I recently joined your page because I have a nephew, who died by suicide last year. Today he would have been 22 years old. He was very troubled his whole life, but his first drug abuse was high-potency marijuana. His parents supported this use, and he was hospitalized many times.… Read the rest
Tracing the Connection Between Marijuana and Schizophrenia
By Laura Stack
… Read the restSchiz·o·phre·ni·a (skitsəˈfrēnēə,ˌskitsəˈfrenēə): Noun, Psychiatry
A long-term mental disorder of a type involving a breakdown in the relation between thought, emotion, and behavior, leading to faulty perception, inappropriate actions and feelings, withdrawal from reality and personal relationships into fantasy and delusion, and a sense of mental fragmentation.
Bart B. — February 9, 2021
On August 14, 2018, my son, Kevin, died by suicide. He was 29 years old. Kevin suffered from depression and cannabis-induced psychosis, (a diagnosis in the DSM-5).
Kevin told my wife and me about his cannabis use at 15
He agreed to get help.… Read the rest
The Rise of Big Marijuana: Lessons Learned from Big Tobacco, Part II
By Laura Stack
The wave of decriminalization/legalization of marijuana keeps marching across the land in 2021. Businesses providing marijuana and its paraphernalia are proliferating like fire ants. Serious marijuana users remain a relatively small American minority, but they have powerful allies in business.… Read the rest
The Rise of Big Marijuana: Lessons Learned from Big Tobacco, Part I
By Laura Stack
It’s been over a century since some savvy businessmen took tobacco out of the hands of roll-your-own, everyday joes and started producing cheap cigarettes in bulk. Aside from making the product affordable to almost anyone, their most profitable innovation lay in using milder and better-cured tobacco with smoke that was more palatable and easier to inhale deeply.… Read the rest
Sonia J. — January 26, 2021
My son was at a rehab in December after being admitted three times to a mental hospital for weed induced psychosis. Each time he was diagnosed as Bipolar and put on antipsychotics and mood stabilizers. Nobody on either side of my son’s family is bipolar.… Read the rest
The DSM-5 Mental Disorders Associated with Cannabis Use Disorder
By Laura Stack
In my writing, I often focus on the mental effects of marijuana use, since it caused psychosis in my son, Johnny, and ultimately destroyed his life. A recent 2020 study in the journal Addictive Behaviors indicates that people who use cannabis have a 1 in 5 risk of developing a CUD.… Read the rest
Recognizing Cannabis Withdrawal Syndrome (CWS)
By Laura Stack
Like all Substance Use Disorders, Cannabis Use Disorder comes with a suite of telltale withdrawal symptoms. Indeed, Cannabis Withdrawal Syndrome (CWS) is a clinical indicator of CUD, and it’s one of the factors that’s convinced most health care professionals marijuana is, in fact, addictive.… Read the rest
Marijuana Usage and the COVID-19 Pandemic
By Laura Stack
In recent years, we’ve seen gradual increases in marijuana use among the younger segments of the population, including adolescents and tweens. This may be linked to the increased legalization and decriminalization of marijuana across the United States, and the associated perception that it’s not an especially dangerous drug.… Read the rest
Geoff R. – January 5, 2021
My son Daniel was a wonderful boy. Growing up, he was everything you can ask for in a child. Sadly, after my divorce it affected him, he started using marijuana sometime in 2018. We didn’t find out about the THC oils until he had a breakdown.… Read the rest