The Times’s main story on the Uvalde shooting, as of approximately 5 p.m. yesterday:
The relevant sentence:
—
The Times’s main story, now:
See if you can find the reference to “smoking weed” now. No, look harder!
Cannabis causes psychosis. Psychosis causes violence. The great American cannabis legalization project is collapsing; violence is exploding in the first cities to legalize, and commercial retailers cannot compete with low-priced unregulated cannabis and are already asking for bailouts.
Where did he get the money to buy those guns and ammo? They're not cheap. *Edit: And the money to buy/smoke all that Cannabis Alex is claiming made him go crazy enough to kill all those people?
Unfortunately, through personal experience with a family member, this is correct. Not all marijuana users will experience psychosis, but for those that do, it is a terrible thing to witness. And the solution? Prescription drugs. It takes time to peel back the layers to determine what is causing psychosis/hallucinations/etc. and when we've been told marijuana is 'safe', why would anyone believe marijuana is the culprit? This is a truth that Americans need to be aware of.
I’m completely with Alex on this; he’s going to get much backlash... mostly from people who think supporting legalization keeps the suppressed from being arrested for it. So not true.
The NYT doesn't want to validate that yes, cannabis CAN cause psychosis. Every parent at a rehab boarding school stated the same, "when my son/daughter started smoking pot, they became monsters". Yes, the majority of parents had taken the drastic step of sending their child to rehab boarding school in an attempt to thwart their marijuana-fueled destructive path.
Two grammatical errors in the original story: (1) "co-workers who were bigger than him" (should read 'than he [was]'); (2) "grandmother, whom he told her" (should read 'who'; it's the subject of a subordinate clause). Sorry, just can't help myself.
He had a $75.000.00 pick up truck, and very expensive guns. He may have been using pot. and other drugs as well. He was known authorities for family fights, and shooting people in the area with bb guns. He was mentally challenged, and that was well documented. Why do all of the shooters have a history of mental illness that is known to the FBI/CIA?
When are we going to admit that what we put our youth through in the name of protecting society from Covid 19 was abuse? The abuse will be with us for many, many years; and my guess is we are seeing the tip of the iceberg right now.
OMG! You're doubling down on the "Cannabis Bad"... YIKES! Clown world! How about looking into what pharma drugs he was on? The money? The car crash? Why the police prevented the parents from going to the rescue? Why the police waited over an hour to do anything?
Regardless of where anyone stands on the side effects of weed or any drug, this re-writing of history and changing articles to fit a narrative is fucking wrong, and scary.
Alex, educating the country about the negative impacts of cannabis use will likely be your most impactful effort. Our country and the world will be a far better place due to your efforts.
You have a large army of people behind you. Most aren't even aware of your efforts in this space.
The world is fortunate that you are here. How may we assist?
It's official, Alex. You are a one hit wonder. You're coverage of the jab has been exemplary. Everything else borders on laughable.
Yes. Pot and its legalization are to blame! Just like strict gun laws have made NYC, California, and Chicago safe havens, right?
But hey, you have a book out about the subject. Never miss an opportunity for a good plug, right?
Why don't you just save us the suspense and blame video games. That's original!
We have a mental health crisis in this country, no doubt, but pot ain't your culprit. The media, social media, the deconstruction of the family unit as we know it, the manufactured class war... THESE are your primary contributing factors, not pot.
You act as if weed were just invented, as if people haven't been smoking it since time immemorial. Weed has been consumed much longer than mass shootings have been a thing.
So you're pimping your pot book and crying reefer madness. Meanwhile there's a little thing called the Sussman trial you refuse to mention (heaven forbid you'd have to reconsider your thoughts on election tomfoolery), as well as even more info coming out of Texas that shows the supposed protection the school was supposed to have had committed some grievous errors (why did it take police 45 minutes to open a door??).
But by all means. Keep blaming pot. And keep begging money for your lawsuit.
I'm not into pot and I'm not religious, but I'd feel money donated to you would be equally well spent on a televangelist.
