I don’t have a Medscape account. Wondering if this recently published NIH study is the source, as they conclude the same thing.
“…the study authors estimated that as many as 30% of cases of schizophrenia among men aged 21-30 might have been prevented by averting cannabis use disorder.”
But we were told cannabis was harmless, and that it must be decriminalized? 
Not surprising really. More and more studies coming out in the last couple of years with concerning long term mental health side effects of cannabis . And more will follow, the longer it stays so prevalent.
As the mother of a man with schizophrenia, this scares the bleep out of me. It has to be one of the worst diseases to afflict humans.
In Maine, there are now cannabis dispensaries practically on every corner. When we drive up to our remote cabin, I’m always saddened and shocked at all the pot stores that are popping up in every tiny town.
I’m thankful my son never used pot and has no desire to. I think being an excellent athlete protected him - he never wanted to put anything in his body that would harm it.
His doctor told my other two kids they should avoid pot at all costs, since they are at a higher risk of developing the disease. I can’t even bear to think of them falling ill!
People are falling for the nonsense that pot is not as dangerous as alcohol. There’s no convincing them otherwise, from what I can tell.
Here’s the study linked in the Medscape text:
An article about the study:
There’s a lot of money to be made from decriminalizing cannabis, shrooms, etc. That’s what’s behind the “It’s harmless” movement. Certain politicians have already capitalized on this opportunity. The state where I live just legalized it and legalized driving on it (it can’t be a primary offense), and our governor has most of his assets tied up in this particular asset class. It’s not a conspiracy. People like to make money, and there are only so many ways to do so.
Unfortunately, we are doing a population level study of the effects of these drugs through decriminalization and it will take time to find out the effects. Nothing is harmless all of the time.
A few years ago, when the push was on for legalizing weed, the media was filled with articles showcasing the benefits. Also the discussion that weed isn’t a gateway drug or addictive, better than drinking etc.
Well, I know three young adults who are avid weed smokers and it isn’t pretty. Two of them are college graduates who were at one time motivated, healthy individuals. The transformation is sad.
A very good friend’s son developed schizophrenia at around the age of 22. He was a heavy user of marijuana. His grandmother suffered from schizophrenia so I think that must have been the main risk factor, but I have heard of the marijuana link before and wonder if it played a part.
Fully understanding the risks and benefits of marijuana usage is exactly why the government needs to decriminalize it. The horse is long out of the barn. It’s time to legally fund and study it.
Perhaps it should be sold with a printed warning that use of this product may lead to uncurable mental illness and homelessness.
We ended up with more decriminalized than weed where I live, and now we have fentanyl pills in all of the schools, public and private. The hospitals have to deal with the fallout since law enforcement can’t step in until someone dies.
At least for me, that’s enough studying. We know.
We don’t know enough. Until it is decriminalized on a federal level, we won’t be able to get enough info on a national level. Apparently recent legislation has made it more accessible to study though. That’s a start. Most information comes from foreign studies, in particular from the Dutch.
Btw, I don’t use cannabis and have no interest in its recreational properties. I want to have as much knowledge as possible about the potential benefits and risks of marijuana.
I have a neighbor who has had this problem on and off. He was a mess during the pandemic. He didn’t go back to work until his wife got pregnant. He was living in his in-laws house in his late 30s with no job for three years.
I thank my husband every day for not developing this habit when we were young.
Yikes—our country isn’t doing a great job providing mental health services as it is. We really can’t afford a whole lot new preventable cases of mental illness! Dang!
My cousin lives in CO where weed is legal. She said there are so many issues now in the schools. Hard to police elementary, middle, and high schoolers bringing all sorts of “marijuana” edibles to class that look like regular candy/cookies. I am not sure a drug needs to be legal to study the side-effects?
We had a tragedy in our neighborhood with a 19-year-old boy taking his own life last fall, and this book was brought to our attention.
The Dangerous Truth About Today’s Marijuana Book Site • Johnny's Ambassadors
The study at Association between cannabis use disorder and schizophrenia stronger in young males than in females | Psychological Medicine | Cambridge Core suggests that “At a population level, assuming causality, one-fifth of cases of schizophrenia among young males might be prevented by averting CUD.” CUD (cannabis use disorder) is itself a psychiatric diagnosis, described at https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.2013.12060782?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub%20%200pubmed and summarized in figure 1 of that page (DSM-5 column).
Actually, yes, a drug must be categorized in such a way that it can be legally studied … and it has been exceedingly difficult to study the effects of marijuana due to myriad federal regulations.
CDC has quite extensive studies on its public website of this.
When I was teaching Bio in the not so distant past I took a day out to discuss various drugs with my class, including alcohol, MJ, cocaine, and more. I told them no one was going to be able to stop them from doing whatever they chose. I wasn’t dumb enough to think that was true. But I wanted them to know what they were doing to themselves if they opted to drink or use drugs.
I’m still not dumb enough to think I stopped all of my classes from using anything harmful, but I have heard back from some who thanked me because they felt they were making informed decisions rather than just going with the flow.
If I were still teaching that class, I’d be updating my notes, both for alcohol with the previous podcast posted giving studies and this for MJ.
If I recall correctly, there are some mushrooms being used for good with PTSD and perhaps more, but only under careful supervision in case things go wrong.