Why Do Researchers Say Marijuana Is a Risk for Schizophrenia Whereas Tobacco Use Is Not When the Evidence Is?
Question by : Why Do Researchers Say Marijuana is a Risk for Schizophrenia Whereas Tobacco Use Is Not When the Evidence Is?
the same?
They find that if there is a history of marijuana use in adolescence it correlates to schizophrenia onset at an earlier age.
Another study found that also to be true of tobacco.
The first study said this suggests marijuana leads to the development of schizophrenia.
The second said it suggests that the increased occurrence of tobacco addiction was because of a suggested common cause of dysfunctional dopamine leading both to the schizophrenia and increased risk of addiction to tobacco.
How do we know that tobacco isn’t leading to earlier onset schizophrenia?
And how do we know people who tend to get schizophrenia earlier don’t just smoke pot more often because they tend to have more addictive personalities even long before schizophrenia. And yes I know marijuana isn’t particularly addictive although research shows dopamine is involved in rewards and some minor withdrawal symptoms can occur.
The bigger point: Researchers are human beings subject to bias too. Oftentimes there is pressure to “Find the conclusion” so researchers will suggest what ever feels right and fits the data and not put down any other potential explanations, even though there are several alternative explanations that would also fit the data. They ought to require a rigorous review process that specifically thinks about whether there are other possible conclusions that would also fit the data and then conceive of how to test between these possibilities and in the media every single possibility should have to be mentioned rather than lying by omission and only mentioning the most sensationalist interpretation.
@ Katie
Actually statistics shows it’s clearly not entirely genetic even though there’s genetic influence.
Also, it’s not helpful to think in terms of it’s either genetic or environmental and can’t be both. It CAN. In fact it always is. No genes, poof you don’t exist in the first place. No environment, nothing for the genes to develop and express themselves in. It’s an ongoing interaction process of change moment to moment involving all pertinent factors in each moment. Nurture/Nature is a false dichotomy.
What science hasn’t found yet is a gene that immunizes against schizophrenia 100% of the time so it could be a potential for everyone.
Science also hasn’t found a gene that makes schizophrenia happen 100% of the time either.
@ Stupid
I wish I could understand schizophrenia. I seriously don’t. I mean why not just ignore the demons? I can ignore real actual people right in front of my face if I just so choose to do so, so why can’t you ignore the demons that you only think are real?
If I hallucinated a demon telling me what to do I’d tell it “up yours!” and would be more and more non-compliant the worse and angrier it got in its demands. I hate people telling me what to do in the first place, some demon or ghost which seems real but is in all likelihood a hallucination, I’d have even less respect for that.
I’m not confused about what makes you hallucinate so much as I’m confused about what it is about your mindset that makes you so obedient to the hallucinations.
But huge digression. The point is the two studies found essentially the same pieces of evidence just in one study it was about marijuana, the other tobacco but they don’t conclude that tobacco leads to schizophrenia. That’s a double standard.
Best answer:
Answer by Katie
Edit:
The reason I say genetics or hereditary is because of the increase of chance of a person being born with Schizophrenia if they have a Schizophrenic sibling or parent. I couldn’t find a better way to explain it other than that. I excluded environmental because Schizophrenia is not the result of stress or traumatic events; Psychosis is. Although, what a mother does to her body during pregnancy can have an affect on the child’s mental health from birth. They most likely haven’t found “genes” linked to the disorder because it’s not a virus or illness that can be contracted. I’ve lived with this disorder for almost 10 years, and I still have yet to understand how or why I have it. I go by assumption and observation because I don’t trust theories or conclusions about it from people who don’t have it.
The reason we can’t ignore hallucinations or voices, or “demons”, is because we have no control over them. We can’t make them appear, and we can’t make them disappear; sometimes prescription drugs don’t even work. Personally, I am not always obedient to them. But people who are, do it because they’re afraid of them, or find it natural to do so. What makes us hallucinate, I don’t even know myself. With my subtype, a lot of times hallucinations or episodes are triggered.
Answer by Stupid Idiot
I have no idea what in the hell people are talking about anymore.
I was simply being haunted. By demons. That is all that it was.
Im a schizophrenic, for awhile now, it was spirits.
so posts like this sound rediculous, and if you are ever going to prevent this(impossible) or help it(probably impossible) then you have to understand what it is.
NIH to Fund Projects Focused on Genetic, Epigenetic Basis of Drug and Alcohol …
NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The National Institutes of Health is planning to fund research into the genetic and epigenetic factors that may promote alcohol and drug co-addiction, according to a funding announcement published this week. The National …
Read more on GenomeWeb
NIDA to Fund Genetic, Molecular Studies of Chronic Drug Abuse
NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The National Institute on Drug Abuse plans to fund new research projects that aim to discover more about the changes that chronic exposure to drugs cause in the brain, including efforts focused on changes at the genetic, …
Read more on GenomeWeb