So I get this tweet from David Burge:
In the heated competition for most idiotic post-shooting commentary, I believe we have a winner: http://bit.ly/dZsy16
I dutifully trot off to read whatever hyperbolic bullshit rantings this might be, thinkin' it's prolly more Lefty Outrage(!). But noooo. It's Moderate Right-Wing Outrage! Excerpt:
Experts also are saying blatant asshattery is not the sole provenance of the Left. For God's sake, Frum... are you THAT fucking stupid? Your commenters certainly think so.After horrific shootings, we hear calls for stricter regulation of guns. The Tucson shooting should remind us why we regulate marijuana.
Jared Lee Loughner, the man held as the Tucson shooter, has been described by those who know as a “pot smoking loner.”
He had two encounters with the law, one for possession of drug paraphanalia.
We are also learning that Loughner exhibited signs of severe mental illness, very likely schizophrenia.
The connection between marijuana and schizophrenia is both controversial and complicated. The raw association is strong:
But is correlation causation?
- Schizophrenics are twice as likely to smoke marijuana as non-schizophrenics.
- People who smoke marijuana are twice as likely to develop schizophrenia as those who do not smoke.
Increasingly experts seem to be saying: “Yes.”
The image is from a web search and not from the Clue-Free Frum. Obviously.
...should remind us why we regulate marijuana. If that was the case, 90% of teenagers would be schitzophrenic! (At least those of my graduating class.)
ReplyDeleteAnd we don't regulate marijuana... we BAN it. Just sayin'.
ReplyDeleteOur experiences are similar, Deb.
I just know you've been waiting breathlessly for my reply to this.
ReplyDeleteSigh.
What everybody on both sides continues to ignore is that it's not only healthy people who smoke weed - and the problem isn't "Does marijuana contribute to schizophrenia?," it's "What happens to schizophrenics when they add marijuana to the mix?" The current rant from people like Frum, who decidedly doesn't know jackshit about the subject, is just more evidence of my contention that Ignorance is Curable, But Idiocy is Chronic.
For the benefit of the assembled, Buck 'n me have kicked this around to a great extent, and agreed to disagree (on accounta our host is definably a gentleman of great repute.) I've seen horror stories in their dozens - and as we both realize I've smoked as much pot and seen as many pot-heads as anybody in the (formerly) civilized world.
Whatever the onset of Loughner's insanity may have been, the addition of high-THC confusion didn't do it any good.
Is what I think.
Heh. Well said, Rob. We shall continue to disagree, agreeably. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI just don't see a correlation of being a mental case, and being a drug user.
ReplyDeleteObviously there are millions of mental patients released on the streets, and out of those millions I hazard maybe a few would require a fix to get through the week.
I think most of them are just crazy though.
Puh-leeze. You know what else leads to schizophrenia? Mothers milk. In a recent study by nobody in particular, it was found that those who exhibit signs of schizophrenia tended to drink milk when they were young. Also indicated as possible culprits were lollipops, grilled cheese sandwiches, Coca-Cola, and having a cute puppy.
ReplyDeleteI just don't see a correlation of being a mental case, and being a drug user.
ReplyDeleteWell... you're sane, Anon.
Jim: Yup. All of the above.