Don't trust the media to cover Marijuana - or "mental illness"

SEATTLE, Washington - An article at Huffington Post written by Maia Szalavitz discusses media coverage of a recent British study claiming causative link between marijuana use and schizophrenia and other psychotic illnesses. Szalavitz makes the case that the mainstream media have overstated the results of the study to stir up a bit of "reefer madness".

A cornerstone of Szalavitz's argument is that marijuana usage has increased dramatically in the last several decades, while the incidence rate of schizophrenia has remained fairly constant. Being immersed in Szaszian thought, I immediately thought, "so what?" Since a diagnosis of schizophrenia consists of little more than a psychiatrist coming to the opinion that you have schizophrenia, the so-called mental health professions could raise or lower the rate of diagnosis as they choose. When the appointment book at the office is light they can always gin up some new "Autism Spectrum Disorders" or maybe start bringing in the infants for psychotherapy.

And when the media are not busy refusing to ask fundamental questions about mental health, they're happily occupied not discussing the correlation of antidepressant drugs and violence, including a stunning correlation of these drugs with various massacres of recent years.

Come on, Huffington Post, let's see you dig up the real dirt!