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Pot and paranoia

#1
Magical Realist Offline
"British researchers say they've identified several psychological factors that can contribute to short-term paranoia in some people who use marijuana.

The paranoia is caused by the main active ingredient in marijuana, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), according to the researchers.

"The study very convincingly shows that cannabis [marijuana] can cause short-term paranoia in some people," study leader Daniel Freeman, professor of clinical psychology at the University of Oxford in England, said in a university news release.

"But more importantly it shines a light on the way our mind encourages paranoia. Paranoia is likely to occur when we are worried, think negatively about ourselves, and experience unsettling changes in our perceptions," he added.

Marijuana Side Effects Study Debated

The study included 121 volunteers, ages 21 to 50, who had used marijuana at least once before. Two-thirds of them were injected with THC and the other third received a placebo. The dose of THC was equivalent to one strong joint.

After the injections, half of those who received THC had paranoid thoughts, compared with 30 percent of those who received the placebo. The researchers concluded that THC was directly responsible for increased paranoia in one in five of those who received the drug. Paranoia declined as THC left the bloodstream.

The researchers also found that psychological factors such as worrying, low self-esteem, anxiety and experiencing a number of disturbing changes in perception caused by THC contributed to feelings of paranoia, according to the study published in the journal Schizophrenia Bulletin.
THC also caused a number of other psychological effects, the study authors said. These included: anxiety; worry; poor mood and negative thoughts about self; poorer short-term memory; and various changes in perception, such as sounds being louder and colors brighter than normal, and altered sense of time.

"The study provides a great deal more information about the immediate effects of cannabis, but it did not investigate clinically severe disorder. The results don't necessarily have any implications for policing, the criminal justice system, or legislation," Freeman said.

"It tells us about the little-discussed paranoid-type fears that run through the minds of so many people from time to time. The implication is that reducing time spent ruminating, being more confident in ourselves, and not catastrophizing when unusual perceptual disturbances occur will in all likelihood lessen paranoia," he concluded."==========http://www.cbsnews.com/news/research-exp...-paranoid/
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I'm a paranoid type already. I have experienced accute paranoia and voices from diet pills, which apparently is something my personality is particularly disposed to. Interestingly this mindset has a whole set of beliefs and a philosophy that is created in its service. I had many delusions at this time. I remember one day picking out secret antennae in the branches of distant trees. The old "CIA is listening in on me" trope. I had this whole movie like consciousness that I had special psychic powers that the govt wanted to kidnap me for and harness for their service. I was also big on the 2012 trope. Reality was supposed to change on Dec 21st 2012 into something totally unimaginable. Not that I didn't have a history for apocalyptic fever. My SDA upbringing suited me for that shit. Last of all were the voices, which I at one time searched my whole apt for the speakers for! A truly bizarre 2-3 years of my life that I now even look back on fondly. We are only a hair's-breadth away from madness at any given time. Just a little neurochemical nudge, 3 days of no sleep, and welcome to the pleasure dome! Think I'll pass on the THC. Been there done that.
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#2
C C Offline
Though maybe less the case with the hemp narcotic these days... Families using, dealing, or producing any illegal substance has in itself historically tended to produce a paranoid lifestyle. Especially if they live on either rural or semi-isolated property where there's a land perimeter to defend. Their kids become another generation of hill, park, & urban neo-billy recluses from mainstream social and economic connections. Especially since "home-schooling" has been around as a guise to prevent them from being indiscreet with potential square / straight friends, teachers, and adults.
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#3
Yazata Online
I smoked marijuana and hashish extensively back in the day and never experienced any real paranoia. Occasionally something like it, if I became disoriented and had to do some complicated task and pretend I wasn't stoned, but that's it. (When I was drunk, I didn't really care.)

In fact, I was a lot more social when I was smoking dope, found it easier to make friends and I think that I trusted people more. I have a tendency to become introverted and withdrawn when I'm not smoking dope.
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#4
Magical Realist Offline
Turns out there's a bill being pushed thru right now to allow pot edibles in Oregon (previously only allowed for medical users). Stonerville here I come!
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#5
stryder Offline
In respects to the "scientific study" by Oxford, I would question how "Casual" the surroundings of their test subjects were.

If you walk into a Clinical environment with green painted walls and a sterile atmosphere, injected and then observed without any knowledge of what the observer is writing, then it's likely that naturally you'll be slightly wary (paranoid). If the test subjects were observed remotely while being at home, going to the cinema, having a soft drink (so as to not cause misconceptions) in a bar or eating a meal in a restaurant then surroundings become far more important.

A restaurant with friends might be relaxing and cause no paranoia at all, however if the restaurant happens to be packed on a busy night and a waiter makes the mistake of dropping a steel tray on the floor and causing a great din or taking ages to deliver barely-warm food, then it can increase levels of anxiety. So even the same venue can have different effects purely down to entropy.

There's further factors too in regards to the age groupings.

Young people are more like to think of the glass being half-full as they can dream and plan of future goals and achievements. Older people on the other hand have either managed to reach their goals, or they have potentially suffered the perpetual moving of goal posts and realise that some of the dreams they once had were never achieved this can cause a more "realistic" viewpoint that the glass is never full enough (half-empty), this can lead them to be more stringent in their views and don't take kindly to nonsense (so they might disagree with the assessment) Further more there are other complexities like feeling pains related to old age, complex chemistry changes that occur in your later 30's to early 40's etc.

There is then further questioning in regards to which of their experimentee's "Smoke cigarettes". Cigarettes have been known for years to increase anxiety when a person hasn't maintained a specific level of nicotine in their system. This is the physically addictive factor of smoking that people have problems dealing with when they try to quit. If an experimentee doesn't smoke during the experiment or even if they do smoke during the experiment, it can have an effect on the given results.
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