Knowledge is power

The link between marijuana smoking and mental illness in terms of contributing to the onset of psychotic symptoms in general and the severe form of psychosis, schizophrenia, is well known in scientific circles. A recent study reported in Reuters and soon to be presented at a two-day International Cannabis and Mental Health Conference at the Institute of Psychiatry has shown that the modern variety of super-strength marijuana (also known as cannabis or skunk) is affecting the inferior frontal cortex brain region which is associated with controlling inappropriate emotional and behavioral responses to situations.

Professor Philip McGuire and Zerrin Atakan of London’s Institute of Psychiatry said their work using magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, showed patients given the active cannabis compound tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) had reduced function in the inferior frontal cortex brain region.

So how long have people been smoking marijuana and how many people today have tried this drug? According to Wikipedia,

Humans have been consuming cannabis since prehistory, although in the 20th century there was a rise in its use for recreational, religious or spiritual, and medicinal purposes. It is estimated that cannabis is now regularly used by four percent of the world’s adult population, with estimates of up to 20% or greater of the adult population in the United States having tried the drug, and 10–30% or greater using the herb in many European countries.

Some good news is that cannabis only affects a small portion of those who use it and as researchers suspect that the cause is genetics. So, blame your parents for giving you defective genes if you end up in the affected minority of users. Then again, maybe instead of wasting your life getting high, why not do something productive that would add a little more to the stock of human knowledge?