Cannabis: the evil weed?

[thefrenchman]

There was a television show that aired today on bbc two called "Horizon, Cannabis: the evil weed?"

Here is the description:


Cannabis is the world's favourite drug, but also one of the least understood. Can cannabis cause schizophrenia? Is it addictive? Can it lead you on to harder drugs? Or is it simply a herb, an undervalued medicine?

Addiction specialist Dr John Marsden discovers that modern science is finally beginning to find answers to these questions. John traces the cannabis plants' birthplace in Kazakhstan; finds the origins of our sensitivity to cannabis in the simple sea squirt; and shows just what it does to our brains.

He meets people who have been changed by this drug in drastically different ways - from those whose lives have been shattered to those who lives have been revived.

I just watched a version I found on the interweb, and I think every one should watch it (particularly the non-smokers, which I know I wont reach by posting on this site).

If you can find a copy I highly recommend it for it does a great job at covering the more negative aspects of this wonderful plant.

[weedmaster]

i watched it, found it very interesting but not convinced the man with the voices in his head was caused by the herb and the other who said he was addicted was just an idiot who had let weed be the all in his life, the origins of the plant was very infomative.

[thefrenchman]

Yeah that guy saying hes addicted is just blaming weed for his lack of social skills and general tendency to be a hermit which means he'll most likely never see the truth and get better.

Im unsure about the schizophrenia. Im still very skeptical that weed can cause it but I think it might be possible to trigger it (maybe).

An other point I liked a little less was when that whole inhibition thing. He concludes that because marijuana reduces activity in the prefrontal cortex it might mean it can cause some mental illnesses. But alcohol is exactly the same thing and no comparison was made....

[smok3y]

Intresting programe... I thought it was pretty good..

The guy with the voices in his head was just simple fucked up, and blaming the herb for it is a poor excuse..

[Greenthing]

I have only just seen it and found it very enlightening to say the least.
The guy who said he was addicted came across to me as being the type of person that would have been addicted to some substance or other anyway, IMHO i do not think the weed is addictive.

[PlainJane]

I saw that. It was a decent presentation and interesting to watch but I found some of the interview subjects left a lot to be desired. That "addict", what a joke. He is a miserable arsehole who just wants to place the blame somewhere else for what a pathetic sack of bollocks he really is. I notice he wanted no help for his "problem", just wanted to whinge about what a mess he has made of his own life by being such a miserable arsehole. It ain't the weed, mate.

I don't believe the schizophrenia risk either, at least not to the extent that many sources would like to have us believe. I could believe that maybe psychiatric illness can surface more recognisably in those who have an dormant risk for it, because of the effects of the weed itself can cause you to analyse yourself and the world around you. However, those people often have the tendency to seek out drugs as it is and that isn't necessarily caused by the drugs themselves. Chicken or the egg? I think it was always going to be a chicken and whether or not that chicken chonged on some skunk matters not. Cluck cluck.

[Reefer Rogue]

watched it an enjoyed it. that 1 guy looked so depressed an pathetic though, he just blazed all day and didn't have control of himself. Some other guy had people talk to him, that's never happened to me or my friends. Lol at the doc who prescribed cannabis for writers block. Pretty good and objective, though i still feel nothing was acomplished for our movement and doubt if it ever will be. That 1 pathetic guy rly made me wanna take a break, i don't wanna be like that guy. Legalize it. Peace