Limes with Orange

I wasn't planning on posting anything right now, because I'm getting ready to head out the door. But I just read this ridiculous article in the Globe & Mail that claims "using cannabis even once can significantly increase a person's risk of suffering from a psychotic illness later in life." This report, published in a British medical journal, was based on results from seven previous studies on the long-term effects of marijuana use. So this isn't even an actual study using standardized procedures to determine if there is any causal relationship between cannabis and psychosis. This is simply going back through old studies hoping to find sufficient evidence to back up something that I think they've already decided would be a convenient truth. I see this as "Reefer Madness" based on the fact that several British politicians recently admitted to having smoked pot in their past.

The authors said people diagnosed with mental illness prior to their participation were excluded from their research. But did they actually bother to test the people who participated who had yet to be diagnosed. Because a lot of people who have some symptoms of mental illness will use cannabis in an attempt to relieve them, but they haven't actually been to a doctor about those symptoms and therefore haven't been diagnosed. But the study doesn't count that... because it's not an actual study! It's report based on several different studies that had several different parameters and objectives.

Aside from the fact that it's an obviously biased report, it's just plain bad science! So please, don't believe everything you read. Find out the actual facts and reach your own conclusions. Because this report is just a bunch of B.S.

Labels: health, rant