FFsakes, man, your credibility can’t take a hit like this. Seriously, there are so many SSRI’s these kids and their parents are hitting like a PEZ dispenser that Snoop Dog & Willie are rolling blunts in the corner laughing at your feeble attempts to vilify the devil’s lettuce.
Uhm, yes, marijuana/hash legal in the Netherlands for over 50 years. Must be a ton of schizophrenics over there shooting up schools but we just haven't heard about it.
It says right there in the first screenshot that he was bragging he no longer needed the money or to work at his job. That sounds like someone paid him.
It is great that we live in a society where Alex can state his opinion freely, regardless of whether we disagree or not. We should treasure that freedom that is rapidly disappearing in the West.
Alex raises an interesting point that is definitely worthy of further discussion and thought. Does Cannabis cause psychotic behavior when it is overused? I want to see more research done as there is anecdotal evidence to support this and definitely in the younger, developing brain.
Your constant blame of the cannabis industry is misguided. Look to big pharma and it’s SSRI’s. Read Confessions of an RX drug pusher. Talk about mind blowing.
Abuse by cannabis by susceptible people is not good….but ask yourself WHY ppl abuse drugs , alcohol and prescriptions.
Thank you Alex. Count me as a convert on the THC conversation.
We are well aware of the risks of alcohol. We need more awareness of the risks of THC. Both should be similarly regulated in my opinion. Families need to discuss safe usage and risks for both as well.
Doc, I wish you wouldn't go there. Weed was not the issue. This kid has issues long before weed, he used it to try to mask his problems. Weed will not turn you into a killer. The use is so big and widespread for so long that no study can even get close to the decades of consumption. This just Is not a thing, he could have eaten a lot of pizza, that could have correlated too.
I'm sorry but you're just plain wrong on this one and are now part of the anti weed group that has always been wrong. Any substance when used excessively can have problems, but weed has been demonized for decades and used as a political and racial tool the same as covid and all the other nonsense covert blame games.
I have a lot of experience dealing with kids and weed being a counselor on the issue. These kids have tremendous problems long before weed use. It gives them some help by repressing their pain of their problems. That's why they use it, it's not the other way around. It does not created problems. That's why all these nonsense studies fail to include. This kid does not know what sex he is for starters, he's severely messed up and weed is not the reason.
My daughter's pediatrician told me years ago that the brain isn't fully developed until age 25. Imagine the effect stronger chemicals in pot grown now have on a developing brain.
So let me get this straight. Something like 50 million Americans use cannabis, and one or a few guys who perpetrate a mass shooting used cannabis, cannabis caused the pathological behavior?
Maybe the increased killings in Portland and Denver are like the increased killings everywhere in the economic devastation brought by Covid lockdowns?
You can't fix pathological shootings with a pathological attitude about cannabis.
Look dude, with all this substack cash treat yourself to something nice, like a new computer/screen. Maybe stop posting about this for a minute. You are looking for a 'why' and the answer is some people are broken and there is nothing we can do about them.
This cannabis thing is where peeps get it wrong, this kid needed more cannabis, not less, due to his illnesses, most likely caused by big pharma and poor parenting...maybe no parenting. Was he raised in a child care? Cannabis calms the nervous system...for more than 10,000 years for humans. "Ancient Secret"
I would like to see more analysis of the drugs used by all of these shooters. I think big Pharma is likely hiding a lot of information. What we have learned in the past 2 years should make us all question their drugs and their motives.
You are on the wrong side of this unfortunately. Marijuana does not cause these events. The medicinal properties of marijuana are well documented and quite profound, having been used for over 3,000 years in cultures around the world. Dr. Andrew Weil, the father of complementary medicine, supports its use.
What about alcohol? We KNOW that violence against women, domestic partnerships, typically involves alcohol abuse yet shall we go back to prohibition? You are wanting to throw out the baby with the bath water I'm afraid. We must limit the sale of GUNS - not cannabis. Why should anyone be allowed an automatic weapon?
