Pot And Psychosis: Possible Link?

British Studies Show Marijuana Use May Raise Risk Of Psychotic Illness Risk By 40%

(WebMD)  Smoking cannabis, or marijuana, as a youth could boost the risk of developing a psychotic illness later in life by about 40 percent, according to a new analysis of published studies conducted by British researchers.

The more than 40 percent increase in risk applies to those who have ever used the drug, and the risk rises even more with frequent use, according to Stanley Zammit, M.D., Ph.D., clinical lecturer in psychiatric epidemiology at Cardiff University and the University of Bristol in the U.K., a study co-author.

"People who have ever used cannabis, on average, have about a 40% increased risk of developing psychotic illness later in life compared with people who have never used cannabis," he tells WebMD.

"People who used it on a weekly or daily basis had about a 100% increased risk, or twofold." Even so, he adds, "the risk is still relatively low."

But as Zammit and his colleagues note in the new report, scheduled to appear in the July 28 issue of The Lancet, there is enough evidence of a marijuana-psychosis link that they believe policymakers need to provide the public with information.

The report drew protests and skepticism from representatives of The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, who questioned the validity of the findings.

Zammit and his colleagues pooled the results of 35 published studies on marijuana use and mental health effects, including psychotic effects such as schizophrenia (in which people may hear voices or hallucinate) or affective problems such as depression and anxiety. They analyzed the results of all the studies, a method known as a meta-analysis.

The increased risk of psychosis with marijuana use persists, Zammit's team found, independently of the transient intoxication effects of the drug and independently of what they call "confounding factors," such as existing mental health problems or other drug use. "We can't be sure it is causal," he says of the association. "[But] studies find an association rather consistently."

Still, he tells WebMD, "It's always possible people who use cannabis may be different [in some way] than those who don't."

The researchers also looked at the association between marijuana use and depression and anxiety but found that the evidence is "less strong than for psychosis but is still of concern."

In the U.S., marijuana is the most widely used of various illicit drugs, according to the University of Michigan Monitoring the Future Survey. About 6.8% of middle school and high school students used marijuana in 2005, down from 7.6% the previous year, according to the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a federal report.

In the U.K., Zammit estimates, about 15 percent of youths aged 16 to 24 say they use cannabis on a monthly basis.

In an accompanying comment, two scientists from Copenhagen University Hospital echo Zammit's belief that "there is a need to warn the public of these dangers, as well as to establish treatment to help young, frequent cannabis users."

In an editorial in the same issue, Lancet editors note that the publication ran an oft-quoted editorial in a 1995 issue stating that "the smoking of cannabis, even long term, is not harmful to health." Now, the editors note, research published in the interim, including the meta-analysis, has triggered a change in their thinking, with them now stating that cannabis use "could increase the risk of psychotic illness" and that more research is needed on any link with depression and anxiety.

If the association exists between marijuana use and psychotic illness, "we would have seen the negative effects they were warning about if they were significant," says Paul Armentano, a senior policy analyst for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML), based in Washington.

Most Western cultures, he tells WebMD, have witnessed "an explosion among marijuana use among adults and young people.

"Where is the explosion in cannabis-related mental illness?" he asks. "The paper says, 'You are right, we haven't seen it. Maybe it is a delayed reaction.'"

Armentano argues the rise in mental illness would have already occurred if the link exists.

Armentano also wonders if the psychosis may have come first, before the marijuana use, for some people. In the paper, the authors note that such reverse causation is not likely for psychosis but that the studies of marijuana and depression did not adequately address the possibility of reverse causation.

Politics in the U.K. may be driving the effort to analyze an association between marijuana and mental illness, Armentano tells WebMD. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been quoted in the British press as saying he has never used cannabis, even as cabinet ministers tell about their cannabis-filled younger days. In 2004, the U.K. downgraded cannabis to a class C drug, reducing penalties for possession, production, and supply.

Now, the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in the U.K. will look at evidence for harms caused by cannabis and discuss whether the drug should be relabeled, perhaps as a class B drug of misuse, with stiffer penalties for possession.

"The article is worth paying attention to," Bruce Spring, M.D., an assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles, an expert familiar with the study but not involved in it.

"It certainly gives cause for concern," Spring says of the findings about marijuana and psychosis risks. Still, he says, the overall risk is relatively low, statistically speaking.

"In general, the overall risk of someone getting a psychotic illness is about 3 percent," he says. "Now what this study is saying is that that 3% risk is increased by 40 percent [or more]," he says. So the risk with marijuana use would rise to 4.2 percent.

Put another way: In a group of 100 people, three would be expected, statistically speaking, to develop a psychotic illness such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder with psychosis. "When you factor in the marijuana study, one or two more, depending on how often they use it, will have psychotic illness," Spring says.

Says Spring, "I would tell people there is now some pretty good evidence that smoking marijuana can have some harmful consequences, and they are putting their future well-being at risk [if they smoke marijuana]. The more you smoke, the greater the risk, according to this study."

