I disagree. I think there is a lot of misinformation flooding the nets and the news, and this is provably true. Psychosis is a pretty obvious condition, and it was not difficult to observe psychosis thousands of years ago. Cannabis has been in wide global use since at least 8000BC, and yet... there just historically aren't enough crazy people for this to remotely pass the stiff test.
I've personally seen someone with bipolar disorder enter a months long psychotic episode after exposure to small amounts of THC. That is how I know it's a thing.
It happens.
I think psychotic illnesses are complex and there is no one cause. THC can be a factor. This is also what the Google results I linked you to said
Unless they regularly entered bipolar episodes after imbibing a small amount of THC I'm not sure you're making a claim here. You saw it happen one time to a person who also goes into bipolar incidents without it and now it's the THC's fault? It isn't a very convincing anecdote.
I bet they drank water before the bipolar episode too.
There are any factors that cause such an episode in someone with susceptibility. I'll repeat: [it is] complex and there is no one cause. THC can be a factor. This is also what the Google results I linked you to said
Correlation is not causation. And even to suggest small amounts of THC can cause "a months long psychotic episode" is absurd, especially because it is an ordinary risk of being bipolar. If a mentally healthy individual was sent into a month's long psychotic episode immediately after smoking a bong, then maybe, and that is still a huge maybe.
Again, cannabis has been in use recreationally and medicinally for more than 10,000 years. There are billions of users on Earth today, but psychotic episode remains a vanishingly rare event among users, insignificantly so. The general scientific consensus still remains that weed is harmless. But these days conservatives have gone overboard in twisting the facts to promote their nanny state agenda. I expect that, given recent assaults on rights, pregnant women alone are going to remove them from Congress.
But by all means, please believe what you wish, just don't expect anyone else to support your fantastic beliefs.
> but psychotic episode remains a vanishingly rare event among users, insignificantly so.
I don't think that's likely to be true at all. Single digit percentages of all humans have a psychotic disorder. If cannabis had no effect and such an event is coincidental, we would certainly not call it "vanishingly rare".
> But these days conservatives have gone overboard in twisting the facts to promote their nanny state agenda.
To be clear I explicitly said this is not a reason to ban on criminalize the substance. Just to not be in denial about it.
Anyway, the Google search I sent to you has plenty of sources who agree with my position.
You can not win an argument promoting false facts. Far less than one percent of the population will suffer a psychotic episode, between 0.25% and 0.64%.
If being told what to do is intolerable to you, then stop telling others what to do. You are not in charge, nor are those with your false beliefs.
You seem confused here. I never told you what to do. Not once. I've said it explicitly several times and you appear not to be reading.
Nor have I given you any false information. I said single digit percentages for psychotic disorders. About 4% of the population has bipolar (bipolar I can involve psychosis) and about 1% has schizophrenia.
> Single digit percentages of all humans have a psychotic disorder.
This is false, and that was what I meant. BPD is not a psychotic disorder, even if psychotic episodes are possible, they are rare. Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder, but at a rate of 0.45%, not 1%.
It is estimated only about 5-10% of everyone in the world will ever experience a psychotic episode in their lifetime. If 4% are bipolar, then only 0.2%-0.4% of those will ever experience a psychotic episode, making it quite rare. Among bipolar patients, the real danger is depression, as they will all experience that. But if they do experience a psychotic episode, it is usually the first indicator of BPD, leading to diagnosis, education, and treatment.
> It is estimated only about 5-10% of everyone in the world will ever experience a psychotic episode in their lifetime
Single digit to double digit percentages.
> Among bipolar patients, the real danger is depression, as they will all experience that.
Iirc you don't need depression to fit diagnostic criteria of bipolar I. Just a manic episode will do it.
Depression will lead the sufferer to seek treatment. Mania and psychosis will make their life hell and possibly have them harm others, but they will think they are ok.
I think maybe you haven't been close to a particularly bad case of bipolar I. It can be very similar to schizoaffective disorder or schizophrenia. People can hop around these diagnoses because they can be hard to pin down and professionals can disagree.
> it is usually the first indicator of BPD, leading to diagnosis, education, and treatment.
That's a fairly optimistic scenario. Spoken like someone who has not seen a loved one deny the illness and avoid treatment.
Psychotic symptoms occur at a higher rate in people with BPD than in the general population.
> What are psychotic symptoms in bipolar disorder?
> Psychotic symptoms are sometimes found in people with bipolar disorder, particularly in the manic phase of the illness.. [snip] ..
> Moderate quality evidence suggests the prevalence of visual hallucinations in people with affective psychosis is around 15%, and the prevalence of auditory hallucinations is around 28% [snip. These rates] are higher than general population rates (7%).
People are not making this up. It's a risk that needs to be weighed.
Acknowledging this fact is not the same as being in favor of prohibition or criminalization or saying it'll happen to everyone.