Saving Our Youth from the Harms of THC
Guest post by Dr. Erik Messamore, Johnny’s Ambassadors Scientific Advisory Board
A NATURAL QUESTION
Marijuana can provide a sense of happiness and relaxation for many users, so some people with depression may consider marijuana a way to treat their depression symptoms (Cuttler et al.,… Read the rest
By Laura Stack
In 1971, psychiatrists Harold Kolansky and William T. Moore sounded an alarm about the effects of marijuana on young people that’s eerily reminiscent of many of today’s medical studies. Their study documented the effects of the relatively weak herb marijuana of the time, which rarely exceeded 3% THC concentration—as opposed to the 15-35% strains common today, not to mention the high-potency wax, shatter, and other butane hash oils available at 90%+ THC.… Read the rest
By Heidi Anderson-Swan
My brother was a homeless drug addict with schizophrenia who went to jail eighteen times. He refused treatment. What could we do? It was agonizing for me to imagine him outside, finding shelter under a freeway overpass. To make it worse, he was homeless in Seattle, where it seems to rain practically every day.… Read the rest
TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2021
After the suicide death of her 19-year-old son, Johnny, on 11/20/19, Laura Stack founded the 501c3 nonprofit Johnny’s Ambassadors to educate parents and teens about the dangers of today’s high-THC marijuana on adolescent brain development, mental illness, and suicide.… Read the rest
By Laura Stack
Modern marijuana is an insidious drug, in part because its proponents and users operate under a set of assumptions that no longer apply. Once upon a time—ironically, during the period when government agencies quashed it most severely—marijuana wasn’t much of a threat to most people.… Read the rest
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.
One result of the abuse of an addictive substance can be a Substance Use Disorder, or SUD. SUDs are primarily psychological ailments, though they may have physical effects if the user’s brain has suffered damage from the substance abused. A SUD can prove harder to recover from than a physical injury, and though they usually can’t be seen, the scars they leave are real and often permanent.… Read the rest
By Laura Stack
There’s a wise old saying that goes, “Into every life, a little rain must fall.” Since the beginning of this year, America has experienced a figurative typhoon. History will remember 2020 as an annus horribilis during which the COVID-19 pandemic killed hundreds of thousands worldwide and sickened millions, damaging our economy in the process.… Read the rest