Gilgamesh wrote:
Shazbot, I am not judging you but use of marijuana contributes to schizophrenia. I have read a lot about the subject and I do not want to increase my chances of having a mental (or physical) illness because of "getting high".
I hope that you read this article and consider what might happen. http://www.schizophrenia.com/sznews/archives/001475.html
I am not saying you are a bad person but it is important to know the risks of taking/using drugs.
If your already susceptible to schizophrenia weed is not the only thing that can trigger it by off setting the chemicals in your brain. If your already prone to the disease marijuana is not causing it, you would already need a dopamine imbalance in your brain. A family history of mental illness is the leading contributor to schizophrenia. while it's true if you are knowingly susceptible to it you should not use substances that trigger it but the majority of the public does not have this problem.
Gilgamesh wrote:
I only use over the counter drugs for their prescribed purpose. I am careful to take them only when needed. I have never and will never use "street" drugs. Those often lead to addictions and a horrible lifestyle. I am not judging anyone, but it seems like it happens to many drug users.
Perscription and over the counter drugs have much higher addiction rates then marijuana especially since you can't become chemically addicted to weed as you can to persciption and other socially acceptable drugs, which can also lead to "horrible lifestyles" an can very well trigger schizophrenia themselves.
people are gonna experiment with drugs for better or worse and the method of scaring people away from it by threatening mental illnesses like schizophrenia has proved to be dated and ineffective, this video may help illustrate my point
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz0IXoJfXZY.