Why Pot Smokers Are Paranoid

[nabraxas]

April 6, 2011

Paranoia is one of the most unpleasant "side effects" of marijuana. It's also a key experience shared by marijuana smokers and people with schizophrenia. But exactly how does smoking a joint cause the feeling that dark forces are conspiring to do you wrong?

New research in rats may help explain the source of this distress. The study, led by Steven Laviolette at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, involved training rats to fear the scent of either almond or peppermint. The scents were delivered to rats in a cage either with black-and-white striped walls or with black polka dots on a gray background. (The rats were not pre-tested for their taste in interior design.) One scent was accompanied by an electric shock to the rodents' feet, while the other scent was not.

At the same time, researchers experimented with the activity of the CB1 receptors in a certain region of the rats' brains. These cannabinoid receptors are activated by the main psychoactive component of marijuana, THC. In some rats, the scientists blocked CB1-receptor activity; in others, they used a marijuana-like drug to enhance it.

When scientists blocked the CB1 receptors in a region called the basolateral amygdala — which is involved in the processing of fear and emotion — the rats that got strong electric shocks did not learn to fear the associated scent or the cage in which they received it. After getting shocked, they were just as happy as unaffected rats to explore the cage and smell the scent.

When rats were given a drug that enhanced cannabinoid-receptor activity, however, even receiving a minor shock was enough to cause them to freeze with fear when they were later exposed to the cage and its related scent. Without the marijuana-like drug, small shocks did not have the same effect.

The findings, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, suggest that activity in the basolateral amygdala is involved in marijuana-induced paranoia (the state of becoming afraid of things that wouldn't normally trigger fear). That means marijuana is actually enhancing a type of learning about fear, leading the brain to jump to conclusions about mild experiences involving particular places or things, and to perceive them as scarier and more strongly connected than they are.

This increased fear-based learning helps explain why stoners tend to see patterns in events that aren't real, such as conspiracies. (Of course, to be fair, the rats in this experiment were justifiably paranoid: they were being experimented on!)

Interestingly, the researchers also found that they could prevent the enhanced fear learning in rats given the marijuana-like drug by inactivating activity in a region called the prefrontal cortex before exposing them to the shocks. The prefrontal cortex is a higher-level brain area involved in executive functions like planning, decision-making and controlling responses and impulses. In humans, this could potentially explain why telling yourself or being told, "Chill out, you're just high," can help. (This may not work if the police actually are coming to arrest you.)

The researchers point out that both of the brain regions studied are implicated in the pathology of schizophrenia, and that understanding their interconnections could lead to better treatments for the disorder.

"We know there are abnormalities in both the amygdala and prefrontal cortex in patients who have schizophrenia, and we now know these same brain areas are critical to the effects of marijuana and other cannabinoid drugs on emotional processing," said Laviolette in a statement.

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/04/06/why-pot-smokers-are-paranoid/#ixzz1IsX2KdoR

 

[rahli]

Cool article nabraxas.

From a very limited observation base, ganga smokes are more likely to develop a severe fear response to DMT use compared to non ganga smokers. This article in my opinion adds weight to this theory as fear responses are harder to explain away and more likely to spiral out of control.

If this is not too far off topic I'd be interested to hear other peoples experience in this regard.

[Foo]

Sounds about right

[gogogadget]

Ive been rather un-impressed at short glance about all the poking being done on this subject, but as i near the stage in my life where i'm actually very keen on giving up, this information is really proving pretty useful in that i am finding as time goes on the negative effects really do start to outweigh the positives, i'm 28yo and never felt more un-healthy and supposed to be reaching my prime, that being said i need to research detoxification methods to fast track 13 years of body neglect , thank you for your article.

Edited April 8, 2011 by gogogadget

[santiago]

its probably just the underlying paranoia thats always there it just needs something to trigger it, i personally like paranoid stoners 100 times more than egotystical alcohol drinkers so i dont see any problem at all with being paranoid, maybe more people should embrace it instead of thinking they are gods gift to the world.

[Bush Turkey]

yeah dude! i think paranoia saved my life to be honest. mj sorted me right out

[tripsis]

Very interesting article, thanks for posting it.

[kadakuda]

Times arrested for smoking weed: 0

Times arrested for drinking: 4

Possible reason for difference: paranoid vs untouchable.

rahli, very interested to hear more thoughts on that with DMT, I am noticing something somewhat similar.

[mutant]

Cool research.

Gogogadhet, there are some fine threads about the idea and the praxis of quitting cannabis here.

I too, as Slybacon, believe stoners that are prone to conspiracy theories and/or paranoia were predisposed to such forces in the first place, or at least they had some anxiety-related neurosis predisposal. One common scheme I find in cannabis users overall is the mild but almost everpresent sense of agoraphobia when loaded, especially with certain batches of pot, after large intake and/or following the cannabis peak. This never felt like very surprising to me, as I live in a society pot is still a tabboo and very illegal too, and also pot is a mild psychedelic, so, it's natural that it won't feel as easy in a crowded, well lit place with unknown people - start thinking that they will understand you're stoned, and it becomes more unsettling. Being very stoned , feeling uneasy with not good people is like asking for it.