Bro psychosis does not cause violence. It’s not a straight shot from delusions and disorientation and hallucinations to massacres. I work with psychotic people all day every day. I’m a psychiatric social worker in a criminal justice setting. Some psychotic people are violent. Not all. Probably not even a significant proportion. In my experience alcohol users are far more likely to perpetrate violence than cannabis users.
Cannabis still very dangerous for a subset of the population. In my work I see a lot of psychotic adolescents (15-25) — a lot more than a typical population should have. And at this point it’s a given that when I talk to a psychotic kid they’ll tell me they started to hallucinate real early in life and just after using cannabis.
I appreciate the research you have done regarding smokin' weed (I have to admit I did not read your book on the subject), I have smoked acres of reefer and I never had any psychotic episodes that would lead me to murder multiple innocent people. Like many substances that affect behavior there are multiple possible outcomes. Smoking weed does not guarantee psychosis on the part of the indulger.
Arguing that cannabis consumption *causes* psychosis is beyond silly, Alex's crusade against it is just nonsense. Weird how I've been smoking weed for 15+ years without hurting so much as an ant, or how any of my friends who are also heavy weed users have NEVER bought AR-15s to go on a shooting rampage, also keeping in mind that many of them are also responsible gun owning adults.
Someone call the leg factory so Alex can get a leg to stand on please.
When I was still writing, I did a piece for a sports site about performance enhancing drugs. It really blew mind to learn back then, in 2015, we had over 3M children (17 ot younger) on Adderall in the USA. You think weed makes people more crazy than years of amphetamine abuse?
And do you think we have more kids on prescription drugs.now, or fewer? Big pharma didn't get the money to fund 70% of TV ads from selling less psychotropics!
Alex,you are spot on to identify cannabis use as a risk factor for psychosis in this age group.My wife has been a fan of your novels for a long time,but I first noticed you when you published TELL YOUR CHIDREN.As a physician,I have been aware of this connection for many years,but this information is suppressed by the same forces suppressing the truth about Covid.You are over the target- that’s what Twitter has told you.Keep bombing!!
Alex, the story NO ONE is talking about is the 18-month PLUS back log of local LE offices, mostly in 'blue' cities, not entering crime data!!!! As a FFL, running a NICS check is only as good as the data put into the system by local LEs, yet my door will be the first one kicked open after I UNKNOWINGLY sell a gun to a prohibited person. Is this a tactic by the left to have a random shooting - justifying banning ARs? It's impossible to believe the outrage by the late term pro-abortionists, like Texas' Robert Francis "beto" O'Rourke, when he fails to express any sorrow for the kids killed every weekend in Chicago, OR the 500,000 to 600,000 children that go missing every year in the US. It is, also, BS when the left pushes legalizing pot, knowing full well of the psychosis that comes from using pot, especially when mixed with psych meds. It's not IF; it's WHEN the next shooting happens. OPEN THE MEDICAL RECORDS for firearm background checks!!!!
You really are trying to get ratio'd on this again i guess? These relationships are not root cause my friend. Sick people treat themselves with things that allow them to feel good. This person was extremely sick (checks notes) yep, clearly without argument. If your direct relations played out in practice the whole world would have done been shot up long ago... now do all your friends prescribing the drugs to the children before grade 5, paxil, prozac, ritalin, imapramine, etc etc...
Where did he get the money to buy those guns and ammo? They're not cheap. *Edit: And the money to buy/smoke all that Cannabis Alex is claiming made him go crazy enough to kill all those people?
Andrew Breitbart told us years ago that the biggest enemy facing this country was the media. And he has been proven right time and again.
Unfortunately, through personal experience with a family member, this is correct. Not all marijuana users will experience psychosis, but for those that do, it is a terrible thing to witness. And the solution? Prescription drugs. It takes time to peel back the layers to determine what is causing psychosis/hallucinations/etc. and when we've been told marijuana is 'safe', why would anyone believe marijuana is the culprit? This is a truth that Americans need to be aware of.
