Pubdate: Fri, 04 Mar 2005
Source: Otago Daily Times (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2005 Allied Press Limited
Contact:  http://www.odt.co.nz/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/925
Author: George Henderson
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)

CANNABIS STUDY

THE Christchurch health and development study that found that daily users 
of cannabis had rates of psychotic symptoms that were 1.6 to 1.8 times 
higher than for non-users needs to be considered in context.

Without knowing the figures, it seems certain that daily users of other 
tranquillisers have a much higher rate of psychotic symptoms. Using this 
logic, one could say that anti-psychotics cause schizophrenia. There is 
simply no attempt being made to separate cause and effect here. These 
figures could easily be a measure of cannabis effectiveness as an 
anti-psychotic. After all, no-one is saying that cannabis causes pain or 
glaucoma, but if prejudice ran that way it could easily be confirmed by 
measuring the rate of these illnesses in daily smokers.

George Henderson

Northeast Valley
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