Dr. McKeganey Warned of the Marijuana – Mental Illness Link

PSA Warning Issued in 2005 was Ignored

Eleven years ago the ONDCP and SAMHSA held a press conference to inform of research that confirms what many families already knew–that marijuana use was a trigger for psychosis and mental illness.

The ONDCP is the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy; SAMHSA is the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.  Each agency has a crucial role in trying to ascertain usage and reduce demand for drugs.

Specifically, Dr. Neil McKehaney from the University of Glasgow came to the US and spoke at the national Press Club on May 5, 2005. The agencies went to great effort to share important information.  A video was recently found online.

Coverup of the Marijuana – Mental Illness  Risk

At this same Press Conference, a couple who had lost their 15-year-old son to suicide due to the mental health problems arising from marijuana use, spoke.  The Press covered the story, but did not use their considerable investigative skills to probe into what those parents and Dr. McKenagey were describing.  It is true that about one quarter of American high school students are depressed, which points to multiple problems of American culture, not just drugs. However, knowing how vulnerable teens are, and then not exposing the factors that could make their outcomes worse, is lamentable.

In addition to depression, anxiety and suicide, there are the risks of psychosis, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia that arise from marijuana use.  Pot proponents love to state that anyone who has a psychotic reaction to pot already had the problem before they used it.  They tend to blame family members for not  wanting to admit  mental health problems, and argue that pot is used as a scapegoat.

Several studies have shown a link between marijuana and schizophrenia.  Explains pharmacologist Christine Miller, Ph.D:  “No one is destined to develop schizophrenia. With identical twins, one can develop the disease and the other one will do so only 50% of the time, illustrating the importance of environmental factors in the expression of the disease.  Marijuana is one of those environmental factors and it is one we can do something about.”

A Missed Opportunity

One person who worked in the office of ONDCP Director John Walters told Parents Opposed to Pot, “They accused us of being pot-crazy during a time when there was a methamphetamine crisis going on.  Marijuana is almost always the first drug introduced to young people and the evidence for the mental health risks were very strong by 2005.  Although pot was getting stronger as it is today, the warning was falling on deaf ears.  Members of Congress wanted us to focus on the meth crisis, but marijuana was a growing issue and we had a myriad of issues.”

This Public Service Announcement reached audiences in the Press, and some newspapers and magazines reported about it.  Since the Internet and search engines were not as they are  today,  few parents, children,  schools and mental health professionals took notice.   (Did the marijuana lobbying groups bully and try squelch the information?)

Lori Robinson, whose son suffered the mental health consequences of marijuana said:  “I will always deeply regret Shane not hearing this PSA .  Shane was a smart, gregarious and fun-loving young man who naively began using pot never knowing he was playing Russian roulette with his brain in ’05-’06 at the age of 19.   Dr McKeganey so clearly stated that the public views marijuana as harmless, not realizing the potency of THC was rising while the “antipsychotic” property of CBD was being bred out.  Sadly, despite both parents never used an illegal drug in our lives, our son assumed that since a few of his friend had smoked in high school, it was just a “harmless herb.”   Shane’s story is on the Moms Strong website.

Robinson added, “This video is absolutely current TODAY.  Let’s keep this video circulating & it WILL save young brains & families the destruction that lies ahead when marijuana hijacks your kid’s brain.

The research has expanded since that time and scientific evidence on each of the following outcomes from marijuana use is voluminous: marijuana & psychosis, marijuana & violence and marijuana & psychiatric disorders.

Lessons to be Learned

Lives could have been saved, and so many cases of depression, psychotic breakdowns and crimes could have been prevented – if the public had become more aware back in 2005.   Congress, the Press and most of all, the American psychiatric community was wrong to ignore the warnings that were issued with this PSA.

Let’s not continue to ignore  the evidence. Today in the US, mental health is worse than it’s ever been, and the promotion of drug usage may be a huge factor in this problem.  Harm reduction in preference to primary prevention strategies is practiced in many jurisdictions.  Drug overdose deaths have overtaken gun violence deaths and traffic fatalities in the USA — by far — under this strategy.

Today Dr. McKeganey is the Director of the Center for Substance Use Research in Glasgow.