Zammit, the study co-author, adds, "I think the important message is to be aware of these risks." Those who have other risk factors for psychotic illness, such as a family history, might want to pay closer attention, he tells WebMD.

[toolfreak09]

I'm glad i get to voice my opinion. I HAD PSYCHOSIS last year around this time actually. Now.. they made it quite a big deal that i did smoke every single day last summer...i had taken harder drugs in the past too. Now, it started out what i figured was probably depersonalization and turned into psychosis gradually. My boyfriend at the time had just broken up with me and my parents were not talking plus i felt like everyone was too busy to comfort me. I really started going down a scary black hole. I had one panic attack and then another while my psychosis was getting worse and i was in my car screaming at the top of my lungs and the world closed in and i hit another car. I ended up going to the mental health facility in Rochester MN. My psychosis lasted two weeks. Definitely the most scariest time of my life. They said that the drugs MIGHT have had something to do with it but they did a drug test and couldn't find any THC in my system because i stopped smoking two weeks before because im a smart person and know not to do drugs to deal with life's problems. I've been trying to figure out this puzzle on my own...maybe weed did play a part.. im not sure. I still smoke today though. I wish i would know for sure. I wish i could find the right research. All these studies are so vague! The only conclusion i had come up with is that it was a way of dealing with everyone that was going on in my life. But just today someone who is quite smart told me that if you stop smoking pot, the withdrawal symptoms can cause psychosis and he didn't even know i had had psychosis till i told him after he said that....blah

[jdubs63]

The MJ smokers of today are the psychotics of tomorrow

[atkira]

This report is not science. It's major BS! It's propaganda written to serve a predetermined right wing political agenda. Since before the time of Christ mankind has smoked marijuana and hashish. Over those thousands of years there has been ample time for all the ill effects of marijuana and hashish to be amply discovered and displayed. But now, suddenly, somehow some new effect has been surfaced that has escaped notice for all those many centuries? Today's pot is no stronger than the hashish of the 60's or the previous thousands of years. If narrow minded right wingers really want to do something productive, they should regulate and tax marijuana sales like alcohol and tobacco. Think of the revenue! (which we could really use now that so much tax money is being diverted to blowing up Iraq). Such regulation will also take the profit out of smuggling resulting in one less highway for the bad guys to use to blow us up.

[lastdance2]

The - "FBI" - Hires Them

In - Oct 2005 :- FBI Director Robert Mueller
Announced :

The FBI would begin to hire people.
Who had a history of smoking :
"Marijuana"

Has the thought ever occurred to you :

Why is it that - If someone will post questionable
pornography on the Internet.
The - "FBI" - is " Johnny on the Spot.
Tracking Them Down ! ! ! !

When a group of people posts the - "Methamphetamine"
Formula on the Internet.
The - "FBI" - All of a sudden - Starts playing : "Dumb and Stupid"
Now ! - They can't track anything - On The Internet. ! ! !

Lastdance

[rjbraudo]

(1) There is no basis to conclude that any association bw mj use as a youth and psychosis is a causal relationship. What is evident is that in people with an underlying schizophrenic or mood disorder, drug use/abuse (hard drugs, much less often mj) can trigger psychosis (so can and do prescribed anti-depressants).

(2) The study assumes all research studies reviewed were conducted properly, a rather bold assumption.

Such hyped media coverage by a reporter who no ability to understand the technical issues at play allows self-serving and misleading publicity seeking by its author.

This digital age of ours is better called the "Age of Disniformation"

[e-mail]

[klingon69]

50 years old. Smoked daily for over 30 years. Pay my bills on time. Take 1 or 2 sick days a year, if that. Keep a clean house. Eat right. Exercise daily. Recycle. Made a conscious choice not to have children.

What about me is psychotic?
Posted by clevercandi at 08:28 AM : Jul 27, 2007
47 years old, smoked just about everyday (when could get some)since 11. Pay my bills on time or early. Can't say I eat right, but then again, never have. Work 60+ hours per week. Exercise daily, Have 1 child age 16. Don't do too much recycling (unless there is money in it). Have never been psychotic, have had some hallucinations, but was due to mushrooms or acid (experimented some when younger).

[surespamalot]

"We can't be sure it is causal ... [But] studies find an association rather consistently."

that's the money quote; it betrays these studys' shoddy methodology (and perhaps hints at the researchers' motives).

as noted by others here, the desired implications of this and other hyperbolic pronouncements about cannabis, that it is a dangerous "drug" without medical value, are totally counter-intuitive and at odds with all known experiences of humans with this plant.

if i'm not mistaken, i read an article (on an online UK-based newspaper, i've forgetten which one) some months ago summarizing this study, with the requisite alarmism, and interviewing "pot survivers" who testified to how pot ruined their lives (which were replete with details of childhood alcohol and other drug abuse, as well as poverty and familiy instability; somehow these factors are all irrelevant when considering causal links to "psychosis").

these types of studies and articles are just more anti-cannabis propaganda. there's big business, especially for "law enforcement" [sic], in the drug war, and the truth simply gets in the way of "gittin' er done!"

to all those who care to know, talk to any one of the millions of adult cannabis users (doctors, nurses, lawyers, judges, to paraphrase a tune) if you want to learn something about it. forgot about these compromised sources of mis-information and trust your own abilities and intuition to educate and enlighten yourself.

taochiapet

[drummer94]

Oh, This is part of the reason the feds were raiding that medical ganja clinic in LA, instead of helping to secure our borders. OOOOOHHHHH!!!

