I don't know what the sudden HATE for all things cannabis in recent months is, but I for one am fed the eff up with it.

AND, do we REALLY believe anything the "American College of Physicians" has to say...?? Cmonnnnnnn...

I've been a medical cannabis user since 2015 when it became legal in my state. I am in late-stage Lyme, survived a cancer diagnosis in 2018, and I use it for pain control and sleep. I never use it recreationally. I can't. It makes me sleepy and rather non-functional; what's the point of using recreationally if you can't function?

That said, I've noticed an uptick in people claiming to have PSYCHOTIC EPISODES after using...what's the term...? "High potency"? "High concentration"? Yes, frens...THAT'S WHAT YOU GET WITH MEDICAL GRADE WEED. Illegal weed is often full of adulterants depending on where it's grown; it doesn't have the controls and careful cultivation that medical grade weed does. So if you hit a bong or do a dab or some shatter that has come from weed grown in carefully-controlled conditions so as to emphasize some aspect of potency (there are so many different THCs and CBDs that it'd make your head spin) and you're used to street weed, it's gonna hitcha different.

It would appear to me that there are some novices out there trying medical grade for the first time and then freaking out because of the strength. Let me tell you...if it didn't have that strength, it wouldn't put me to sleep past the pain in my joints and back. And don't get me started on how strong it has to be to overcome the nausea brought on by breast cancer and treatment, which I had to endure for TWO YEARS. They make suppositories for just that kind of thing, to help when all you wanna do is barf and you absolutely cannot take a drag off your vape pen.

Further, RSO (Rick Simpson Oil) is being credited for keeping my liver functioning while undergoing treatment. My doctors have told me to never, never run out of RSO. I take it nightly, prophylactically. After everything I've been through with Lyme, I can say with certainty that RSO has kept me from losing my liver.

There are always going to be anecdotal stories about how someone "had a psychotic episode and had to go to the hospital." While I don't know these people, I do know their type: They're weenies. Also known as wusses, pussies, lightweights, etc. These people shouldn't use anything stronger than an aspirin for anything. And yet it wouldn't surprise me if they had a psychotic episode while indulging in THAT.

My solution is to laugh at these people. They probably wouldn't know a psychotic episode if it hit em in the nose, and they somehow can't wrap their heads around the notion that MEDICAL GRADE WEED IS **SUPPOSED** TO BE STRONG. Hence the term "medical grade." The worst thing that ever happened to our state's medical cannabis laws was to allow recreational-use. It changed our dispensaries and gummed up the works; what used to be a pleasant experience, going in to a dispensary and getting one-on-one attention for current physical problems and which strains will address each one, is now an aggravating standing-in-line interminably, waiting on some greasy, slovenly bum-looking person to get their grimy bills out for their rec purchase. Ugh.

Suggestion to those who can't handle med-grade: Stay off the weed. Just...don't indulge. Stick to your Bud Lite and White Claw. We who NEED medical grade weed in order to have a normal life with restorative sleep and liver protection do NOT need you infiltrating the airwaves & bandwidths with your fearmongering borne of wussiness. Just stay off it...and stop whining to anyone who will listen, because I fear that one of these days, they'll bend the ear of just the right person and there goes our ability to even purchase medical grade.

~A.

: Thanks to a RMN reader!!

: A friend of mine stopped smoking pot, about 10 years ago. He
: was more of a holiday, once in a while smoker. At a St
: Patrick's Day event (at an Irish pub) a friend of his
: passed him some very potent marijuana. He wound up in the
: emergency room after a mental melt down and a massive panic
: attack. No, he was not prone to such things. He's a very
: laid back kind of man.

: I could not tell you about the potencies of Mary Jane as I
: don't partake, never have... Well, I did take a few puffs
: as a teenager, but it just made me cough, gave me a sore
: throat, and I felt sleepy :-)

: Lynda

: *******************************

: By American College of Physicians
: August 28, 2025

: A systematic review has linked high-concentration THC cannabis
: products to negative mental health outcomes, particularly
: psychosis, schizophrenia, and cannabis use disorder.

: A new systematic review has examined how cannabis products
: with high levels of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are
: linked to mental health outcomes. The analysis revealed
: that products with elevated THC concentrations are tied to
: negative effects on mental health, especially when it comes
: to psychosis, schizophrenia, and cannabis use disorder
: (CUD).

: The authors caution that existing research has important
: limitations. They stress the need for better-designed
: studies that can provide clearer and more reliable guidance
: for both healthcare providers and the general public. The
: review was published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

: The investigation was led by researchers at the University of
: Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, along with their
: collaborators. They evaluated 99 studies involving 221,097
: participants conducted between 1977 and 2023. The selection
: criteria were deliberately wide-ranging, including any
: studies that assessed connections between
: high-concentration cannabis use and mental health outcomes,
: whether or not the original purpose of the research was to
: test therapeutic effects.
: Defining High-Concentration THC

: High-concentration cannabis products were defined as having
: THC concentration exceeding 5 mg THC or 10% THC per serving
: or products described as “high-potency concentrate,”
: “shatter,” or “dab.” The mental health outcomes of interest
: included anxiety, depression, psychosis, schizophrenia,
: CUD, and other substance use disorders. The researchers
: defined acute effects (within 12 hours), post-acute effects
: (after consistent use for 1 to 2 months), and long-term
: effects (after consistent use for > 1 year).

: In studies not testing for therapeutic effects,
: high-concentration THC products were associated with
: psychosis, schizophrenia, and cannabis use disorder. No
: therapeutic studies found favorable effects on psychosis or
: schizophrenia.

: Of non-therapeutic studies, 53% identified unfavorable
: associations with anxiety and 41% found unfavorable
: associations with depression. Among therapeutic studies,
: some suggested beneficial effects for anxiety (47%) and
: depression (48%), while others suggested unfavorable
: effects (24% for anxiety and 30% for depression).

: The findings reinforce previous conclusions that higher THC
: concentrations increase the risk for adverse mental health
: outcomes; however, they fall short of providing the
: definitive evidence needed to provide clear advice to
: patients.

: Annuals of Internal Medicine Journals
: https://www.acpjournals.org/doi/10.7326/ANNALS-24-03819