Screams the headline in The Independent, continuing breathlessly,
"Some areas have suffered a tenfold increase in people mentally ill from using the drug. Nationally, skunk smokers are ending up ill in hospital in record numbers, with admissions soaring 73 per cent."
Shock! Horror! Dismay! Anguish! It then continues on a more sobre note:
"The number of adults recorded as suffering mental illness as a result of cannabis use has risen sharply from 430 in 1996 to 743 in 2006."
Wot? 743? Out of an estimated two million regular users?
That means that about one-in-three thousand regular cannabis users goes mad each year, considerably better odds than I guesstimated here, using pessimistic assumptions. The link between cannabis and mental illness is fairly tenuous anyway, see Leslie Iverson's summary halfway down this.
Further, are they distinguishing between 'cannabis' and 'skunk'? Not clear to me. Maybe all these admission are due to people smoking skunk, in which case cannabis is totally harmless.
The heart of the matter
27 minutes ago
3 comments:
Mark, cannabis is freely available on most Mental health wards. I know I have been an inpatient now and it is surprising the amount of cannabis that gets smuggled in. I wouldnt be surprised if some people actually try it for the first time on the wards after being admitted and then go on to develop worse symptoms afterwards.
Crack cocaine is possibly the worst drug for any kind of psychotic illness as it really does make you paranoid and angry when you come down.
I thought that people took crack as it is a cheaper version of cocaine?
Now, cocaine is a terrible drug as it turns you into an arrogant arse and makes your nose bleed, but apart from that...? Ergo, if cocaine were legal and regulated and a lot cheaper, would anybody still take crack?
Crack gives a very quick high and a very quick comedown its more addictive but is usually cut with more diluents...
White powder is less easy to cut with any old rubbish... though they do...
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