Rep. Murphy’s Bill Shouldn’t Pass Without HIPAA Change

Virginia State Senator Creigh Deeds became an early supporter of Rep. Tim Murphy’s Help Families in Mental Health Crisis Act precisely because it promised to give families access to important medical information.   Deeds had been unable to find a hospital bed for his son and to access his mental health records before the 24-year-old attacked him with a knife in 2013–and later killed himself.

The situation is all too frequent that families of adult children with mental health issues cannot help their children and are shut out of treatment programs. Privacy law leaves loved ones on the sidelines — with tragic results.  The HIPAA Privacy Rule, passed in 1996 to keep health care information private, has repeatedly been an obstacle to Mental Health Care and Substance Use Disorder Treatment.  We recommend that Congress not pass H.R.2646 because the Act doesn’t loosen the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) rules to provide for better family access to medical records.

The elephant in the room is that most Americans still don’t know what people throughout the world recognize —that marijuana use may be a trigger for their family member’s bipolar or schizophrenia diagnosis.

The version of the bill that goes before House vote this week authorizes for more study on how to give limited information to family without consent when a loved one is incapacitated.   In other words, it’s a bill that leaves out the most important part of the bill to many of its original supporters!

Rep Murphy
Rep. Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania is a psychologist

If your child is age 14 + and has a substance use issue or a psychiatric issue, parents may be prevented from knowing if there is any substance use or abuse.    How many parents / families would really use this information against their child?   Families are better equipped to be the judges of care than the government, or some impersonal hospital treatment center.

Since it’s likely that Congress will pass the CARA Act to prevent addiction overdose deaths, it’s time think holistically.  Could a reason there are more than 47,000 substance abuse deaths per year be that parents often don’t know when their children are using drugs, or that they have no idea when drug use begins?

HIPAA Privacy Law and Substance Abuse

Eddie Bernice Johnson
Rep Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas

We laud Rep. Murphy, a psychologist in Congress, for taking action to improve mental health delivery  Having a practicing psychologist in Congress adds a knowledgeable human dimension to the problem.  The key co-sponsor of the bill is Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas, a psychiatric nurse.   Both Representatives Murphy and Johnson repeatedly attempted to educate Congress and bring numerous families forward who were hampered by HIPAA Privacy Rule.

A whole new bill to reform the HIPAA Privacy Rule with regards to Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder is called for at this time.

Aren’t parents who are trying to get children off drugs or into treatment trying to save their lives?  If a child or teen signs for parents or guardians to have this information, they can learn about substance use or diagnosis.   However, a child may refuse and hospitals/doctors are bound by HIPAA law not to tell.  Substance users often don’t see that they have a problem and don’t want to give up their use of drugs.   Denial is a part of addiction.

Practicing medicine is more art than science. Psychiatric treatment in the United States is imprecise, hit or miss and often determined by insurance companies.   The DSM Manual for Psychiatry is frequently revised.  Sometimes when a first episode of psychosis is triggered by marijuana, psychiatrists are quick to jump the gun and prescribe heavy anti-psychotics instead of getting the user off of marijuana.

Patients can refuse to take medications and they have the freedom to do that.   Anthony Hernandez supported Murphy’s bill because  his son Aaron killed the family dog and stabbed his mother at age 19.  Stronger mental health care laws forcing treatment would have protected the family.   It had been impossible for the Los Angeles family to force their son Aaron — who had begun using marijuana in middle school – into treatment.  As there were other family members with mental illness, no one knows for sure if Aaron could have avoided his condition (paranoid schizophrenia) by never touching marijuana and hallucinogens.  Certainly schizophrenia comes at a younger age to those who use marijuana and it makes the condition much more severe.

Decrease Substance Abuse to Decrease Mental Illness

The best way we can decrease mental health problems in this country is by decreasing substance abuse.  Again and again studies note that violence is associated with substance abuse more than psychiatric disability.  People who abuse substances are more likely to be violent, with or without a diagnosed mental disorder.

Parents Opposed to Pot believes that educating children in early elementary school about the organic brain changes that come with substance use and abuse will cut down violence and mental illness in the United States by 25-40%.   The United States has less than 5% of the world’s population, almost 60% of the world’s drug users and nearly 25% of those incarcerated.  Yet people deny that our nation’s rate of incarceration reflects the fact that so many people commit crimes when they use drugs.

