Why does smoking marijuana cause paranoia?

[SnakeSpirit]

Duh. If it were not illegal to smoke pot, it would enhance your awareness about other stuff. Since it is illegal, when you notice things that you wouldn’t ordinarily notice, you assume they are “out to get you.”

[samclem]

Winston . While I’m sure you opened this thread to find a factual answer, I’m not sure you’re gonna find it. First off, you never established a basis for your assertion that smoking causes paranoia. If there is a scientific answer, no one found it today. But you’ve gotten lots of opinions. So I moved it.

If anyone posts peer-reviewed journal evidence that there is a causal relationship, I’ll move it back to GQ. But my bet is against.

samclem moderator, GQ

[fishbicycle]

I’ve felt a lot of weird sensations from it, but paranoia was never one of them. But hey, don’t smoke it in your bedroom if your mom is likely to come up to talk to you, or when you have to go to court, or at the annual police picnic. Unless your mom, or the judge, or the cops, offer you a toke.

[scm1001]

part of the at times mild paranoia for me was the fact that
(i) it was illegal - enough said
(ii) It made me quiet - my thinking processes slowed down so I couldn’t verbalise fast enough and stayed out of conversations. I would sit in the room just looking around. This made me uncomfortable as I thought that others would be judging me for this. (as you guess I am a bit uptight anyway)

However, by myself I used to love to smoke and chill out.

[Dr.Rieux]

In the words of Dr. Johnny Fever, “When people are out to get you, paranoid is just Good Thinking.”

[Go_You_Big_Red_Fire_Engine]

@WinstonSmith

Why would you ask me that?!? Are you trying to imply something?!?

The ministry did turn you over to the dark side, Winston :dubious:

[buddha_david]

@Dogzilla

As Bill Cosby said, “It intensifies your personality.” (Yes, but what if I’m an asshole? Ba-da-bump. I’ll be here all week.)

Nitpick: he said that about cocaine, not marijuana. (Cite.)

Also, here’s an article from Medical News Today about a 2014 study which established a link between smoking weed and paranoia, as well as the reasons for its effect:

In what is deemed the largest and most in-depth study of the effects of the main ingredient in marijuana, researchers say they have identified the psychological factors that can lead to feelings of paranoia among users of the drug. The research team, led by Prof. Daniel Freeman of the University of Oxford in the UK, recently published their findings in the journal Schizophrenia Bulletin.

Results of the study revealed that among participants who were injected with THC, around 50% reported paranoid thoughts, compared with 30% of participants who received the placebo. The researchers note that as the compound left the bloodstream, feelings of paranoia reduced.

The team found that THC also induced anxiety, worry, reduced mood, negative thoughts about oneself, changes in perception - including the report of louder noises and clouds being brighter - and altered their perception of time. Using a statistical analysis, the researchers found that it may be these negative feelings and changes in perception that cause paranoid feelings among marijuana users.

The team says their findings not only “very convincingly” show that cannabis can cause short-term paranoia in some users, but they may also explain how our mind encourages paranoid feelings.

“Paranoia is likely to occur when we are worried, think negatively about ourselves, and experience unsettling changes in our perceptions,” says Prof. Freeman, adding:

“The study identifies a number of highly plausible ways in which our mind promotes paranoid fears. Worry skews our view of the world and makes us focus on perceived threat. Thinking we are inferior means we feel vulnerable to harm. Just small differences in our perception can make us feel that something strange and even frightening is going on.”

He notes that although the study - funded by the UK’s Medical Research Council - provides more information about the immediate effects marijuana can have, it does not look at the effects of cannabis addiction and therefore “does not necessarily hold implications for policing, the criminal justice system or legislation.”

[Wesley_Clark]

Google the keywords ‘marijuana pepper paranoia’ supposedly there are chemicals in pepper that counteract the paranoia. However I do not understand the underlying biology of it.

[Wesley_Clark]

@Triskadecamus

Well, it could be the fact that, if you smoke, or even posses marijuana then there really are people who are “Out to get you”. There are, in actual fact, thousands of people being paid to get you. And most of them have guns, and they intend to throw you into a cell for at least a few years, and in a few cases, for a very long time.

So, all in all, which is most likely to cause paranoia? Drug affects are subtle, The DEA is not.

Pot smokers are only crazy if they aren’t paranoid.

Tris

Benzos and opioid pill bought on the black market are also illegal, and those do not cause paranoia. Plus in many states weed is either legal or decriminalized. You can smoke as much as you want in many states, in many other states getting caught is like getting a traffic ticket. So I don’t think the legal aspect is the only factor. People who live in states where it is legal get paranoia too.