I’m completely with Alex on this; he’s going to get much backlash... mostly from people who think supporting legalization keeps the suppressed from being arrested for it. So not true.
The NYT doesn't want to validate that yes, cannabis CAN cause psychosis. Every parent at a rehab boarding school stated the same, "when my son/daughter started smoking pot, they became monsters". Yes, the majority of parents had taken the drastic step of sending their child to rehab boarding school in an attempt to thwart their marijuana-fueled destructive path.
Two grammatical errors in the original story: (1) "co-workers who were bigger than him" (should read 'than he [was]'); (2) "grandmother, whom he told her" (should read 'who'; it's the subject of a subordinate clause). Sorry, just can't help myself.
He had a $75.000.00 pick up truck, and very expensive guns. He may have been using pot. and other drugs as well. He was known authorities for family fights, and shooting people in the area with bb guns. He was mentally challenged, and that was well documented. Why do all of the shooters have a history of mental illness that is known to the FBI/CIA?
When are we going to admit that what we put our youth through in the name of protecting society from Covid 19 was abuse? The abuse will be with us for many, many years; and my guess is we are seeing the tip of the iceberg right now.
It causes psychosis only in genetically susceptible individuals, and even then often only when combined with stimulants like amphetamines.
OMG! You're doubling down on the "Cannabis Bad"... YIKES! Clown world! How about looking into what pharma drugs he was on? The money? The car crash? Why the police prevented the parents from going to the rescue? Why the police waited over an hour to do anything?
Regardless of where anyone stands on the side effects of weed or any drug, this re-writing of history and changing articles to fit a narrative is fucking wrong, and scary.
Pretty sure his lack of attachment to another human is the issue here, not weed use.
Alex, educating the country about the negative impacts of cannabis use will likely be your most impactful effort. Our country and the world will be a far better place due to your efforts.
You have a large army of people behind you. Most aren't even aware of your efforts in this space.
The world is fortunate that you are here. How may we assist?
NYT is garbage
It's official, Alex. You are a one hit wonder. You're coverage of the jab has been exemplary. Everything else borders on laughable.
Yes. Pot and its legalization are to blame! Just like strict gun laws have made NYC, California, and Chicago safe havens, right?
But hey, you have a book out about the subject. Never miss an opportunity for a good plug, right?
Why don't you just save us the suspense and blame video games. That's original!
We have a mental health crisis in this country, no doubt, but pot ain't your culprit. The media, social media, the deconstruction of the family unit as we know it, the manufactured class war... THESE are your primary contributing factors, not pot.
You act as if weed were just invented, as if people haven't been smoking it since time immemorial. Weed has been consumed much longer than mass shootings have been a thing.
So you're pimping your pot book and crying reefer madness. Meanwhile there's a little thing called the Sussman trial you refuse to mention (heaven forbid you'd have to reconsider your thoughts on election tomfoolery), as well as even more info coming out of Texas that shows the supposed protection the school was supposed to have had committed some grievous errors (why did it take police 45 minutes to open a door??).
But by all means. Keep blaming pot. And keep begging money for your lawsuit.
I'm not into pot and I'm not religious, but I'd feel money donated to you would be equally well spent on a televangelist.
NYT is not journalism anymore.
FFsakes, man, your credibility can’t take a hit like this. Seriously, there are so many SSRI’s these kids and their parents are hitting like a PEZ dispenser that Snoop Dog & Willie are rolling blunts in the corner laughing at your feeble attempts to vilify the devil’s lettuce.
Uhm, yes, marijuana/hash legal in the Netherlands for over 50 years. Must be a ton of schizophrenics over there shooting up schools but we just haven't heard about it.
Meanwhile, there’s a documentary with video evidence of ballot box stuffing that you’re ignoring.
I guess you can take the boy out of the NYT but…..
It says right there in the first screenshot that he was bragging he no longer needed the money or to work at his job. That sounds like someone paid him.