Psychiatric Illness Without Drug Abuse

As for patients with mental illnesses who do not abuse substances, passing HR 2646 without changing HIPAA would give unprecedented power to the psychiatric profession.  Congress should not allow it.  The USA Today article explaining the problem, suggests that the ACLU and NAACP, two organizations which are sympathetic to drug legalization, stand in opposition to changing HIPAA Rule.   If domestic violence groups also don’t allow openness about medical history, they also may be standing in the way of compassion offered by family members who would naturally care more about the patient than a psychiatric hospital.

Rep. Murphy said that under HIPAA, families are often treated “like the enemy,”  His original plan was to allow health providers to disclose a patient’s diagnosis, treatment plan, appointment schedule and medications to a “responsible caregiver,” if the patient has a serious mental illness, and if the information is needed to “protect the health, safety or welfare of the individual or general public.”  The bill did not allow providers to share psychotherapy notes.  It was meant to safeguard continuity of treatment, especially for those who would be gravely disabled in the absence of treatment.

H.R.2426 mandates a presidential appointee who is an assistant secretary for mental health and substance use disorders, a senior leadership position in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).   The current agency Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is an important agency which does a very important job.

On Marijuana Oils and Misleading Promises

Is the Marijuana Lobby Trying to Buy Your Legislature and Your Votes?

If marijuana has a medical application that can be proven, Merck and Pfizer will probably see the benefit of getting into the 4.2 billion dollar business.   Marijuana companies, like pharmaceutical companies,  contribute heavily to politicians and lobbying efforts.  Unlike the pharmaceutical industry, they don’t go through a rigorous testing and approval process.  The marijuana industry uses pesticides, even banned pesticides, but it promotes itself as organic and natural.

Medical marijuana “caregivers” have no accountability and liability, and their lobbyists know it.  We think it is wrong when the marijuana industry lobbyists give parents with very sick children false hope.

Marijuana lobbyists should not be seen as having pure and “compassionate” motives, as they pretend.*   The public has a right to know that CBD for epilepsy does not always work.

The Press should investigate how much the marijuana lobby spends to advertise and go on TV on behalf of passing “medical” marijuana laws.

Treating Cancer with Marijuana Oils?

A few of the children treated with an artisanal CBD (cannabidiol, the derivative of marijuana used for epilepsy) have died,  and some of the children treated with cannabis oil for cancer also died.

In Montana a few years ago, Cashy Hyde’s father was featured on TV, saying his son had been cured of cancer using cannabis oil.  Sadly,  the boy eventually died, sometime after the startling announcement that he had been cured.  The constant nurture and love from his parents probably helped to extend his life.

A man in Iowa who advocated for marijuana also died of cancer.   In Australia, a little girl whose father had been treating her neuroblastoma with cannabis oil died in May.   Receiving constant love, attention and kind wishes from others sent good vibes into the world, but no medical professional thought it had an effect on the cancer.

It is understandable why some parents with little hope for their child would prefer such oils over harsh chemotherapy.

We do not criticize the parents for trying alternative treatments. However, advocacy for these parents should not be used to further the agenda of legalization.

When reading about the remarkable claims advocates of medical marijuana propose, please remember the placebo effect.  We don’t know why placebos cure some people and not others.   It could be the power of belief, or the result of a person’s own immune system having the ability to fight the disease.

Parents Opposed to Pot objects to the tactics of marijuana lobbyists because:

  • They give partial truths, attempt to sway public opinion while hiding essential facts.
  • They engage in unfair defamation of character and advertising. Two years ago Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Rep. Andy Harris were targeted with cruel and slanderous attacks because of their votes regarding medical marijuana.  Rep. Wasserman Schultz recently voted to allow veterans to be allowed marijuana — although it makes PTSD worse.
  • They outpsend the opposition to marijuana legalization and target youth with their advocacy, while pretending to be grass roots.  Smart Approaches to Marijuana was founded after the vote to legalize in Washington and Colorado.
  • They intentionally use the term “medical marijuana” when they mean cannabidiol (CBD), which lacks the psychoactive qualities of regular marijuana.  The confusion justifies teens who “dab” with highly potent Butane Hash Oil BHO) because they believe it’s harmless and even medicinal.

