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Potheads and Mental Illness
By Cliff Kincaid | Accuracy in Media | January 23, 2006

PS: Heeeee's Back!

My commentary about the killer of Carlie Brucia being a drug addict and pothead generated the typical responses from the George Soros-funded pot lobby. The trial of Joseph Smith, who was convicted and sentenced to death for his brutal crime, was big news. Far less attention was devoted to how he was transformed by drugs, including pot, into a monster.

Typically, potheads don't like to consider that using drugs, including marijuana, could lead to crime and murder. One wrote to me saying, "All I can hope is that one night the police will conduct a no-knock raid on your home at 3:00 A.M., you and your ilk are certainly deserving of a taste of what you call down on others." I plead guilty to hoping that drug-addicted child killers like Joseph Smith are busted and imprisoned before they kill little girls.

I also received this letter:

"Dear Mr. Kincaid,

"I write to you from Australia…Thank you for your honest and insightful article on the effects of this dangerous illegal drug.

"I have been saying for 10+ years that marijuana (and probably speed) CAUSES the onset of schizophrenia even in young people who do not have a genetic predisposition.

"The general consensus has been that marijuana only triggers SZ in genetically vulnerable people. But I do not believe that anymore.

"Research and families medical experience is that, in the vast majority of SZ diagnosis, there is NO family history of mental illnesses.

"The problem with the scientific community is that they will not accept evidence from the experiences of the community until it has been proven scientifically.

"In practice, psychiatric nurses and even some psychiatrists have known for years of the effect of these street drugs, along with the families of consumers who have been burdened with this devastating illness.

"I have a son who has schizophrenia which I believe was caused by marijuana and compounded by speed (meth, if you like to call it that). I was told by one doctor, early in his diagnosis, that if the street drug use did not stop, then in the long run it doesn't matter if it's genetic or not, it won't go away. So what is that statement other than an admission that the street drugs actually cause the illness?

"I have been saying for many years that one day someone will prove my point scientifically and it looks like that day is getting very close."

Indeed, the evidence is being developed by the scientific community that marijuana use is a significant risk factor for developing mental problems. Mental illness is a problem that not only destroys individuals with the disorder, but their families. Schizophrenia, which is increasingly linked to marijuana use, is characterized by delusions, hallucinations and a general inability to relate to reality.

The best evidence on the connection is the volume, Marijuana and Madness, from Cambridge University Press. See http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521819407&ss=fro

The influence of marijuana figures in the sensational murder case of Colin Roger Cotting, a 16-year-old who raped his stepmother, beat her to death, and stuffed her in a freezer. Cotting said he was too stoned to remember what happened.

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Buzzby

Could that be because it doesn't? Most drug-related crime is actually prohibition-related crime: the high cost of black market drugs makes crime a necessity for many addicts. A huge market in illicit drugs makes dealers very tempting targets for thieves: there are piles of high-cost drugs, bales of money, and no recourse to law enforcement after an attack.

Some drug-related crime is caused by people who abuse drugs and act out in antisocial ways. The most prevalent drug in these cases is alcohol.


So, a 1-in-1,000,000 chance that someone might be psychotic killer justifies the persecution of the other 999,999? Again, if that's the case they should perform no-knock raids on all users of alcohol. More than half of violent crime involves people who have been drinking.


There is no mention that this Australian has any standing to make such a claim, other than having a schizophrenic child. Like many people with a mentally ill child, denial leads him to blame anything but genetics and upbringing for the disease.


Could that be because anecdotal evidence is generally bullsh*t? Anecdotal evidence, if a lot of it points in the same direction, might lead scientists to do a controlled study to determine if it has any validity. By itself, it carries as much weight as this angry father's self-serving pronouncements.


Recovering from mental illness is a difficult proposition at best. It often requires a lifetime of self-analysis and self-control. If your life is taken up in getting wasted every day, that's not about to happen. In no way does the statement infer that the drugs cause mental illness. The fact is, no research has demonstrated that. Current research shows only a correlation between early use of large amounts of high potency cannabis by males with a genetic predisposition and an earlier-than-expected development of symptoms. No causal relationship has been found.


Figures how? He smoked marijuana. He killed his stepmother. Therefore, smoking marijuana caused him to kill his stepmother? Talk about leaps of illogic!

There's an important logical fallacy called post hoc, ergo propter hoc. In English that's "after this therefore because of this". The failed debater attempts to infer that one event is caused by an earlier event simply because one followed the other. "Sally washed her hair. Then it rained. It rained because Sally washed her hair." "Colin smoked dope. Colin killed his stepmother. Colin killed his stepmother because he smoked dope."

Cliff Kincaid is the King of post hoc, ergo propter hoc.


This is called "The Devil made me do it!" defense.