[toolmangler-2009]

If the weed smokers could remember to tell them, they would say, "You silly, your liver is fixin' to go so what good is that mind you still have, at least I don't notice that mine is gone."

[toolmangler-2009]

Posted by drummer94 at 04:39 PM : Jul 27, 2007


They're coming to take you away, ho ho, hee hee, ha haaaaaa!!!!

(apologies to Dr Demento)

[taylpatr]

I'd like to see a comparison study done between 100 weed smokers vs. 100 alcohol drinkers.

[toolmangler-2009]

"Pot And Psychosis: Possible Link?
British Studies Show Marijuana Use May Raise Risk Of Psychotic Illness Risk By 40%"

When I saw the headline, my first reaction was "DUH!!!"
I am the only survivor fo a group of high schoolers in th late 40's. They all used pot and drank booze, I didn''t because of a medical condition. I watch them destroy themselves on pot and booze. I KNOW what I saw, I outlived them all by 40 some years. My mind still works well. my vision is better than I have any right to hope for , hearing could be better and I have lost most of my sense of taste due to smoking since 1953. All in all, I am very happy to still be here. Please don't come to me with that "its only 'POT'" junk, I know better.

[drummer94]

I smoked pot when I was young an d I'm not psychotic am I? Well, AM I? HUH?WELL?DOYASEEANYPSYCHOSISINME? DO YA? HUH? DO YAH? Breathe. AHHH! lmao

[scorpio59er]

Reefer Madness. It's all about social control. 100 years ago people had more freedom than we do today. There is a concerted, obvious effort on the part of the ruling class to use scare tactics, whether terror or drugs (both are the reason for "wars" waged by the U.S.), to convince people that their lives must be monitored and regulated by Big Brother, lest we harm ourselves or are hit by the odd suicide bomber. The mainstream media is, of course, the propaganda arm of the ruling class. In Albert Speer's book, 'Inside The Third Reich', he noted that Hitler was merely the first tyrant to make full use of modern mass communication. Such mass communication is now, of course, much more highly sophisticated. Read Noam Chomsky's books on propaganda and the mass media.

[azmka]

Where are all these poeple that have developed psychoisis from marijuana?
It's been used by humans since before we kept records with not one documented case of psychosis.
Marijuana is a thorn in the governments side because the plant itself has so many uses. Hemp, same plant no THC, can be used to produce everything from lumber to textiles. Lobbying efforts by indudustries wishing to avoid the competition spend hundreds of millions of dollars to pressure our gov. representitives to keep it illegal.
God forbid I should receive junk mail made from a plant that can be harvested and grown every six months. Let's keep cutting down four hundred year old trees to let me know about Joe's carwash grand opening! Great logic!

[emaginechild]

There is yet to be one record of anyone ever overdosing solely on Cannibis.

Children under the age of 16 shouldn't smoke or drink anything anyways (developing brain cells)

Devils weed?

You mean God made the planet in seven days and realized later he created a plant that grows everywhere... was a mistake???

[emsaund1]

Cant we all just smoke a Doobie -- and get along?

[zoltaric]

Propaganda.

[lastdance2]

The - "FBI" - Hires Them

Little Wonder-why the : Justice Department is Totally :
"Criminal"

In - Oct 2005 :- FBI Director Robert Mueller
Announced :

The FBI would begin to hire people.
Who had a history of smoking :
"Marijuana"

The Federal Government is in control of the biggest
illegal drug operations in the United States.

Has the thought ever occurred to you :

Why is it that - If someone will post questionable
pornography on the Internet.
The - "FBI" - is " Johnny on the Spot.
Tracking Them Down ! ! ! !

When a group of people posts the - "Methamphetamine"
Formula on the Internet.
The - "FBI" - All of a sudden - Starts playing : "Dumb and Stupid"
Now ! - They can't track anything - On The Internet. ! ! !

One of these days - I will post a set of instructions
That will allow you. To find out - if you have :
A Federal illegal Drug Operation going on in :
Your own city

It's not hard - The work - Has already been done for you.
All you have to do is : Make a couple of phone calls.
As a matter of "Confirmation"

Lastdance

[rushman71]

I think a better conclusion would be that Drinking water causes pyshosis, since 100% of those people that are psychotic have been shown to have drunk water.
Posted by msheda

Or how about breathing air?