Cannabis abuse linked to risk of developing psychosis

The risk of developing psychosis is more than tripled for those who abuse cannabis, according to results from a new twin study.

Researchers from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH), together with colleagues from Virginia Commonwealth University, examined the relationship between cannabis and psychosis using psychiatric interviews of Norwegian twins. The interviews reveal whether the twins had symptoms of psychosis and cannabis abuse.

Genetic factors influence both cannabis abuse and psychosis and the same genes may lead to an increased risk for both problems.

The researchers therefore tested both the hypotheses that cannabis use causes psychotic symptoms and that psychotic symptoms lead to cannabis abuse.

Abuse increased the risk by 3.5

The hypothesis best suited to the data was that cannabis abuse caused symptoms of psychosis. Within a twin pair, the twin with symptoms of cannabis abuse had a 3.5 times higher risk of developing symptoms of psychosis compared with the twin who did not have symptoms of cannabis abuse.

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Cannabis and Sz are no new news anymore…!!!

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It’s all a campaign against common sense. Pot doesn’t make you go crazy, reefer madness was nothing but a propaganda video. Hemp industry could save the USAs economy quite easily.

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I believe this. To me, marijuana is about as close to a replica you can get with psychosis.

@neveragain Pot doesn’t make you go crazy. It does exacerbate and increase the risk for psychosis.

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I’m crazy and its from smoking pot for 10 years straight day and night. Believe it!

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I don’t think that’s true unless they really PODd alot, like do nothing but that. I don’t think my case is because of any pot use. It’s all trauma and targeting related. I’m just saying that I don’t agree no matter the data. The hemp industry needs to come back and save our country it’s a belief of mine. I don’t think any of my illness is because of smoking or drinking or whatever. It’s trauma related, simply put.

I think it Could be both. I’m not denying that trauma played a major roll in my developing psychosis. I definitely went through a serious trauma right before it happened. But for me pot use at an early age lead me to make decisions, Like taking harder drugs, that eventually lead to the trauma. It was a lifestyle choice that I made to smoke weed and it lead me down the wrong path. I still support the legalization movement though, I’m right along side all the pro pot advocates and I think we will profit from pot in many ways.
But it’s not for me, I can’t smoke it, makes my ultra psychotic right away paranoid and crazy after one puff.

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I have a really high tolerance right now, but I’m also thinking of quitting to save money or just severely cut back I need to get my family presents for christmas.

Yea that’s true it does get expensive.

I’ve found that alot of my pot head friends like to smoke and just park on my computer and play youtube all day I’m not that way all the time I love to play drums and guitar still though I find it hard to get into the mood to play. I was playing just about 15 minutes ago and a guitar string broke so now I have two guitars with broken strings so I pretty much have to knuckle down and change out to new strings on a bunch of my guitars…blehhh. I hate changing strings.

You can be pro hemp and marijuana legalization and still accept that there are some mental dangers of it. (I am this way.)

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I agree. But I also think that there needs to be increased emphasis on eary schizophrenia / psychosis treatment and education in schools and around the country to let people better understand the risk of pot to increasing likelihood of getting psychosis and how it can make it worse for many people. This doesn’t seem to be happening in states that are going legal.

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Studies that use twins are the best imo. Good study, good post.