[PragmaticPulp]

> Are we going to see similar harms from these drugs a few years after they gain more popularity?

I think we’re already starting to see this on a smaller scale.

One of my friends is a therapist who does a lot of social work predominantly for low-income people coming from difficult situations. She encounters a lot of people who have become heavily dependent on marijuana under a mistaken impression that smoking multiple times every day is a good treatment for depression or anxiety. Many of them are under the impression than marijuana is a wonder drug that treats everything from psychiatric illnesses to cancer. Meanwhile they’re clearly too impaired and unmotivated to get their lives together due to being constantly high. She spends a lot of time convincing people to moderate their consumption or even abstain entirely. The results are great if she can convince them to stop, but that’s a difficult task.

More worrisome is the increasing number of parents she sees who are trying to medicate their juvenile children with marijuana. Some of the stories she tells about parents who are convinced they’re doing their kids a favor by giving them THC edibles before school (supposedly for anxiety) are downright tragic.

There is a growing mistrust of pharmaceutical companies and mainstream psychiatry that mirrors the rise of things like anti-vaxxers and belief in essential oils. Many companies are rushing to fill this demand for alternative medicine with products and services ranging from pushing heavy THC consumption to ketamine clinics that will give ketamine to anyone willing to pay a few hundred dollars per dose.

In the case of this article the discovery of ketamine’s actions is more likely to spur development of new molecules that can be used without the obvious side effects of ongoing ketamine treatment (which is not as harmless as it sounds when repeatedly dosed over a lifetime).

[chillwaves]

Did you ever compare the side effects of marijuana to the popular antidepressant, antianxiety and ADHD medications being given to children?

> There is a growing mistrust of pharmaceutical companies and mainstream psychiatry that mirrors the rise of things like anti-vaxxers

This statement seems to ignore the crisis brought by narcotic drugs. People should be skeptical of pharmaceutical companies. There is a long history of their drugs killing people. It's really not worth my time to post it all, but feel free to do a little research yourself.

Comparing them to antivaxxers is inflammatory and inaccurate.

[PragmaticPulp]

There’s a lot of “whataboutism” when it comes to marijuana, but it doesn’t negate the fact that heavy daily marijuana usage is a net negative for mental health and produces worse long-term depression scores than abstaining.

And yes, she generally refers people to psychiatric treatment under the guidance of doctors who can monitor and adjust medications over time. Outcomes on mainstream depression and anxiety medications are far more positive and the people do much, much better after getting proper treatment with proper medications.

There is no comparison. Marijuana is not an effective depression treatment even though it may temporarily dull feelings and emotions. Long-term studied outcomes are poor.

[Talanes]

>Marijuana is not an effective depression treatment even though it may temporarily dull feelings and emotions.

That describes how my teenage Lithium prescription felt far better than it does marijuana use. Though perhaps they have better pharmaceuticals now than they did 20 years ago.

[chillwaves]

> the fact that heavy daily marijuana usage is a net negative for mental health

citation required.

There is no comparison because you are speaking in anecdotes, not data.

Even if it is a "net negative" is it a bigger net negative than the cognitive effects of anti depressants?

How is it "whataboutism" when the two are being used to treat the same illnesses, but you only look at the negative effects of marijuana in a vacuum, while at the same time lauding pharmaceuticals.