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I worked inpatient psych for a long time, and can tell you first-hand the link between psychosis and cannabis is real. No, this does not mean "if you smoke weed you're going to get psychotic!" What it does mean is that if you're someone with a genetic predisposition for schizophrenia (e.g. you have a known family history) weed is a potential trigger for a psychotic episode. If someone has already developed schizophrenia, smoking weed can make their symptoms worse and more difficult to manage with kedications. There is a very small subset of people who should probably never smoke weed.

80% of people coming through the psych hospital, whatever, I don't care if you smoke weed. Honestly, I wish people would smoke weed rather than use meth, K2, or a bunch of other drugs that fuck people up. But for that subset of people prone to psychotic episodes, the conversation centers around "some people can smoke weed and be fine, and you are not one of those people."

The most common ages for men to develop fist episode psychosis are 18-25, and while it's dumb that this article focuses on teenagers, the risk in that age group is genuinely higher. This article really is dumb overall and does not explain any of this well

For me it’s real simple: I talk to my kids about drug use and its negative impact on their growing minds and bodies. Like any growing organism, they need good food, fresh air, plenty of water, and exercise. Smoking, drinking, and drugs do not provide any of that, and all I ask of them is to wait until they are older.

Remember not all studies on the health effects of substance use are there to advocate that the substance be made illegal. Smoking as a example is still around and there are countless studies available to the public to make informed decisions.

Substance use should be up to the individual like all choices that can effect you directly, "my body my choice" so to say. All individuals should have access to all knowledge available freely and without prejudice.

Studies on cannabis use becoming more common should be seen as a good thing, as cannabis use has become less taboo and thus easier to study without researcher receiving backlash.

Now you may disagree with some studies, and that is your right. But to advocate against studies related to the substance IMO at least is hypocritical, as it advocates against the very thing that made the substance legal.

I am a non-smoker and have not tried cannabis, but believe people should have the freedom to choose

I'm wondering about dosage here, really. As a kid, I smoked weed like maybe once a week but I knew kids who were constantly high all day, every day. We called them "permafried" and some even self-identified that way as a matter of pride.

Hopefully, with further study and research, we can get more information about the actual risk to teens with a variety of usage patterns. Then it's a matter of education so that they're aware of the risk before they're presented with the choice to smoke.

This article blows. “Genetically modifying” cannabis for higher THC content? You mean breeding, like every other plant grown for consumption?

he had had persistent delusions for more than six months. Sam was fully convinced that the government was following him and constantly surveilling him

That's not a delusion tho.

It's totally not the potency of natural cannabis. It is the user's lifestyle and world around him/her. Like how shrooms are banned because not everybody reads the recommended dosage and somebody on reddit already posted about taking a kilogram of dried shrooms, your eyes will look like cherries.

You know, I'm not really interested in a long anecdote about Sam and his father. It doesn't add any real information.
I had hoped to read about the actual evidence.

This shouldn’t be controversial. It’s been known for about a decade now if not longer.

Everybody should use a flower vaporizer like G Pen. Clean hits, low dose, and none of the crap that’s in concentrates.

Compared to what I even had when I was a kid as a millennial, these vape pens are wild. Dabbing all the time. It’s like casually taking shots of alcohol. There is such thing as marijuana abuse and even addiction.