It is great that we live in a society where Alex can state his opinion freely, regardless of whether we disagree or not. We should treasure that freedom that is rapidly disappearing in the West.
Alex raises an interesting point that is definitely worthy of further discussion and thought. Does Cannabis cause psychotic behavior when it is overused? I want to see more research done as there is anecdotal evidence to support this and definitely in the younger, developing brain.
Your constant blame of the cannabis industry is misguided. Look to big pharma and it’s SSRI’s. Read Confessions of an RX drug pusher. Talk about mind blowing.
Abuse by cannabis by susceptible people is not good….but ask yourself WHY ppl abuse drugs , alcohol and prescriptions.
Ever been around an alcoholic?
Thank you Alex. Count me as a convert on the THC conversation.
We are well aware of the risks of alcohol. We need more awareness of the risks of THC. Both should be similarly regulated in my opinion. Families need to discuss safe usage and risks for both as well.
They should have edited it for bad grammar and syntax: "...whom he told her did not let him smoke weed..."
Doc, I wish you wouldn't go there. Weed was not the issue. This kid has issues long before weed, he used it to try to mask his problems. Weed will not turn you into a killer. The use is so big and widespread for so long that no study can even get close to the decades of consumption. This just Is not a thing, he could have eaten a lot of pizza, that could have correlated too.
I'm sorry but you're just plain wrong on this one and are now part of the anti weed group that has always been wrong. Any substance when used excessively can have problems, but weed has been demonized for decades and used as a political and racial tool the same as covid and all the other nonsense covert blame games.
I have a lot of experience dealing with kids and weed being a counselor on the issue. These kids have tremendous problems long before weed use. It gives them some help by repressing their pain of their problems. That's why they use it, it's not the other way around. It does not created problems. That's why all these nonsense studies fail to include. This kid does not know what sex he is for starters, he's severely messed up and weed is not the reason.
My daughter's pediatrician told me years ago that the brain isn't fully developed until age 25. Imagine the effect stronger chemicals in pot grown now have on a developing brain.
So let me get this straight. Something like 50 million Americans use cannabis, and one or a few guys who perpetrate a mass shooting used cannabis, cannabis caused the pathological behavior?
Maybe the increased killings in Portland and Denver are like the increased killings everywhere in the economic devastation brought by Covid lockdowns?
You can't fix pathological shootings with a pathological attitude about cannabis.
Your stance on cannabis use is mystifying and quite frankly asinine.
Alex should rename his substack Reefer Madness.
Look dude, with all this substack cash treat yourself to something nice, like a new computer/screen. Maybe stop posting about this for a minute. You are looking for a 'why' and the answer is some people are broken and there is nothing we can do about them.
The unspoken problem with digital media….anything & everything can be edited to create A “truth”….not THE truth.
But but but Alex..why would the Times want to cover the weed reference? What's in it for them? Do they own pot farms or what?
This cannabis thing is where peeps get it wrong, this kid needed more cannabis, not less, due to his illnesses, most likely caused by big pharma and poor parenting...maybe no parenting. Was he raised in a child care? Cannabis calms the nervous system...for more than 10,000 years for humans. "Ancient Secret"
You are an idiot Alex. Your weed hatred is stupid.
I think you are confusing causation with correlation, Alex.
I would like to see more analysis of the drugs used by all of these shooters. I think big Pharma is likely hiding a lot of information. What we have learned in the past 2 years should make us all question their drugs and their motives.
As far as pot, I just don't know much about it.
You are on the wrong side of this unfortunately. Marijuana does not cause these events. The medicinal properties of marijuana are well documented and quite profound, having been used for over 3,000 years in cultures around the world. Dr. Andrew Weil, the father of complementary medicine, supports its use.
https://www.drweil.com/health-wellness/balanced-living/wellness-therapies/is-medical-cannabis-worth-the-fight/
What about alcohol? We KNOW that violence against women, domestic partnerships, typically involves alcohol abuse yet shall we go back to prohibition? You are wanting to throw out the baby with the bath water I'm afraid. We must limit the sale of GUNS - not cannabis. Why should anyone be allowed an automatic weapon?
