Is the following statement FACT or CRAP?
14. You might worry people are out to get you when you use marijuana.
Answer: FACT
Using marijuana can make you paranoid and think others intend to harm you. How cannabis causes paranoia https://academic.oup.com/schizophreniabulletin/article/41/2/391/2526091
Modern marijuana is replete with a chemical called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, better known as THC—an intoxicant that damages the still-developing brains of young people who ingest it. All THC isomers (8, 9, 10) latch onto brain-cell receptors meant to receive important natural chemicals controlling growth, anxiety, sleep, and clear thinking. One of the many potential results is paranoia, an intense belief that others intend to harm you.
In 2015, a group of British researchers proved that THC can trigger paranoia in individuals. Apparently, it does so by providing “anomalous experiences” and increasing negative effect: anxiety, depression, negative self-thoughts, and worry.
You don’t have to have a known genetic vulnerability to marijuana to become paranoid. My son Johnny was a bright, talented, and stable young, who never experienced paranoia until years after he began using marijuana heavily. By the time he died by suicide at age 19, he wrote in his journals his university was an FBI installation and the mob was after him.
Keep a close eye on the emotional life and behavior of your teens, and step in as soon as you see any significant behavior change or delusional thought patterns. But forewarned is forearmed. I pray that our family’s loss to this insidious drug can improve your chances of saving your children from the harms of marijuana and the paranoia and other horrors it can create.