Quote Originally Posted by miv
Schizophrenia is not an objectively determinable fact. There is no test for schizophrenia. It cannot be proved or disproved.

Schizophrenia is an attribution, like ugliness. Your are schizophrenic when a psychiatrist decides that you are schizophrenic. Claims that cannabis causes schizophrenia are politically correct and will ensure researchers funds, but they can have no scientific basis, because science deals with demonstrable facts, not attributions.

Of course cannabis is a psychoactive substance. That's why people use it. Like all psychoactive substances, there is risk involved in its use. If we want to eliminate risks, we should start by prohibiting automobiles. Many more people are killed or permanently maimed from automobiles than from cannabis (which doesn't kill anybody).

If I may make a few corrections...
There are "tests" to see if someone is schizophrenic. That is what the DSM-IV is all about, a list of criteria one has to meet. You can also can see that someone is schizophrenic through the use of PET scans. PET scans indicate brain activity, shown by color coded pixels. Red and Orange colors indicate extreme activity. In schizophrenics, there are red and orange colors that show up in the auditory section of the brain. Also, a friend of mine did develop Drug-Induced Schizophrenia from smoking weed (was hospitalized in a mental institution). He was a fiend with it and it was really unfortunate because he used to be smart, an honors student, good-looking kid. Obviously this is a rare occurance and I don't think it's any reason to go around saying we shouldn't be smoking weed, but I thought I'd contribute a little of my knowledge on the subject.