat depression, which causes 31,000 Americans a year to kill themselves. 25% of Americans say they are in chronic pain. That shows not all are helped by docs & pills & probably more could benefit from MJ.
- Ruined Lives - We had thousands, tens of thousands of people kicked out of the Navy for doing drugs while on duty. These people had to go restart their lives someplace and I think that bad conduct discharge would come back and haunt them later on in their lives.
- Just because people use a drug does not make it something that we should encourage. Look at the medical costs for people that abuse alcohol and drugs. Toss in the drunk drivers killing people, etc...
- I can only tell you what I saw and lived through while in the service. It was a disaster.
Part of the appeal with drugs and marijuana is it's "street cred"/illegal rebel vibe. In Europe, it's not fashionable to smoke marijuana and no one looks at you as if you are edgy or some rebel like in this country. In this country, a big reason people smoke marijuana particularly in college is for the image regardless of whether they are willing to admit that. Then some of those people become addicted and smoke it lifelong and then justify it with bogus medical reasons that the marijuana industry provides.
It makes me laugh to watch Americans go to Amsterdam to smoke. They think it's so liberating to buy marijuana in a coffee house while the locals ridiule them for being idiots who are overly fascinated with marijuana.
I think they should legalize it. That will remove some of the awe and rare quality to it and remove the cool stigma associated with it. You will see the demand will drop. It will become a lot cheaper and it won't be a big deal.
Also, I don't believe in a nanny state. If you are worried your kid is going to smoke weed all the time then you are a bad parent. It's your job to educate your child about marijuana. I experimented with marijuana just like many people in college but I was never drawn to it and didn't think it was anything special. I never continued smoking it and usually the only people did in college were the losers who were wannabe hippies that thought they were cool to smoke marijuana everyday after work and feel like they were on the set of Friday. People who were making something of themselves and were competitive academically, didn't touch anything that impaired their abilities.
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