I am not a behavioral scientist or psychologist nor do I lay any claim to any mental health expertise, however the recent school shootings in Colorado, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and the bomb threat yesterday in Culpepper county in Virginia makes me wonder if there is a spike in mental health issues or do we just have individuals that relish violence and enjoy being copy cats.

There is so much violence and conflicts around the world and cable television brings all the news into our living rooms all day. The war in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad Republic, the massacre in Darfur, to mention but a few perhaps fuels this spike. Also the implosion of negotiations on the Iran and North Korea nuclear programs is a huge cause for concern. Could these issues and threats be having a negative impact on the mental health of people around the world and therefore be responsible for the upsurge in violent activities? I will leave that determination to the scientists.

On a lighter note, though I have never used marijuana, and I have no intention of using it, however the fact that "researchers at the Scripps Research Institute in California found that marijuana's active ingredient, delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, can prevent the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from breaking down more effectively than commercially marketed drugs" and that THC is also more effective in blocking clumps of protein that can inhibit memory and cognition in Alzheimer's patients as reported in the journal Molecular Pharmaceutics", presents a dilemma for people who don't use marijuana. The "pot heads" are probably giving each other hi-fives right now in celebration of the potential positive effects of this research. I feel sad because I don't use "pot" and research is suggesting that I am more susceptible to dementia and memory loss than a "pot head" That is a big pile of cow dung. I will continue to stay "pot" free and I will take my chances with dementia.