Funny thing is that I found this mild agoraphobia went away to a large extent in myself over the years [tolerance? I got used to the sense? I become a better person? I don't give as much a fuck if people know I am stoned now? who knows...] but I did not develop paranoia, on the contrary agoraphobia had been reducing. I know it's better to be stoned and confortable than not, so the set + setting is important in cannabis too. Just because people don't know about it or consider pot harmless, it doesn't make it so, and it takes a good attitude to get the most out of it.

But this is neurosis, inferiority/superiority complex, shyness etc - I mean agoraphobia. It's not paranoia nor psychosis related schemes. I don't think prolonged cannabis use creates/learns one be paranoid. I would be totally nuts if it did. I think that if people skip the paranoia, ignore the bad symptoms, ignore the unsettling, then THEN maybe I could accept this as learning to mentally harm oneself, eventually succumbing to pot paranoia. It's all about consciousness. But if you're having serious mental side-effects, then you already know you're doing it wrong. In my book, it's even fair when shit happens and you have been warned and still been living and using irresponsibly...

That having been said, I too find rahli's comment very interesting.

I am a good specimen for this as I have overused pot too much and not yet tasted dimitri, but like I said, I have only had the typical pot overuse side-effects without ever losing the good effects. So even if I do believe I should eventually smoke less, I really believe most people [regardless if they smoke the same amount as me or the 1/10000 of that ] don't know how to use pot right.

Coming to understand psychedelics, bad trips, etc, more, I understood that cannabis makes a psychedelic trip more prone to introducing paranoia, that it is alone - this even in me, which I definately not have any such tendency on pot [but I am very sensitive to psychs, both becoming sensitive and dose-wise. In fact my two major bad trips of the past are definately triggered by too much pot during the trip, especially one, during the peak and/or afterwords plus problematic or plain awful setting... I found out, reading more, that many psychedelic fans [overindulgers] eventually quit pot, due to this paranoid factor mainly. Some of them quit after bad trip, or because they cannot smoke anymore without being paranoid/"trippy". I know a guy that flipped off an acid trip 10 years ago. He still smokes, even though he doesn't enjoy it. Instead of dealing with their own issues, they try hard to re-live the old days when they smoked pot and had fun. Sad.

I found out that in the rare times I might induldge to some classic psych, I will have no or very limited pot intake during the trip and this greatly enhances the quality and content of the trip - contrary with lots of pot which will be more dirty and blurred.

This fact doesn't sound surprising nowdays either. Take two psychedelics, a classic psych and cannabis, both psychs, both capable of inducing paranoia. It can easily happen, even with no disposition. Proper psychedelics bring us in a state of extreme sensibility, we are more fragile and will become more fearful and more neurotic given the 'proper' trigger.

yeah, I am still smoking like a fool

peace

[synchromesh]

Pot's also known for making people less paranoid about things. Just saying...

[Magicdirt]

`

Edited May 8, 2011 by Magicdirt

[Mycot]

Linking marijuana and paranoia is just BS. If anything it may be a learned responce that is easily altered. Set and setting.

For pot users having the law on their ass for 50 plus years ain't helping anything.

The whole study I find ridiculous being full of assuptions and clearly with an anti-pot bias.

Enhanced fear learning may actually be intelligent behavior.

One thing I found interesting is that in some studies those two brain regions were associated with psychopathy. Strange to see those same two brain regions associated with schizoprenia here.

Edited April 13, 2011 by Mycot

[ThunderIdeal]

i dunno, i would probably disagree. pot often made it seem as though subtle body language and giggling between others was a result of their reading my thoughts, that when i went into another room they would start talking about me and much of what they said had a secret sub-text to which i was not supposed to be privvy. maybe that has more to do with me than pot but if you take pot out of the equation that whole side of things vanishes. you are probably right that responses like i mentioned could be un-trained, plus a better setting would help a lot.

speaking of better settings, i am becoming quite pleased with where i'm at and where i'm headed lately, and it's causing frequent capricious thoughts about getting stoned.

[Zen Peddler]

The amygdala is associated with anxiety, panic disorder and conservative voting LOL. Ive never heard that is is implicated in any way in Schizophrenia.

[ThunderIdeal]

you have now! i guess it is tangentially implicated considering schizophrenic hallucinations must at times be deeply traumatic and fearful?

[mutant]

Mycot you are definately wrong.

Paranoia is certainly induced with pot IN PEOPLE PREDISPOSED for manic/psychotic/schizoid implications. And for them the uncompatibility with pot and paranoid thought patterns are not easily altered as you said.

