There’s a fair amount of UK (and US) army lore about Emperor Mong, the mythical being that thrives on the chaos created when recruits listen to its bad advice. But Emperor Mong has two brothers, which cause even more damage: Emperor Dong and Emperor Bong. Today’s post is about the latter.
The fact that I’ve always had issues with legal punishment of victimless offenses doesn’t mean I’m blind to the ravages cannabis addiction can cause in some people. (Some of this I had the extremely dubious pleasure to witness up close.) This is a particularly sad story:
Though the mind does wonder if Emperor Bong didn’t just aggravate incipient schizophrenia (the way I’ve seen up close with bipolar and borderline personality disorders).
The article points to something perhaps unappreciated: the gen-engineered strains available now are WAY more potent than the weed hippies used to smoke in the 60s. (On the other extreme, there are strains gen-engineered to have only minimal THC, intended for use in chemotherapy patients and in chronic pain management, where the benefits mostly derive from compounds other than tetrahydrocannabinol.)
Another reason this story struck me when reading it was: the world’s #1 expert on cannabis, Prof. Emeritus Raphael Mechoulam of Hebrew U., passed away not long ago, basically of old age. I’d met him socially, and have friends among his former students.
A couple of mental health professionals in the US told me this is now distressingly common (as much as 4/5 of the juvenile case load). In most cases, the mental health crisis resolves without further treatment if the patient can stay sober. Many who are otehrwise motivated to kick the habit actually relapse due to withdrawal-induced hyperemesis (excessive vomiting). My interlocutors attributed it indeed to the potency of modern strains. “What circulates now is nothing like the s**t people smoked in the sixties,” is how one of them put it.
There is also the issue of drug interactions. For instance, with patients on SSRI antidepressants, there is a well-known drug interaction that results in accidental overdosing.
But the pusher don’t care — if you live or die.
Spin, strangeness, and charm 
There are several reliable studies that show that once a week use of marijuana results in an increase of psychosis. 20% of male teenage regular users of cannabis become psychotic. The frequency is slightly lower for females.
You sound like a libertarian, but with numbers that high this is not just a personal problem. It affects families, communities and all of society. To me it is a serious issue.
> Though the mind does wonder if Emperor Bong didn’t just aggravate incipient schizophrenia
It appears to.
Allegedly (because I haven’t read the studies and am not a doctor) schizophrenics have reduced blood flow to an area of the brain called “ACS”. Initial or occasional use of marijuana increases blood flow to that region. Chronic usage reduces blood flow.
So initial use of marijuana MIGHT make those with unexpressed schizophrenia feel better, but then stops feeling better and makes it worse. Might.
[…] I’VE ALSO WONDERED THIS: Thralldom to Emperor Bong: this ain’t your grandfather’s weed. […]
Many who are otehrwise motivated to kick the habit actually relapse due to withdrawal-induced hyperemesis (excessive vomiting).
Say what? I’ve never heard of such a thing. A quick search returns many results from various hospital sites, so I guess it’s a real issue.
with numbers that high this is not just a personal problem. It affects families, communities and all of society.
What’s the cutoff point? How high must the number be before individual freedom is suppressed for the greater good?
That’s exactly the argument that got Prohibition passed. And it was done Constitutionally. What is the Constitutional argument for the _federal_ government arbitrarily making some plants illegal?
I’m not a Liberatarian, but arguably a libertarian and I have no particular objection to making stuff illegal, but bureaucratic regulations to “ban all the thingz!” is not how this should work. When did Congress vote on this?
How is this different than making gas stoves illegal?