Roar Mikalsen - HUMAN RISING - radiofri..

use and schizophrenia. Although many authors now seem to firmly believe that cannabis is a
component cause in the development of schizophrenia in vulnerable subjects, some others
still feel that the observed association between cannabis and schizophrenia could be
explained by confounders such as the illegal status of cannabis in many jurisdictions. If that
were true, criminalization of cannabis use would definitely not be the best way to prevent
schizophrenia in cannabis users.” (Wim van den Brink Forum: decriminalization of cannabis.
Current Opinion in Psychiatry 2008, 21: s 122–126. Finnes også i PDF på nettet.)
Dr. Alex Wodak, President i the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation, sier dette om
linken: “*A+ causal relationship between cannabis use and mental illness is only questioned
by drug law reformers, debate continues among experts. Professors Louisa Degenhardt and
colleagues found a ‘steep rise in the prevalence of cannabis use in Australia over the past 30
years’ but ‘no evidence of a significant increase in the incidence of schizophrenia’. They
concluded that ‘cannabis use does not appear to be causally related to the incidence of
schizophrenia, but its use may precipitate disorders in persons who are vulnerable to
developing psychosis and worsen the course of the disorder among those who have already
developed it.’” (Alex Wodak, An Open Letter to Ms Miranda Devine from Dr Alex Wodak. Juni
2008.)
I tillegg til dette har man på Keele University Medical School, undersøkt
sammenhengen mellom cannabisbruk og schizofreni i Storbritannia mellom 1996 og 2005.
Man fant der at selv om brukerhyppigheten i befolkningen generelt økte i denne perioden,
så gjenspeilte ikke det seg i økte forekomster av schizofreni, og de konkluderte derfor med
at: "This study does not therefore support the specific causal link between cannabis use and
incidence of psychotic disorders. ... This concurs with other reports indicating that increases
in population cannabis use have not been followed by increases in psychotic incidence."
(Increased Marijuana Use Not Associated With Rise In Incidences Of Schizophrenia, Study
Says, NORMLs nettside, 2. juli 2009. Funnet på http://www.norml.org/index.cfm?Group
_ID=7920)
En slik forbindelse er som vi ser svært vanskelig å påvise, noe også ACMDs formann,
Michael Rawlins, innrømmer her under en høringsundersøkelse i det britiske underhuset:
“(Q203) Adam Afriyie: You first published your advice in 2002 on cannabis and mental
illness. You then needed to re-evaluate that evidence base. Does that show any weaknesses
in the system because you had to review it so soon afterwards?
Professor Sir Michael Rawlins: No. It was an important area with more evidence
about it. We did talk about it in 2002: could it precipitate or cause schizophrenia in
vulnerable people?
(Q204) Adam Afriyie: What changed? You alluded to this in the 2002 report. Were
there no experts on schizophrenia on the panel? Are you saying the evidence just was not
there?
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