Reply #106: Right. Stick with Booze and Nicotine, Kids.. [View All]

[Warren DeMontague]

They're good for ya!

Oh, and be sure to take lots of those overpriced pharmaceutical company anti-depressants, you know, the ones that turn you into a sexless zombie ready for 8 hours a day of mind-numbing, corporate dronedom! They're Grrrrreat! And, they only cost $40 a pill!

Schizophrenia, as I understand it (watch, now some asshat is going to ask me to provide written verification of having studied this, too) doesn't generally manifest itself until late teens or early twenties, in most people. Most people who smoke pot start before then. This study acknowledges that these effects seem to happen in people with a predisposition to schizophrenia. Therefore, it's hardly arguable that pot is "making" anyone schizophrenic. Other than that, legalize it, tax it, and use the money from the taxes to help treat mental illess, which is grossly under-funded in this country. I can't imagine that schizophrenics who smoke pot are helped by the gummint turning them into criminals and throwing them into jail. Where's the study that says countries like the Netherlands, which have a more tolerant, harm reduction approach to drugs, have more schizophrenics running around?

Beyond that, I'm not sure what the point of this piece is. Yes, schizophrenics and those with predispositions thereof, probably shouldn't mess around with certain chemicals.. just like alcoholics shouldn't drink. Does that mean that the chemical itself is "evil", or that the millions of people who use it responsibly are "wrong"? Hardly, I think.