I guess that info went up in smoke.
Thanks again to Alex for reporting this very important information.
Bro psychosis does not cause violence. It’s not a straight shot from delusions and disorientation and hallucinations to massacres. I work with psychotic people all day every day. I’m a psychiatric social worker in a criminal justice setting. Some psychotic people are violent. Not all. Probably not even a significant proportion. In my experience alcohol users are far more likely to perpetrate violence than cannabis users.
Cannabis still very dangerous for a subset of the population. In my work I see a lot of psychotic adolescents (15-25) — a lot more than a typical population should have. And at this point it’s a given that when I talk to a psychotic kid they’ll tell me they started to hallucinate real early in life and just after using cannabis.
I appreciate the research you have done regarding smokin' weed (I have to admit I did not read your book on the subject), I have smoked acres of reefer and I never had any psychotic episodes that would lead me to murder multiple innocent people. Like many substances that affect behavior there are multiple possible outcomes. Smoking weed does not guarantee psychosis on the part of the indulger.
Arguing that cannabis consumption *causes* psychosis is beyond silly, Alex's crusade against it is just nonsense. Weird how I've been smoking weed for 15+ years without hurting so much as an ant, or how any of my friends who are also heavy weed users have NEVER bought AR-15s to go on a shooting rampage, also keeping in mind that many of them are also responsible gun owning adults.
Someone call the leg factory so Alex can get a leg to stand on please.
When I was still writing, I did a piece for a sports site about performance enhancing drugs. It really blew mind to learn back then, in 2015, we had over 3M children (17 ot younger) on Adderall in the USA. You think weed makes people more crazy than years of amphetamine abuse?
And do you think we have more kids on prescription drugs.now, or fewer? Big pharma didn't get the money to fund 70% of TV ads from selling less psychotropics!
Alex,you are spot on to identify cannabis use as a risk factor for psychosis in this age group.My wife has been a fan of your novels for a long time,but I first noticed you when you published TELL YOUR CHIDREN.As a physician,I have been aware of this connection for many years,but this information is suppressed by the same forces suppressing the truth about Covid.You are over the target- that’s what Twitter has told you.Keep bombing!!
You know there is nearly a 100% correlation with mass shootings and SSRI use right? Are you trying to get back in big pharma's good graces or what?
SSRIs have been linked to Suicide and violence...Never talked about on the 70% revenue controlled by Pharma legacy media. Alex why don't you talk about it? These seem way more dangerous than cannabis... https://ssristories.org/how-do-ssris-and-other-medications-cause-violence-and-why-dont-people-spot-the-connection/
What about Prozac? It says it right on the insert...
Alex, the story NO ONE is talking about is the 18-month PLUS back log of local LE offices, mostly in 'blue' cities, not entering crime data!!!! As a FFL, running a NICS check is only as good as the data put into the system by local LEs, yet my door will be the first one kicked open after I UNKNOWINGLY sell a gun to a prohibited person. Is this a tactic by the left to have a random shooting - justifying banning ARs? It's impossible to believe the outrage by the late term pro-abortionists, like Texas' Robert Francis "beto" O'Rourke, when he fails to express any sorrow for the kids killed every weekend in Chicago, OR the 500,000 to 600,000 children that go missing every year in the US. It is, also, BS when the left pushes legalizing pot, knowing full well of the psychosis that comes from using pot, especially when mixed with psych meds. It's not IF; it's WHEN the next shooting happens. OPEN THE MEDICAL RECORDS for firearm background checks!!!!
and the solution? just buy the book and you will be fine...
You really are trying to get ratio'd on this again i guess? These relationships are not root cause my friend. Sick people treat themselves with things that allow them to feel good. This person was extremely sick (checks notes) yep, clearly without argument. If your direct relations played out in practice the whole world would have done been shot up long ago... now do all your friends prescribing the drugs to the children before grade 5, paxil, prozac, ritalin, imapramine, etc etc...