Pubdate: Tue, 18 Feb 2014
Source: Vancouver Sun (CN BC)
Copyright: 2014 The Vancouver Sun
Contact: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/letters.html
Website: http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/477
Author: Michael Pond
Note: Michael Pond is a Vancouver psychotherapist and a recovered alcoholic.

Expert Help: Psychotherapy

EVIDENCE AGAINST EARLY POT USE MOUNTS

Twenty-two-year-old Mark arrived at my office looking dishevelled. 
He'd just been fired from his job for lack of productivity and absenteeism.

His boss said he'd smelled of alcohol several times. He'd been 
reprimanded after he'd lashed out at a female co-worker he felt was 
too critical.

Mark is suspicious and depressed. He's got trouble eating and 
sleeping. He has low energy, very little motivation, can't 
concentrate and is irritable.

He disclosed that he was a binge drinker and stays intoxicated for 
2-3 days every weekend.

Mark says, "I don't like to be around people. The only time I can 
socialize is if I'm drunk. It's the only way I can socialize.

"Sometimes I just want to end it all. At night I hear voices telling 
me that I'm a hopeless piece of crap. I know people are out to get 
me. I can't trust anyone. I hear people outside my door plotting to 
ruin my life."

Mark has a family history of mental illness and addiction. His 
maternal grandmother, who committed suicide several years ago, 
suffered from schizoaffective disorder and alcoholism. Mark's father 
is a recovered alcoholic and cocaine addict, now six years clean.

Then Mark reveals what I think is the root of the problem. When I 
asked Mark about other drug use he said, "Only pot. No big deal. It 
helps my brain relax."

Turns out pot use, especially for men who begin smoking in their 
teens, is a very big deal. Mark smokes marijuana almost every day and 
has been since he was 16.

"When I get home from work I smoke a few joints throughout the 
evening. Lately though I've been really freaked out. I can't trust anyone."

A wave of research during the last few years has built a compelling 
case against teenage and early adult pot use - especially for those 
whose families have a history of bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.

Now the most recent: a study from Northwestern University in 
Illinois. Researchers analyzed the brain changes of a group of 
participants in their early 20s who regularly used marijuana.

Participants who began using marijuana regularly at the age of 16 or 
17 demonstrated deterioration in the thalamus of the brain - an area 
important for learning, memory and communication.

The investigators say the deterioration discovered in the thalamus 
resembles deterioration found in schizophrenic patients who used marijuana.

Of the schizophrenic marijuana users, 90 per cent had been using the 
drug heavily before developing the mental disorder.

My client is textbook.

Mark has all the risk factors for developing a serious mental 
disorder. He must stop drinking and pot use.

I referred him to a local psychiatrist for a full assessment.

I suspect Mark is the leading edge of a troublesome trend. In both 
the U.S. and Canada pot smoking among teens and young adults is 
actually on the increase.

If you suspect you've got a young pot-smoker in your house and you've 
got a history of mental illness, get him or her assessed now.

Before the damage is done. 
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom