fucking aaahhh!!!! no.2

load of arse-biscuits number two, patricia casey on why cannabis is dangerous. it's basically a report about the independent on sundays in britain apology on cannabis. some of the claims in that report, especially about the links between cannabis and mental illness, were covered on the badscience website. anyway the point of this is that professor casey as though in a game of chinese whispers, manages to re-report the IOS arse ways

The variety of cannabis now being smoked is called “skunk”, and the active ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol, is up to 25 times more potent that the stuff beloved by the 1960s hippies.

first off it is alleged (look on the first badscience link) that ''skunk" contains 25 times more THC, not that THC has suddenly become 25 times more pharmacologically active. duh. even if it was getting stronger it doesn't mean everyone is getting higher. for example, vodka has a lot more alcohol than beer volume for volume, but how many people drink a pint of vodka in the same way they drink a pint of beer?

for a psychiatrist this next bit seems bizarre.

There is now a realisation that cannabis can provoke schizophrenia and other psychoses in vulnerable individuals, particularly young people, by releasing dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with schizophrenia. This is borne out by research at the Institute of Psychiatry in London, in which young people are given cannabis followed by a brain scan using modern imaging techniques.

The results show that the group who are given cannabis have higher levels of dopamine then those given a placebo.

dopamine is a neurotransmitter in everyones brain. incredibly sloppy reporting. dopamine is considered part of the brains reward mechanism, the release of dopamine is probably why people like cannabis. therefore the comparison with placebo says nothing, the study merely states the obvious. indeed schizophrenia is associated with dopamine (the dopamine hypothesis), but not in the clearcut way the professor implies.

In its recent editorial called “Cannabis: a retraction” on March 18, the Independent courageously stated that current concerns over its impact on mental health take precedence over the liberal instincts that inspired its campaign 10 years ago. Concluding its retraction, it quoted the economist John Maynard Keynes, as saying: “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?”

Let us hope that the answer from those on this side of the Irish Sea who call for its legalisation will be, “So do I, sir”.

it's not up to anyone else to decide the correct level of risk in relation to your own affairs. no matter what the IOS or any experts think they don't have a right to control other peoples actions even if they've got good intentions. it also ignores the one of the main arguments for legalisation which is the easing of the effects of criminal control of the drugs trade. really annoying.