Young People Who Use Marijuana Are More Likely to Be Schizophrenic, Study Finds

A study published in Psychological Medicine shows that young men with marijuana use disorder are more likely to develop schizophrenia.

The study was conducted by researchers at Copenhagen University Hospital, Denmark, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) of the National Institutes of Health.

The research reveals that they found “strong evidence of an association between cannabis use disorder and schizophrenia between men and women, although the association was much stronger among young men.”

The study ensures that 30% of the cases of schizophrenia among men between the ages of 21 and 30 could have been avoided if they had not used marijuana.

Marijuana use disorder is a serious mental illness that affects the way a person thinks, feels, and behaves. People with marijuana use disorder are unable to stop using it despite negative consequences in their lives.

Schizophrenia is a serious mental disorder that affects the way a person thinks, feels, and behaves. People with schizophrenia may seem to have lost touch with reality, and the symptoms of schizophrenia can make it difficult to participate in usual daily activities.

However, there are effective treatments for both cannabis use disorder and schizophrenia.

Previous studies indicate that rates of daily or near-daily cannabis use, cannabis use disorder, and new diagnoses of schizophrenia are higher among men than among women, and that early and frequent use of cannabis is associated with a higher probability of developing schizophrenia.

The authors highlight that the increase in cases is likely related to the increased potency of cannabis and the increased prevalence of diagnosed cannabis use disorder over time.

“Increased legalization of cannabis over the past few decades has made it one of the most widely used psychoactive substances in the world, while at the same time reducing public perception of the harm it can cause. This study adds to our growing understanding that cannabis use can have harmful effects and that risks are not fixed at a specific time,” said Dr. Carsten Hjorthøj, lead author of the study and associate professor at the Mental Health Services of the Capital Region of Denmark and the University of Copenhagen.

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Written by Staff Reporters at ADN America.
Photo “Young Female Smoking Marijuana” by Pavel Danilyuk.

Reprinted with permission from ADN America.