I Blame The Drug War

There are a lot of reports about the Arizona shooter, Jared Loughner, being a pot smoker. But then Dave at Classical Values says that he quit smoking pot and drinking alcohol in August of 2010.

There are reports that cannabis helps some people who have schizophrenia. In other words they are self medicating for their symptoms.

Patients diagnosed with schizophrenia report obtaining subjective relief from cannabis to control various symptoms associated with the disease, according to survey data published in the International Journal of Mental Health Nursing.

An investigator at Flinders University in South Australia interviewed 30 patients aged between 18 and 65 who had a DSM-IV comorbid diagnosis of schizophrenia and cannabis 'abuse.' The investigator reported that over half of the respondents reported using cannabis to control schizophrenic symptoms. Of those interviewed, 25 patients reported that smoking cannabis reduced their anxiety; 21 patients said that marijuana helped them to forget childhood trauma; and 12 stated that cannabis "enhanc[ed] their spiritual awareness."

So I blame cannabis prohibition. If pot use wasn't socially condemned and illegal he might still be on his meds and six people now dead might still be alive. I understand he had a minor conviction for marijuana and usually one of the conditions for release/probation is drug testing. So to stay out of jail he probably was forced to give up his medication of choice.

So as long as we are doing the blame game I'm going to blame the Drug War for the death of six people in Arizona. It makes more sense than anything else I've heard so far.

There is a book on the subject:

Understanding Marijuana: A New Look at the Scientific Evidence

The author of the book, Dr. Mitch Earleywine, has said about the patient testimonials I referred to above:

...these patients' testimonials lend credibility to the theory that a large part of the association between marijuana and schizophrenia may be explained by self-medication.

"It's not that cannabis use is causing schizophrenia," he said. "It's that patients notice the initial symptoms of schizophrenia and turn to marijuana for relief."

Which is the same thing I heard from a hospital psychological intake nurse here in Rockford, Illinois two or three years ago. Evidently it is now common knowledge in the medical profession. So why isn't it common knowledge among the general population? I have my theories. But if I voiced them I'd probably get labeled a paranoid. Possibly schizophrenic. And definitely a danger to society.

I still blame the Drug War.

Cross Posted at Classical Values