Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Legal Weed Appears to Cause a Sharp Reduction in Suicides: Discuss
Health & Medicine David Downs — Tue, Feb 7, 2012 at 3:55 PM
At least that's what epidemiologists and psychologists are going to have to do, in light of new findings from the same researchers who found that legalization correlates with fewer road deaths:
"Using state-level data for the period 1990 through 2007, we estimate the effect of legalizing medical marijuana on suicide rates. Our results suggest that the passage of a medical marijuana law is associated with an almost 5 percent reduction in the total suicide rate, an 11 percent reduction in the suicide rate of 20- through 29-year-old males, and a 9 percent reduction in the suicide rate of 30- through 39-year-old males. Estimates of the relationship between legalization and female suicides are less precise and are sensitive to functional form."
That's from the discussion paper, entitled "High on Life? Medical Marijuana Laws and Suicide," written by D. Mark Anderson, Daniel I. Rees, and Joseph J. Sabia, and sponsored by the IZA, a private, independent research institute that conducts nationally- and internationally-oriented labor market research.
Other interesting facts from the paper:
— "Completed suicides, are the tenth leading cause of death in the United States (National Institute of Mental Health 2010)."
— "Alcoholism is associated with suicidal ideation as well as attempted and completed suicides."
— "Females suffer from depression and attempt suicide at higher rates than males ... Nevertheless, males are approximately four times more likely to commit suicide. Since 1990, the male suicide rate has decreased slightly, while the female suicide rate has remained fairly constant."
But Why?
— "We conclude that the legalization of medical marijuana leads to an improvement in the psychological well-being of young adult males, an improvement that is reflected in fewer suicides."
Also:
— "The strong association between alcohol consumption and suicide-related outcomes found by previous researchers raises the possibility that medical marijuana laws reduce the risk of suicide by decreasing alcohol consumption."
Comments (3)
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I have always said that Cannabis saved my life more than once! I fight suicidal thoughts all the time and when it gets real bad the only thing that helps me is Cannabis . I can be crying and feeling like there is nothing left in the world, then smoke and my thoughts change to ones of hope instead of despair! Its amazing how it "fixes" my brain. I don't smoke a lot or all the time but it works so fast when I do need it. Its been a life saver for me anyway.
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This is not at all surprising and another charge of crimes against humanity against prohibition.
In fact why have there not been studies in this field sooner? Surely it must be obvious that when extreme duress is put on society for everyone to conform, people must breakdown with serious mental disorders including the most serious, self destruction.
People take drugs to alleviate pain. Prohibition spreads fear and despair. The authorities drive people into drug use.
I have had a couple of friends commit suicide after years of police harassment. One beautiful girl didn't even smoke, she just liked to live in the bush, all of her friends smoked of course but the cops were determined to bust her but she beat them.
Once your on the police radar, they don't let you go, they keep coming back, it's utterly demoralizing. Many people have to get up and move home but eventually realize that means moving town; usually from a smaller town to a bigger one, gradually depopulating rural areas. A lot of people live transient lives because of prohibition. It's really hard to find somewhere to put your roots down.
Of course people turn to drink, and alcohol can lead to psychotic behavior and violence, who has not seen drunken attitude on a night out.
And this tendency of alcohol to aggression is only exacerbated by the pressure of the police state watching over us.
Alcohol is a big part of domestic abuse too. Women's rights will be greatly advanced by giving their men a safer choice.
Prohibition actually makes society more aggressive and self destructive.
Add this study to other recent ones that find that states with decriminalization or medical pot had less driving fatalities, it is not involved in memory loss, does not contribute to lung damage, not related to cancer, may even protect against cancer.
Many people live with chronic pain and terminal illness.
They have to live in agony and die early to save a teenager from having a toke behind the toilet block, that he's going to get, regardless of the law.
How many people have wanted to die to escape the pain? How many choose death?
But wait, you're not allowed to do that.
You can't euthanize, you can't medicate.
You're a slave to be tortured for the whim of the police, judiciary and politicians.
Who wouldn't want to check out of a world this inhumane when racked with ultimate pain?
Fortunately the damage can be undone by re-legalizing the herb that is for the healing of the nations.
Support any state ballot initiative you can.
Legalize! Apologize! Compensate!
War is Over. 2012.
Duh! At least a quarter of the people that I know that drink do so because cannabis is illegal and they need a way to relax. When you drink to drown out the problems in your life they not only get worse by you avoiding them and allowing them to fester, but you don't forget them. They have a tendency to build up in your mind as you drink and then eventually they seem unsurmountable to the point that death seems the only way out. Cannabis does the opposite. It relaxes you and helps you to focus so that you can deal with the problem at hand. That's why it makes no sense for cannabis to be illegal and alcohol to be legal.
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