(Read Part 1)

*The 1996 ballot in legalizing marijuana in California was called the Compassionate Use Act and people were led to believe it was only for terminally ill people with cancer and AIDS.   In reality, only 3-5% of the marijuana has been used for these conditions.

Bipartisan Group of Senators Introduce MEDS Act

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Sen. Brian Schatz from his website. Photo above is of Senator Hatch in front of the Capital

This week four Senators introduced the the MEDS Act to streamline the process of approving any medicine derived from the cannabis plant.  Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah (shown above), Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii and Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina introduced the Marijuana Effective Drug Studies Act (MEDS) of 2016.

The MEDS Act offers comprehensive, responsible solutions instead of “medicine by ballot initiative,” or the poorly-designed CARERS Act.

Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii explains: “The MEDS Act will remove excessive barriers that make it difficult for researchers to study the effectiveness and safety of marijuana, and hopefully, give patients more treatment options.”

Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina said: “The MEDS Act is a commonsense, bipartisan effort to remove unnecessary barriers that will give scientists the ability to study the biochemical processes, impact, dosing, risks and possible benefits of cannabidiol and other components of the marijuana plant.”

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Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina. Photo: Political Insider

As Smart Approaches to Marijuana which supports the bill explains, the bill:

*Enables more research on marijuana by creating a faster, more streamlined process for obtaining approval from the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) to conduct research, including the ability to amend and supplement research proposals without reapplying. Currently, researchers who want to conduct research on marijuana must interface with several federal agencies and engage in a complex application process that can take a year or longer must start from scratch if they make any changes to their research proposal;

*Eliminates the burdensome requirement of some DEA field offices that marijuana be kept in bolted safes – a requirement not possible in many research and clinical settings – and codifies current DEA regulations that allow marijuana to be stored in securely locked, substantially constructed cabinets; and

*Requires the licensing of marijuana manufacturers for the purpose of valid scientific and clinical research and drug development and establishes manufacturing licenses for the commercial production of FDA-approved medical marijuana products.

Dr. Kevin Sabet, President of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, said. “Despite state laws, raw marijuana (smoked or ingested) is not medicine, and has never passed through the rigorous FDA approval process to ensure the health and safety of patients.  The plant’s components should be studied so those in need can access any therapeutic benefits while knowing dosage, side effects, and contraindications. And more broadly speaking, the MEDS Act upholds the important, basic principle that all medications-including marijuana-based drugs-should go through the scientific process and accessed through legitimate doctors.”

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Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware. Photo: Getty Images

The American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Society of Addiction Medicine, American Preventive Medical Association, American Pain Society, American Society of Anesthesiologists, and the American Academy of Pain Medicine in support of the MEDS Act.

We salute the bipartisan nature of this bill.   In the House of Representatives, Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, Rep. Sam Farr of California, Rep. Morgan Griffith of Virginia and Rep Andy Harris of Maryland are expected to introduce a similar bill.

The MEDS Act represents a great improvement over the CARERS Act.  Three Senators presented the CARERS Act to garner media attention last year.  It was a dramatic gesture.  We live in a time when too many people believe that anything derived from nature, such is poison ivy or snake oil, must be safe because it is “from nature” or “a gift from God.”  Sometimes these purveyors of natural medicine make promises that cannot be kept.

Many states do not keep track of doctors and others who prescribe “medical” marijuana for nebulous reasons.  Other states, such as New Jersey and Illinois, have highly controlled program.

Psychiatric problems that have ballooned in states that give out medical marijuana without reasonable medical purpose, but that can be addressed at a later date.   For this reason a doctor in Florida, is urging residents in his states not to pass Amendment 2.  “The easy access to marijuana has led to exacerbations of chronic health conditions, particularly mental health disease. It is difficult to fully quantify the worsening of psychosis, anxiety, depression and other mental health diseases, but easy access to marijuana and other narcotics makes a bad condition worse.”  warned Dr. Allen Weiss, head of the Naples Health Care System.

Bursting the Bubble of Marijuana Hype