Posted by Brainbeard on April 15, 2012, at 2:14:26
In reply to Re: Psychosis from Cannibis » rjlockhart04-08, posted by phidippus on April 14, 2012, at 21:07:49
'The Good Drug Guide' by David Pearce is enlightening on the subject. Two negative side-effects of cannabis use haven't yet been mentioned in this thread: the apathy and lethargy that follow (heavy) use the next day; and the increased vulnerability to stress when sober (see biochemical reasons for this below). Demonizing cannabis is no good, but naively seeing it as Mother Nature's product that is inherently harmless is no good either.
' By contrast to today's opioids, marijuana isn't usually addictive in the traditional sense of the term. It can still be habit-forming. Marijuana has euphoriant, psychedelic and sedative properties. Experiments with stoned rats suggest that cannabis use reduces the amount of corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) in the amygdala. Excess secretion of CRF is associated with abnormalities in the HPLA axis and depression. The rebound surge of CRF on ceasing cannabis-use correlates with increased vulnerability to stress and a withdrawal-reaction, arguably one good reason not to stop in the first instance. Stress-induced endocannabinoid deficit in the brain may induce melancholic depression in users and non-users alike. A dysfunctional response to stress, linked to a chronically overactive HPLA axis, causes anxiety disorders and depression; CRH-type 1 receptor antagonists like antalarmin are being investigated as potential anxiolytics and antidepressants. The deeper roots of our malaise lie buried in the evolutionary past.
The primary psychoactive ingredient in marijuana is THC, tetrahydrocannabinol. Smoking or eating marijuana and its complex cocktail of compounds may rarely trigger episodes of depersonalisation, derealisation and psychosis. Sometimes it can induce paranoia, particularly in advocates of The War Against Drugs. More commonly, marijuana just leaves the user pleasantly and harmlessly stoned. It's fun. Sleepiness, pain-relief and euphoria are typical responses. Cannabinoid CB(1) receptor agonists are potential antidepressants. Indeed cannabinoids may be neuroprotective against the effects of stress. Conversely, cannabinoid CB(1) receptor antagonists/inverse agonists, like the new EC-licensed diet-drug rimonabant (Acomplia), may cause depression and anxiety. Indeed the first brain-derived substance found to bind to our cannabis receptors was christened "anandamide", a derivative of the Sanskrit word for internal contentment. Getting high may thus serve as an innocent recreational pastime in an uncaring world.
Yet marijuana is not a wonderdrug. Cognitive function in the user is often impaired, albeit moderately and reversibly. Marijuana interferes with memory-formation by disrupting long-term potentiation in the hippocampus. One of the functions of endogenous cannabinoids in the brain is to promote selective short-term amnesia. Forgetting is not, as one might have supposed, a purely passive process. Either way, choosing deliberately to ingest an amnestic agent for long periods is scarcely an ideal life-strategy. It's especially flawed given the centrality of memory to human self-identity. Some artists and professional bohemians, it is true, apparently do find smoking grass an adjunct to creative thought. For persons of a more philistine temperament, on the other hand, it's hard to see such a drug as a major tool for life-affirmation or the development of the human species. This shortcoming does not, one ought scarcely need to add, suggest marijuana users should be persecuted and criminalised. Indeed the marijuana compound THC may actually be superior to commercially licensed products at blocking the formation of mind-rotting amyloid plaques of the memory-destroying Alzheimer's disease.'.
Current meds: clomipramine 225mg, fluvoxamine (Luvox) 50mg, methylphenidate 30-90mg, flupentixol 1mg. PRN: oxazepam 5-20mg or other benzo's.
poster:Brainbeard
thread:1015475
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20120411/msgs/1015620.html