An Examination of the Supposed Link Between Cannabis, Schizophrenia & the Arizona Shooting

So a friend posted this video and I was inspired to write this: This schizophrenia tripe is getting old, so here is my rebuttal to the audacity of this senators argument.
First of all, let’s start with, “schizophrenics Are twice as likely to smoke marijuana”, or are they twice as likely to admit it to a survey taker? Also, the second stat “pot smokers are twice as likely to develop schizophrenia”, is just a rephrasing of the first stat.
Now let’s for a second say that a high number of schizophrenics smoke weed. Schizophrenia develops between late teens & early 20s, with signs often showing gradually. The people are often found “different” or
outcasts before it hits. Not only is cannabis great for treating feelings of alienation angst & depression, the sub culture of cannabis users are more tolerant of deviation from the norm, creating a heaven in which people with undeveloped metal disorders can mix with other less accepted demographics, such as artists and gay people. Once the illness hits, they look at them at draw a causal loop, not taking into sociological context.
Next, let’s look at the idea that we should stop anything with a correlation to schizophrenia. People who have high mathematical & abstract reasoning skills are much more likely to develop schizophrenia than those who specialize in language or other areas, so should we prohibit math? Now that we’ve dealt with that, let’s get to the point where they say “if he has schizophrenia, it might have made it worse”… Does this not mean we do not know that he has schizophrenia? And if he does, while it may aggravate the symptoms on some, the viability of meds varies in schizophrenics, so why wouldn’t the cannabis be the same? I for one, knew a girl who swore her cannabis use helped with her illness. Of course that’s assuming that he had the most media friendly form of psychosis, the one that every person has heard of. Did every assassin have schizophrenia? I’m not saying this man wasn’t ill, but mental illness comes in many forms, and has existed as long as the mind.
Now, let’s consider that perhaps that the odds of schizophrenia are influenced by external forces (cannabis being the scapegoat example), what are the chances that parenting or other life experience is involved? If thats the case, should we save all that money spent on policing cannabis for social programs & medicine? Shouldn’t we prepare parents for the responsibility of childcare by offering programs and aid? Is it possible to nip this in the bud, before cannabis even enters the picture? If so, isn’t that our responsibility?
Now, let’s tackle the idea that, even if everything I had told you wasn’t true, this means we should target cannabis, instead of guns. Well this one is obvious, as this tragedy would have been harder to commit with a hunting rifle, or better yet, a knife.
Peace, Pot &
Prosperity!
Dubs McuPuffen.