The claim that cannabis causes \u201cmental illness\u201d rears its dubious head like clockwork every few years, and this latest round has occasioned a virtual media frenzy \u2014 a seeming backlash to the recent advances in normalization of the herb and its aficionados. Scratching the claims, however, reveals more hype than rigor.<\/p>\n
The latest example: Former New York Times reporter Alex Berenson has written a book about the public health dangers of marijuana called \u201cTell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness, and Violence<\/a>.\u201d In the press tour surrounding his book, released on Jan. 8, he succeeded in churning up a good amount of press coverage for his argument.<\/p>\n He ran an op-ed in the New York Times on Jan. 4 called \u201cWhat Advocates of Legalizing Pot Don\u2019t Want You to Know<\/a>.\u201d His claim: \u201cThe wave toward legalization ignores the serious health risks of marijuana.\u201d His argument has been picked up by\u00a0The New Yorker<\/a>\u00a0and even progressive media organs like\u00a0Mother Jones<\/a>.<\/p>\n But, also like clockwork, one wishes these write-ups had examined Berenson\u2019s work with a more critical eye.<\/p>\n Berenson\u2019s most damning claim is that evidence links cannabis use to \u201cmental illness.\u201d In New York Times op-ed, Berenson portrays an emerging medical consensus behind the assertion. He notes that in a 1999 report, the Institute of Medicine wrote that \u201cthe association between marijuana and schizophrenia is not well understood,\u201d and even suggested that cannabis might help some people with schizophrenia. But in 2017, the Institute\u2019s successor organization, the\u00a0National Academy of Medicine<\/a>, issued a new study, finding: \u201cCannabis use is likely to increase the risk of schizophrenia and other psychoses; the higher the use, the greater the risk.\u201d<\/p>\n Sounds damning. But if you actually examine the NAM report, entitled \u201cThe Health Effects of Cannabis and Cannabinoids: The Current State of Evidence and Recommendations for Research,\u201d<\/a> it becomes clear that Berenson is distorting things.<\/p>\n For starters, he quotes that line as the report\u2019s conclusion. In fact, it is one of several \u201cchapter highlights\u201d in the report, and reviewing the list reveals that Berenson cherry-picked the most damning.<\/p>\n Among those he did not cite: \u201cIn individuals with schizophrenia and other psychoses, a history of cannabis use may be linked to better performance on learning and memory tasks.\u201d And: \u201cCannabis use does not appear to increase the likelihood of developing depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder.\u201d<\/p>\n The phrase\u00a0actually<\/i>\u00a0listed as a \u201cconclusion\u201d of the report, not quoted by Berenson, is more cautious. \u201cThere is substantial evidence of a statistical association between cannabis use and the development of schizophrenia or other psychoses, with the highest risk among the most frequent users,\u201d it reads.<\/p>\n Note that a \u201cstatistical association\u201d does not necessarily imply causality. The discussion leading up to this \u201cconclusion\u201d is full of caveats, such as: \u201c[T]he relationship between cannabis use and cannabis use disorder, and psychoses may be multidirectional and complex,\u201d and \u201c[I]t is noteworthy to state that in certain societies, the incidence of schizophrenia has remained stable over the past 50 years, despite the introduction of cannabis into those settings\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n This last point is particularly critical. Worldwide rates of schizophrenia have remained constant since the 1950s, despite dramatic increases in the use of cannabis, especially in Western countries. This reality was documented in a 2009 study by researchers at Britain\u2019s Keele University Medical School published in the journal Schizophrenia Research, \u201cAssessing the impact of cannabis use on trends in diagnosed schizophrenia in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2005<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n In 2008, as that study was being prepared, its authors handed preliminary findings into the British government\u2019s\u00a0Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs<\/a>.\u00a0\u201cTheir confidential paper found that between 1996 and 2005 there had been significant reductions in the incidence and prevalence of schizophrenia,\u201d\u00a0The Guardian<\/a>\u00a0reported. \u201cFrom 2000 onwards there were also significant reductions in the prevalence of psychoses. The authors say this data is \u2018not consistent with the hypothesis that increasing cannabis use in earlier decades is associated with increasing schizophrenia or psychoses from the mid-1990s onwards.’\u201d<\/p>\n In fact, based on these findings, if we are to assume causality at all (always a tricky proposition), cannabis use may be\u00a0beneficial<\/i>\u00a0to\u00a0mental health<\/a>!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n To return to Berenson\u2019s text, he does cite a statistical increase that, on first read, seems like cause for concern. \u201cAccording to the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, in 2006, emergency rooms saw 30,000 cases of people who had diagnoses of psychosis and marijuana-use disorder \u2014 the medical term for abuse or dependence on the drug. By 2014, that number had tripled to 90,000,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n However, this does not mean there was an increase in cases of psychosis, only in cases of psychosis accompanied by \u201cmarijuana-use disorder,\u201d which is itself a condition usually defined in circular, question-begging ways. The\u00a0National Institute on Drug Abuse<\/a>, for instance,\u00a0calls it \u201cproblem use.\u201d If cases of psychosis, with or without \u201cmarijuana-use disorder,\u201d remained constant or decreased, that would merely indicate an increase in the latter \u2014 not any link between the two, much less a causative one.<\/p>\n Berenson goes on to state that \u201cfederal surveys also show that rates of serious mental illness are rising nationally, with the sharpest increase among people 18 to 25, who are also the most likely to use cannabis.