Tuesday, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana

A lot of my therapy practice includes individuals struggling with compulsive behavior, including addictions to alcohol and other drugs. I am often asked about marijuana use and hear people suggest that it seems a benign drug compared with so many others. This is surely how millions feel since it is by far the most frequently used drug around the world, including here in the United States. According to government statistics one in five young adults use marijuana at least once a week. Health professionals have long believed that it is a “gateway drug” meaning that it increases the likelihood of moving on to other, harder drugs.

And while many people reject this view as alarmist, a new study from Great Britain offers evidence to support the fears about grass. The study indicated that marijuana use increases the risk of becoming psychotic. The study was based on a review of long term data, including tens of thousands of subjects over three decades, and stated that “even infrequent use” raises the risk of psychosis by 40 percent. And heavy users of pot, daily or weekly users, had their risk for psychosis jump to 50 percent up to 200 percent!

Study author Dr. Stanley Zammit of Cardiff University noted that "cannabis is not as harmless as many people think." The study does not prove that marijuana itself elevates the risk of psychosis. There could be some other factor at play among those who use the drug, including personality traits. for instance. Nonetheless, the researchers believe the study’s results should be used to reaffirm the campaign to define marijuana as a dangerous drug.

"The strongest case is that there are consistencies across all of the studies," and that the link was seen only with psychoses — not anxiety, depression or other mental health problems, he said. Scientists think it is biologically possible that marijuana could cause psychoses because it interrupts important neurotransmitters such as dopamine. That can interfere with the brain’s communication systems.

Some experts say governments should now work to dispel the misconception that marijuana is a benign drug. Dr. Robin Murray of King’s College observed, "Experts are now agreed on the connection between cannabis and psychoses. What we need now is for 14-year-olds to know it."

But it still begs the question why so many millions have a life that is so unbearable they need to alter their mood, even at the risk of life long consequences. Where are we failing in communicating to children that their pleasure-seeking behaviors - following their native impulses - can have a damaging impact on them that will not go away later? Is it because in our misguided efforts to give freedom to our children we allow them to follow their own immature, adolescent feelings. That is never a good idea.