Some info is emerging about marijuana use in the young and cardiovascular problems

[RainDog]

26. But the meta analyses ruled out causation

The way they did this was to look at rates of schizophrenia in populations relative to the rates of marijuana use.

An increase in marijuana use should lead to an increase in schizophrenia if marijuana caused schizophrenia.

This was not the case.

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of people were involved in these meta analysis - far, far more statistical validity than any single test.

The leading pharmacologist in the UK said, in 2010:

Roger Pertwee, professor of neuropharmacology at Aberdeen University, will on Tuesday tell the British Science Festival in Birmingham that making cannabis available from licensed outlets would reduce drug-related crime and cut the risk of users moving on to more dangerous drugs.

“At the moment cannabis is in the hands of criminals,” he will say. “We are allowed to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes. Cannabis, if it is handled properly, is not going to be more dangerous.”

Although research has shown cannabis may increase the risk of developing schizophrenia in particularly vulnerable individuals, this danger does not apply to the general population, he will say. The risk could be reduced by setting a minimum age of 21 for consuming cannabis or requiring individuals to obtain a licence to buy it.

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/RainDog/23


studies from Harvard published late last year: http://www.democraticunderground.com/11701551

and a meta analysis of marijuana studies have indicated that marijuana was only a risk for schizophrenia for those with existing family histories, and, therefore, existing predisposition for schizo-affective disorder:

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2009/09/01/2673334.htm

Previous research has suggested cannabis use increases the risk of being diagnosed with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders.

This latest study, led by Dr Martin Frisher of Keele University, examined the records of 600,000 patients aged between 16 and 44, but failed to find a similar link.

"An important limitation of many studies is that they have failed to distinguish the direction of association between cannabis use and psychosis," the authors write in the latest edition of the journal Schizophrenia Research.