\u201d<\/p>\n Yeah, well, people in that age group are also just entering the job market, typically with no or little savings, at a time of the most economic uncertainty since the 2008 financial crash and subsequent \u201cjobless recovery.\u201d If this rising \u201cmental illness\u201d includes severe anxiety, there might be very good reason for it. But we\u2019re not supposed to talk about that.<\/p>\n Berenson also takes the time to relitigate some other cannabis calumnies that have already been pretty well debunked.<\/p>\n For instance, there\u2019s the high potency bugaboo. Berenson writes that \u201cmany older Americans remember marijuana as a relatively weak drug that they used casually in social settings like concerts. They\u2019re not wrong. In the 1970s and 1980s, marijuana generally contained less than 5 percent THC<\/a>. Today, the marijuana sold at legal dispensaries often contains 25 percent THC. Many people use extracts that are nearly pure THC. As a comparison, think of the difference between a beer and a martini.<\/p>\n This betrays a real misunderstanding of the whole question. Back in 2016, when\u00a0Canada<\/a>\u00a0was debating whether or not to adopt a THC maximum for legal cannabis, Hilary Black of the\u00a0BC Compassion Club Society<\/a>\u00a0told the\u00a0Canadian Broadcasting Corporation<\/a>: \u201cWith a potent cannabis strain, somebody may have just one or two little puffs of their vaporizer and that\u2019s it. In many ways, more potent strains of cannabis can be healthier to use.\u201d On the basis of this logic, Canadian health authorities\u00a0rejected a THC maximum<\/a>\u00a0for herbaceous cannabis.<\/p>\n \u201cI am not a prohibitionist,\u201d Berenson protests, saying he supports decriminalization rather than legalization \u2014 before going on to dredge up more prohibitionist talking points.<\/p>\n \u201c[B]ecause marijuana can cause paranoia and psychosis, and those conditions are closely linked to violence \u2014 it appears to lead to an increase in violent crime,\u201d he writes. \u201cBefore recreational legalization began in 2014, advocates promised that it would reduce violent crime. But the first four states to legalize \u2014 Alaska, Colorado, Oregon and Washington \u2014 have seen sharp increases in murders and aggravated assaults since 2014, according to reports from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Police reports and news articles show a clear link to cannabis in many cases.\u201d<\/p>\n Note several problems here. First, Berenson tells us cannabis \u201ccan cause\u201d psychosis, after the study he cited used far more cautious language. Even if he had written \u201cmay cause\u201d it would have been a bit of a stretch; \u201ccan cause\u201d is downright irresponsible.<\/p>\n Then, as a refreshingly skeptical look at his work in\u00a0New York Magazine<\/a>\u00a0notes, the FBI stats indicate a\u00a0national\u00a0<\/i>uptick in violent crime since 2014, so Berenson is being dishonest by only citing the states that have legalized. He also fails to cite any legalization advocates who \u201cpromised\u201d a reduction in violent crime, which would have been a foolish pledge, as outcomes may be influenced by factors unrelated to cannabis.<\/p>\n Finally, he fails to define the \u201cclear link\u201d to cannabis. Again, if a perpetrator toked before an assault, does that imply causality? No. The professional rumor-busters at Snopes examine the claim that \u201cMarijuana legalization has led to an increase in crime and fatalities all over\u00a0Colorado<\/a>.\u201d Their finding? \u201cUnproven<\/a>.\u201d They also examine this claim: \u201cThere is a demonstrable link between marijuana legalization and an increase in violent crime.\u201d Their finding?\u00a0False<\/a>.<\/p>\n In an ironic line, Berenson protests:\u00a0\u201c[L]egalization advocates have squelched discussion of the serious mental health risks of marijuana\u2026 As I have seen firsthand in writing a book about cannabis, anyone who raises those concerns may be mocked as a modern-day believer in \u2018Reefer Madness,\u2019 the notorious 1936 movie that portrays young people descending into insanity and violence after smoking marijuana.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet the claims Berenson is peddling are not too far removed from those 1930s propaganda chestnuts. Even his book\u2019s title, \u201cTell Your Children,\u201d was\u00a0literally<\/a>\u00a0the original title of the notorious 1936 propaganda film\u00a0\u201cReefer Madness!\u201d\u2028<\/i><\/p>\n Berenson\u2019s complaint about being painted as a peddler of \u201cReefer Madness\u201d propaganda brings to mind the famous line from\u00a0Hamlet: Methinks he doth protest too much.<\/p>\n TELL US<\/b>, how do you combat misinformation about cannabis?<\/p>\n The post In a Tired & Skewed Refrain, \u2018Tell Your Children\u2019 Links Cannabis Use to Madness<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
The claim that cannabis causes \u201cmental illness\u201d rears its dubious head like clockwork every few years, and this latest round has occasioned a virtual media frenzy \u2014 a seeming backlash to the recent advances in normalization of the herb and its aficionados. Scratching the claims, however, reveals more hype thanContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":190,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7011,261,50,7012,7013,2791,3563,7014,5719,7015,3949,420],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31960"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31960"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31960\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31961,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31960\/revisions\/31961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Countervailing Evidence Ignored<\/h4>\n
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Reefer Madness, Recycled<\/h4>\n
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\nRead More: In a Tired & Skewed Refrain, \u2018Tell Your Children\u2019 Links Cannabis Use to Madness<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"