AlterNet: Anti-Pot Propaganda As Stupid As Ever -- Yet Our Alarmist Media Continues to Hype It

[marmar]

AlterNet / By Paul Armentano

Anti-Pot Propaganda As Stupid As Ever -- Yet Our Alarmist Media Continues to Hype It
Once again mainstream media are running wild with the absurd notion that marijuana use causes psychological problems, despite much evidence to the contrary.

March 4, 2010 |


Once again members of the mainstream media are running wild with the notion that marijuana use causes schizophrenia and psychosis.

To add insult to injury, this latest dose of reefer rhetoric comes only days after investigators in the United Kingdom reported in the prestigious scientific journal Addiction that the available evidence in support of this theory is “neither very new, nor by normal criteria, particularly compelling.” (Predictably, the conclusions of that study went all together unnoticed by the mainstream press.)

Yet today’s latest alarmist report, like those studies touting similar claims before it, fails to account for the following: If, as the authors of this latest study suggest, cannabis use is a cause of mental illness (and schizophrenia in particular), then why have diagnosed incidences of schizophrenia not paralleled rising trends in cannabis use over time?

In fact, it was only in September when investigators at the Keele University Medical School in Britain smashed the pot = schizophrenia theory to smithereens. Writing in the journal Schizophrenia Research, the team compared trends in marijuana use and incidences of schizophrenia in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2005. Researchers reported that the “incidence and prevalence of schizophrenia and psychoses were either stable or declining” during this period, even the use of cannabis among the general population was rising. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/story/145879/anti-pot_propaganda_as_stupid_as_ever_--_yet_our_alarmist_media_continues_to_hype_it

[ixion]

1. Indeed... and that ridiculous piece of trash was posted -- and defened --

here on DU.

It's amazing. They never give up their notions of refer madness.

[teknomanzer]

6. Yup - I remember that...

I knew it was horseshit... schizophrenia is a hereditary disease, blaming pot for its cause is ridiculous. The idiots have been trying to convince the public that pot makes you crazy since 'Reefer Madness.' I wonder if the drug testing industry is behind some of this bullshit.

[HillbillyBob]

2. I had an ex who was schiz-manic-depressive

MJ actually helped to calm him..and me when he would go off his prescription meds.

On the other hand when he went off meds and started drinking and or doing coke..look out. Which is why he is EX now,dishonesty, manipulation, physical and emotional abuse were other reasons.

I am a long term hiv survivor mj helps me cope with side effects of meds..that is if I could get it.
As is I have to 'settle' for the fake marinol which does not help much and costs 600$ a month, the real stuff would cost me about 200$ a month.....

[RainDog]

5. Isn't NC a state that has decriminalized?

and isn't NC one of the top growing states in the U.S.?

...just to say that surely there are some compassionate growers in your area.

from what I understand, Marinol is a different experience anyway because it only has synthetic THC and none of the other cannabinoids that, tho not psychotropic, provide other health benefits, including mitigating the effects of the THC component.

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

3. I knew the schizo story was crap

and I also had noticed the timing of the marijuana hit piece to coincide with the report in Addiction.

At the same time, I noticed the mass media did a little dance last week alternately praising and then trashing organic vegetables. It's really pathetic that they feel the need to trot out manufactured controversies like this just to sell newspapers . . . mostly because it's not really selling any more papers, and it just reinforces the public perception of their efforts as "crying wolf".

[pleah]

4. The propaganda machine never stops. Knew that story was bs.

To much money to be made with the prison industry.