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lilgrasshoppah

My commentary about the killer of Carlie Brucia being a drug addict and pothead generated the typical responses from the George Soros-funded pot lobby. The trial of Joseph Smith, who was convicted and sentenced to death for his brutal crime, was big news. Far less attention was devoted to how he was transformed by drugs, including pot, into a monster.

I haven't gotten a cent from George Soros. But wait a second. If weed makes us all crazy (or even a large proportion of us)... how could such a convocation of loonies organize a "lobby"? Especially one so ably "funded" by this mythic Super George Soros?

Typically, potheads don't like to consider that using drugs, including marijuana, could lead to crime and murder. One wrote to me saying, "All I can hope is that one night the police will conduct a no-knock raid on your home at 3:00 A.M., you and your ilk are certainly deserving of a taste of what you call down on others." I plead guilty to hoping that drug-addicted child killers like Joseph Smith are busted and imprisoned before they kill little girls.

What he should have said is "I plead guilty to using the classic strawman argument. I plead guilty to using bald-faced lies, and unfounded, unscientific, rumors to bolster my case. Finally, I plead guilty to being stupid, dishonest, and to vociferously hating freedom." At least that would have been on target.

Finally I will close with this:

The influence of marijuana figures in the sensational murder case of Colin Roger Cotting, a 16-year-old who raped his stepmother, beat her to death, and stuffed her in a freezer. Cotting said he was too stoned to remember what happened.

... which is almost a word for word quote of Harry J Anslinger's orginal reefer madness BS... and, in case you've forgotten, Harry HIMSELF said they were lies.

'Ghost of Harry', you are so dumb, it's boring.

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reggie_the_dog

replace pothead with ni**er or towelhead, the sentences read as such

"Typically, ni**ers don't like to consider that whites have a right to beat burn and lynch them.

"My commentary about the killer of Carlie Brucia being a ni**er and a slave generated the typical responses from the Abraham Lincoln-funded abolitionist lobby."


why, why if racism is a crime, why are these people still allowed to use terms such as "pot head" or "burnout" to describe us????????

why can they discriminate against US when we apply for a job......

killer12382

Who said that racism is a crime?

 

TheNewGuy

The FCC. There might be freedom of speech, but that doesn't mean you can say anything you want in a Newspaper or on TV.

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"Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power." ~P.J. O'Rourke

Buzzby

Racism is not a crime. Where did you get that idea? Racism is something that goes on inside a person's mind. Unless they act out in some way, how could anyone know it was there? Even if racism was a crime, being a marijuana smoker doesn't make you part of a separate race.

Racial discrimination is against the law. Drug-of-choice discrimination is not. Hate speech aimed at inciting violence is against the law. Using racial epithets isn't against the law but might get your lights punched out. "Pot head" is a descriptive term for a marijuana smoker. Lots of smokers refer to themselves that way. For some people it carries a negative connotation.

I'm rather fond of the First Amendment. I find it very interesting that people object to others using pejorative terms about their group but seem to have no problem at all using them to refer to other groups. I cringe at some of the language used on these forums to describe LEOs and people opposed to the legalization of marijuana. If we want civil behavior from our opponents, perhaps we need to first look at ourselves.

troublemaker_42

LOL.....while I agree for the most part with what everyone else has written, i found this comment to actually make me swear out loud--

"I have a son who has schizophrenia which I believe was caused by marijuana and compounded by speed (meth, if you like to call it that). I was told by one doctor, early in his diagnosis, that if the street drug use did not stop, then in the long run it doesn't matter if it's genetic or not, it won't go away. So what is that statement other than an admission that the street drugs actually cause the illness?"

I find major fault with this in a couple of different ways. First off, he automatically blames the marijuana, while stating the meth "compounded" it. Huh? I've yet to see anyone show truely schizophrenic behavior after smoking marijuana, even in cases of people who have been smoking it their entire lives basically. I've seen meth users who show thattype of behavior WITHIN DAYS of using meth continuously. It robs you of sleep, with easily leads to paranoid delusions if you keep using, rather than sleeping and giving your brain a break once in awhile. Also, what on earth does he mean by saying the Dr's comments were an "admission" that the drugs CAUSE the illness, when all that was said that once the illness reveals itself, drug use won't improve the condition? Just becasue something won't help, doesn't mean it was the casue of the problem from the get-go. Drinking alcohol when you're sick doesn't help your immune system beat an infection, but the infection doesn't necessaruily hqave anything to do with drinking alcohol, does it? This whole article is ABSURD

reggie_the_dog

"Who said that racism is a crime?"


it is a crime here in france where i live now, it true racism is not illegal in the states,

i believe discrimination is illegal in the states like it is here in france...

reggie_the_dog

""Pot head" is a descriptive term for a marijuana smoker. Lots of smokers refer to themselves that way. For some people it carries a negative connotation.
"

you make a good point, but many black people also call their friends ni**er, but if most white people called them that it would be offensive, i think pot head is the same, when non smokers call me a pothead it offends me, when other smokers call me a pothead it bothers me less