Sunday, April 22, 2018 by: Cassie B.
Tags: cannabis, cannabis use, disease causes, health myths, hemp, marijuana, medical myths, mental health, mind body science, psychosis, schizophrenia
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It’s not unusual to hear those who are opposed to legalizing cannabis claim that it can cause people to develop mental illnesses like schizophrenia, but new research shows that there is very little truth behind the notion.
According to King’s College London Psychology Research fellow Dr. Musa Sami, there is no direct correlation between cannabis use and the development of schizophrenia. He points out that if a link did exist, schizophrenia diagnoses in the U.K. would be rising given the increasing potency of THC in street cannabis, but that is simply not the case.
Dr. Sami said that while cannabis use is common, schizophrenia remains relatively rare. In fact, it affects less than one percent of the population, while 6.2 percent of those in the U.K. are believed to be cannabis users.
As part of his research, Dr. Sami surveyed 1,231 cannabis users to find out more about their experiences in terms of enjoyment as well as psychosis. He found that those who had the most enjoyable experiences with it say they have no intention of quitting the drug, while those who experience more psychotic-like experiences were either thinking of quitting eventually or had already stopped. Indeed, he found that it was this experience that determined whether or not a person kept using it rather than their sex, age, history of mental health, or other drug use.
He said this could mean that those who have the highest risk are the ones who are actually quitting the drug, thereby possibly offsetting their risk of developing the illness from cannabis use.