Now, not all crazy thought on pot is paranoid or even indicant of a psychotic predisposition, it could be neurotic in nature too. More or less, the very same symptoms with which TI described can be caused:

by pot, bad company/bad set/bad setting, and a neurotic/shy/agoraphobic person, with inferiority complex or insecurities

We can't know for sure unless we examine each individual case separately.

TI, why did you smoke pot if it induced such paranoid feelings? did you ever improve the set/setting or the people you hanged around with to see the change?

[ThunderIdeal]

i was a bong pig, it's the only drug i can't enjoy with moderate frequency. those responses weren't typical, they were worst between the ages of 16-18 when i had left school and got ridiculously stoned practically all day every day. as i became more independent and teenage insecurities disappeared, as well as becoming more accustomed to being stoned, among a host of other changes, the stuff i mentioned above mostly stopped but i do believe that various kinds of paranoia have a chance to manifest more strongly if you are stoned.

[incognito]

ive always been terrified of dmt. from my first experience. and ive been a regular erb smoker. ive always put it down to me having no klnackers?

[mutant]

i was a bong pig, it's the only drug i can't enjoy with moderate frequency. those responses weren't typical, they were worst between the ages of 16-18 when i had left school and got ridiculously stoned practically all day every day. as i became more independent and teenage insecurities disappeared, as well as becoming more accustomed to being stoned, among a host of other changes, the stuff i mentioned above mostly stopped but i do believe that various kinds of paranoia have a chance to manifest more strongly if you are stoned.

Sounds like a neurotic/learnt thing, not psychotic/schizoid. I have always hypothesized that a man with psychotic tendencies would probably not be able to be like that, being a 'bong pig', or smoking 1g per day for 10 years in a row, or smoking too much anyway. Most don't go well with pot. Maybe some could do it, but they would fall into episodes I bet, so in the end, they're forced to quit. Not that there couldn't be exceptions....

And no, paranoid and psychotic like symnptoms are not always traumatic, and even if they are - sometimes- the person in question wouldn't like to admit or doesn't remember anyway.

Messiah / dellusional shit is often euphoric, not unlike a psychedelic epiphany, I suppose...

[Mycot]

Mycot you are definately wrong.

 

A strong statement. I was however speaking of normal smokers, not those with psychiatric problems which may be exacerbated.

We know that pot enhances the senses requiring increased information processing.

Whatever is there gets amplified, which is why I mentioned set and setting.

Many lifelong smokers are far from paranoid.

Edited April 14, 2011 by Mycot

[Mycot]

you have now! i guess it is tangentially implicated considering schizophrenic hallucinations must at times be deeply traumatic and fearful?

 

Yes very tangentially as one wouldn't need an abnormal amydala for this type of response.

[mutant]

mycot

I was however speaking of normal smokers not those with psychiatric problems which may be exacerbated.

then we agree

[nabraxas]

Many lifelong smokers are far from paranoid

True, & most everyday smokers would also not class MJ as psychedelic either.

A tolerance to THC is acquired very quickly.

But anyone who hasn't smoked for 2-4 weeks, or ever, who then smokes a couple ov cones ov primo bud will definitely experience the full effects ov THC which are very psychedelic & can easily cause paranoia, without any need for a predisposition to "manic /psychotic/schizoid implications".

There are centuries worth ov anecdotal evidence for "pot can make you paranoid"...infact the very word "paranoia" would still only be part ov the clinicians language if it weren't for it's appropriation by the masses ov people needing to describe the new sensations they were experiencing when experimenting w/drugs.

This article reports a conclusion drawn from animal experiments that seeks to show how the method ov action by THC may induce that paranoia.

[Magicdirt]

I can't really describe modern pot as psychedelic, at least for me it's not. For me it just has a sedative effect and makes me feel fucked up. To me it's not even enjoyable so I don't bother to smoke it.

Australia had some excellent pot in the late seventies/eighties. They were sativa strains that gave a truly uplifting high with psychedelic effects.

The indoor growing movement changed all that when everyone started growing that skunk garbage.

It may be higher in THC but the ratio of the other synergistic cannabinoids has been thrown out of whack in the desire to create high THC strains. As a result marijuana has become almost a manufactured adulterated substance. It's unnatural and I believe it has an impact on brain chemistry that never happened with naturally bred pot.

When everyone smoked sativa in its unadulterated form psychosis and paranoia was almost unheard of.

Now it's been genetically modified to be "better" a lot of people just can't deal with it and it causes many symptoms that natural pot never did.

[FancyPants]

It's extremely rare for me to feel paranoid on MJ (rare for me to be paranoid any time actually), but around 4 out of 5 times when burning legal weed incense I'll go through a paranoia/almost anxious period of around five minutes until I either forget or I force myself out of that state. Difference in the syntheticanna not aiming at mimicking CBD as well as THC effects?