As often happens, I managed to get myself I to a debate last night over the alleged autism/vaccine link. People have read or seen the news relating to Andrew Wakefield and his, again I have to use the word alleged, fraud, and are happily telling me my child's condition is genetic, and therefore undoubtedly the fault of his genetically blighted mother. I have to tell you all, medical research is a very dodgy matter. They're all frauds. All of them. The researchers receive funding, and they're obligated to find the result the person paying them wants them to find.
Shades of paranoia? Nope, not here. I'm basing this on experience. My mother spent years as an asthma guinea pig, she was on steroids during her pregnancies, which led to various anomalies in myself and my siblings. I've participated in research myself. I was paid to do so. I'll tell you the tale.
Twenty years ago I sat in some dingy, inner city share house, trying not to notice how much my living arrangements resembled "The Young Ones", and reading Drum, or On The Street, don't remember which one and it doesn't matter, cos they were basically the same, when I spied an advertisement that said-" Marijuana Smokers required for PAID study". It was two days before payday, I was broke, so I rang a friend, and we got together, rang the number and made an appointment.
We traveled to the city, and caught a bus to Randwick to participate in this study at the University. They separated us, and I was interviewed by someone who went on to become a quite famous anti-drug spokesperson in Australia. I must admit, I approached this in a light-hearted and naive manner. I basically thought I was getting paid to say that getting high is pretty sweet. I was so wrong.
We took part in an endless series of questions, and because my memory is excellent I can reel some of them off for you.
1) How often do year voices in your head?
a) rarely
b) occasionally
c) frequently
d) all the time.
2) How much do these voices bother you?
a) a little
b) moderately
c) severely
At this point, I was telling the guy that the only voice I hear in my head is my own, saying things like" don't forget to buy milk", or " geez, that guys shits me, can I go home yet?", but there wasn't an option for marijuana not having made my or my friend psychotic, there wasn't an option where it didn't affect our day to day coping and functioning. Every single question only had the option of giving answers that made it look like ALL marijuana users were psychotic, forgetful, non achieving losers.
It even had questions asking how difficult it was to stop smoking. I was twenty. I stopped all the time. I smoked on weekends, at parties or when someone gave me some. I stopped whenever I couldn't afford it, or it was unavailable for whatever reasons affect the black market in these substances. It wasn't a big deal.
Then they thanked me, and paid me for participating, and they guy interviewing me asked what I was up to for the rest of the day. I told him I was going to use the money he'd just paid me to buy pot, and we both had a good laugh about it. My friend joined me, and we went off to visit that anonymous guy we used for that kind of transaction. He laughed at our story and gave us a great deal. Also gave me an antique teddy bear to add to my collection of old, old toys.
Yeah, I hear you mumbling your shock at my drug addled past. I was twenty. I had a good time. I'm not regretting that period of my life at all. You mighty be wondering what this has to with research. A bit later, the guy in charge of the study popped up on tv screens everywhere, telling us the results of his research. Cannabis is dangerous to your mental health, causes psychosis and exacerbates schizophrenia. Except for all those aging hippies whose minds are still sharp, and Willie Nelson hardly appears to be in the grip of reefer madness.
Of course, I'm not advocating anyone does nothing but smoke pot, because that would undoubtedly be stupid. But pretending a substance is responsible for a host of things that its not responsible for is also patently stupid. Pot doesn't kill people, but most pharmaceuticals can. Antidepressants can take months to work, pot makes most people to feel pretty damn good almost immediately.
Fast forward twenty years. I'm dealing with a young person experiencing psychosis. This person says their thinking became disordered 6 months prior to consuming ANY substance, and everything that was prescribed made the condition worse. One day, this person was so agitated and aggressive I asked another young person to give him a cone. Within ten minutes a crisis had been averted and I was able to talk to this young man and help him find a solution to the issue that was concerning him. Not the conventional method and not a method I recommend, if you or someone you know is experiencing mental health issues, see a professional, and get them a damn good friend as back up.
Medicine is trial and error, and people are making an obscene amount of money, when its YOUR health. So demand real research. Unbiased research. Because thats how they do these studies.
No comments:
Post a Comment