Here are some articles that explore the interplay between psychosis and weed.

https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/...ced-psychosis-review

https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/...s-cannabis-psychosis

The psychiatrists that I discussed this topic with were both of the opinion that there is NO DOUBT that THC aggravates, accelerates or causes psychosis.

Good questions might be:
What percentages of the population will have problems with THC and psychosis?
At what doses?
And frequencies?
Can dishonest marketing on Facebook etc be limited?

Good steps to take would be:
1) Set regulations about THC/CBD content
2) Set reasonable rules about THC continent.
3) Establish good research related to mental health issues and THC.

Or put it another way: assuming 5mg is a dose, they took 720 doses over 2 days. 720 doses of anything will fuck you up. 720 drinks? Your getting a funeral.

Sorry to say, TimeIsUp is spot on. Sorry, but you are too close to this situation to have an objective view. No one in their right mind would vape a 1200mg high concentrate cartridge in a weekend, let alone 3. If they drank 5 bottles of Vodka and died, would you say it was the vodka's fault for having a too high proof, or something else was the problem.

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~Brad

It is a hard question.

It is a lot easier to regulate alcohol because it is a much simpler drug, with much less potential for engineering.

Yet we have many sensible precautions and regulations in place for alcohol.

My point is that the state's and the marijuana industry are not doing a very good job regulating and educating.

Obviously, prohibition is not very good for education or regulation either.

Btw I am not certain that dangerous synthetic cannabinoids have gone away either.
There is lots of discussion about them ending up in old vape cartridges that are then being considered by middle-schoolers. Who think they are getting the "good stuff."

I read. Story this morning about a guy that died from eating far to much black licorice. Something like a pound a day for two weeks. As you said some people will do things to excess and that rarely works out well.

https://apnews.com/...35ea69483dd00e281253

Yes this is part of my point.

A massive dose of alcohol will kill you.
A massive dose of THC will sometimes make you permanently psychotic.
There are rules in place to deal with badly distilled pure liquor.
No-one is advertising on Facebook that badly distilled alcohol is good for you.

What I find disturbing is that the body and practical considerations have a shutdown mechanisms for regular alcohol and normal concentrate "natural weed."

None of these shutdown mechanisms exist for high THC concentrates.

It sounds like you very well may have convinced yourself which way to vote.

The AZ General Election Publicity Pamphlet .....

One of the principal objections to the legal weed initiative is from parents and relatives of people that have had problems with high concentrate products.

Responsible legislation should attempt to deal with this problem.
It is not exactly rocket science.
It is a known problem.
(True internet morons might want to deny it exists)


https://www.google.com/...OdmAkRPAJ2M2v0Z_Ct_9

No.

I am leaning towards legalization in spite of some very bad sh#t that I have seen happen.

My preferences would be:
1) Legalization with good research, education and democratic oversight.
2) Decriminalization with legal consumption and personal production.

Continued prohibition is pretty close to the bottom of my list of preferences.

There is, however, an even worse scenario.
I can imagine a sci-fi dystopia with lots of recklessly engineered consciousness altering drugs being gorilla marketed.
No reasonable regulation, bureaucratic neglect and corporate profiteering.

I skimmed your link. I see potential vagary, too.

Perhaps let the other states who already legalized be a guide to analyze the possibility of your worst case materializing?

I found the breakdown of SSAF monetary distribution curious - public health programs seem to be a relatively low funding priority:

33.0% to community colleges
31.4% to local law enforcement and fire departments
25.4% to the state and local transportation programs
10.0% to public health and criminal justice programs
0.2% to the Attorney General for enforcement

That is interesting. It seems like a very similar problem.

To reinterpret into the context of weed:
1) Weed users cannot necessary perceive - the THC:CBD ratio in the product, the concentration of THC, the presence of other chemicals, the multitude of different strains, or the unusual ill individual side effects that might be associated with the product.
2) Weed users might suffering from poor judgement, mild hallucinations and delusions (brought on by moderate to heavy use). These users are not well equipped to determine the role that THC is playing in the creation of these symptoms.

High concentrate THC vs unregulated moonshine.
It seems like a very similar problem.

Yes.
Without good research and some kind of coherent educational strategy we are left with four sources of information:
1) Stoner businesses that make up stuff to suit their political and economic agendas.
2) Reactionary conservatives that make up stuff because that's what they do.
3) People that make up stuff based on their own experiences. "I smoked weed 4 times in the 1980s and I am fine. That proves weed is harmless."
4) Psychiatrists that only get involved once there is a problem.

That’s probably due the copious amounts of drugs I’ve done in my life.

I guess I find it kind of odd that you are laying the blame for someone presenting with delusions and hallucinations on a medication they chose to consume to help with said presentations. They were clearly psychotic, in the medical sense, before that weekend.

The person was not psychotic before that weekend.
They did not believe that THC would help with psychosis, until they were fully psychotic under the influence of THC.

My guess is actually that you have done relatively little weed.
And/or are stupid and opinionated.

That weed causes mild delusions and hallucinations- should be apparent to everyone that has used it. That is precisely why many people use it. The fact that some people jump from mild, temporary, hallucinations and delusions- to major longer term hallucinations and delusions- should also not be a surprise to anyone.

I posted two articles that clearly lay out some of the associations between THC and psychosis.
I suggest you read those first.



Personally-
I knew at least 3 people growing up who had issues with psychosis and weed.

And I did a lot of follow up research related to the family member who had psychosis.

I don't think there are many intelligent people who think smoking weed before your brain is fully developed is a good thing. It sounds like your relative was a teenager. It affects adults differently.

I've done edibles and vape at 70%+ THC with zero CBD and have hit it pretty hard more than once, I have never hallucinated or had delusions. I have gotten a little paranoid though. It sounds like you're making a lot of generalizations on a few anecdotal stories. Knowing someone personally who has had issues is super scary and sad, but just like anti-vaxxers who know someone who did xxxx from a vaccine which = all vaxx is bad, I feel you are making similar leaps.

It is like many other things, if done improperly or in excess, bad things can happen. Alcohol is way worse and perfectly legal.

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~Brad

1) Paranoia IS a symptom of psychosis. So, actually you have experienced mild psychotic symptoms.
2) I have personal experience, logic, anecdotal evidence, scientific review literature- all supporting my point.
3) You have- "well, I vaped a lot, so I should know "- supporting your point.
And you accuse me of using anecdotal evidence.!!!!

There are positives and negatives with everything.
Weed use might "open your mind."
Help with creativity. Help you make new connections.
It might also cause, or aggravate underlying mental health conditions.

It seems only reasonable that something should be done to moderate some of the worst effects of legal weed.

You are the one making claims, the burden of proof is on you.

You made a claim that anyone who smokes weed has had hallucinations etc., I am example that isn't true. Again, I don't think any intelligent person would say that weed is 100% safe for everyone 100% of the time, but it also has many positive aspects as well.

I think that people who think weed is magic and cures everything and has zero negatives are idiots. I'm not saying it should be a free for all. I think common sense regulations, no smoking before 21 (I'd support 25),and other basic things are needed and have been implemented in these cases. You seem stuck on that high THC is always a negative thing and will always cause psychoses, and the facts just don't back that up. Perhaps that isn't your opinion, but that is what you are portraying.

I never tried weed until about 2-3 years ago. No, I'm not a huge user or a stoner, but I've used it enough to have a decent understanding of it's affect on a healthy adult male. 1 does not = all, but you seem to be the only one making blanket claims on things.

I support national legalization and regulation.

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~Brad