Is there a link between cannabis and schizophrenia?
More and more case studies and research are proving that there is indeed a distinct connection between the two. In fact, cannabis and schizophrenia have been closely linked in several reviews, studies and articles. In a long-term study in New Zealand involving 1000 children (who are now adults), it showed that children who take Cannabis by the age of 15 were more prone to developing schizophrenia than those that didn’t by more than 300 percent.
In fact, a lot of those who started smoking Cannabis before the said age developed psychotic disorders by the age of 26, including schizophrenia. According to many psychiatrists, this particular vulnerability of teenagers might have a lot to do with brain development. Since the brain is still in the process of development during the teenage years – lasting sometimes up to the age of 20, considerable ‘neural pruning’ is still going on.
Substances such as cannabinoids, the active ingredient of Cannabis, can influence this process and has the potential to produce long-term psychological effects like schizophrenia. In a separate study conducted in Denmark, 535 patients treated for cannabis-induced psychotic symptoms were observed. As the team from Aarhus Psychiatric Hospital worked with the Danish Psychiatric Central Register, they discovered that 44.5% of those with cannabis induced psychotic symptoms were diagnosed with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders as well.
In a review of 35 studies published in The Lancet, the high risk of developing schizophrenia is doubled among the users who take Cannabis daily or weekly. It seems like Cannabis and schizophrenia really do have a close relationship with each other. However, that relationship is built on many different factors such as individual metabolism, tolerance, potency, and frequency of use.
All in all, there have been plenty of researches trying to establish Cannabis as a possible cause of schizophrenia. Unfortunately, results continue to remain inconclusive. In fact, the same conclusions were reached by the team of researchers led by Stanley Zammitt of Cardiff University. Their data did not overwhelmingly prove that cannabis indeed triggers schizophrenia.
However, the association between cannabis and schizophrenia is strong enough to warn young people about its dangers. This much should be enough. Even the most senior psychiatrists in Britain deem the drug to now be the “No 1 problem” facing mental health services. Psychiatrists are already treating Cannabis as a major factor, accounting for as much as 80 percent of schizophrenia cases.