The risks of marijuana

Hillsdale College's Imprimus published Alex Berenson's article "Marijuana, Mental Illness and Violence." In it he tells how he discovers that all of the 300 patients in the Mid-Hudson Forensic Psychiatric Institute, a New York state hospital for the criminally mentally ill (defendants judged not guilty by reason of insanity) smoked marijuana. Berenson is a business reporter for the Denver Post with degrees from Yale in history and economics. He wrote for 11 years for The New York Times and has authored 12 books. His most recent non-fiction book is "Tell Your Children: The Truth about Marijuana, Mental Illness and Violence."

His wife, Jackie Berenson, was, until recently, the senior psychiatrist at the institute. She discovered that all 300 patients were invariably lifelong marijuana smokers. Many of these patients are killers and arsonists, and there is at least one cannibal. All have major psychiatric disorders, the most common being schizophrenia, that provoked them to violence.

For the previously liberal-leaning Berenson regarding drugs, the connection between marijuana and schizophrenia was a shocker. Challenged by his spouse, he researched the world's scientific literature and found a huge gap between the claims made by those who would profit (including politicians through tariffs and taxes) and the actual truth of scientific literature. After exhaustive research (see his original article), he concludes that "Almost everything you think you know about the health effects of cannabis, almost everything advocates and the media told you for a generation, is wrong."

Facts:

1. THC has been shown to work on a few narrow conditions. For pain relief, Ibuprofen is far superior. In fact, the most recent study showed cannabis associated with greater pain over time.

2. Rob Kampia, co-founder of the Marijuana Policy Project, admits that they have always viewed medical marijuana laws primarily as a way to protect recreational users.

3. Recent studies debunk marijuana as a substitute for opioids. In the West, where there is the most cannabis use, there is also the worst problem with opioids.

4. Marijuana use consistently leads to other drug use. People using marijuana for three years were three times more likely to use opiates than non-users.

5. Most importantly, not only does marijuana not help depression/anxiety, a "mountain of material" indicates it worsens severe mental illness, especially psychosis. Teens who smoke marijuana regularly are three times more likely to develop schizophrenia -- the higher the use, the greater the risk.

6. One in 15 drinkers drinks every day. One in five marijuana users use every day, and the potency available today compared to just 15 years ago is much higher (20-25 percent pure THC).

Regarding violence, the first four states to legalize recreational marijuana (CO and WA in 2014, AK and OR in 2015) corporately had 450 murders and 30,300 aggravated assaults in 2013. Last year, they had 620 murders and 38,000 aggravated assaults. This is an increase of 37 percent for murders and 25 percent for assaults, far greater than the national average even when accounting for population growth.

Child abuse and neglect is more common in marijuana users than in cocaine, methamphetamine and opioids combined. Missouri passed a law legalizing medical marijuana, despite the very limited indications. But, as their advocates admit, this is a means of protecting the recreational user.

Just as we have recognized alcohol as a danger to driving and cigarettes as a risk to lung cancer, we need to educate our youth regarding the risks of marijuana in this "free" society. We need to separate the true, scientifically-based facts from the politically and financially motivated propaganda.

Richard Martin is a physician who resides in ape Girardeau.