Young people who use marijuana (cannabis or ganja) have a higher risk of suffering hallucinations, delusions or other reality-distorting psychoses.
Young people who use marijuana (cannabis or ganja) have a higher risk of suffering hallucinations, delusions or other reality-distorting psychoses.
To explore the association between use of ganja and psychosis-related outcomes, researchers studied 3,801 people born in Brisbane between 1981 and 1984, who were followed up at age 5, 14 and 21 years. When they were 20 years old on average, researchers asked them about marijuana use and assessed their mental health.
About 18 percent of the group said they smoked marijuana for three or fewer years, 16 percent admitted smoking it for four to five years and 14 percent for six or more years. A total of 65 participants had been formally diagnosed with a psychotic disorder such as schizophrenia, and 233 had hallucinated at least once.
Compared with those who had never used marijuana, those who first smoked marijuana when they were 15 or younger were twice as likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia or other psychotic illness, four times more likely to suffer delusions, and nearly three times more likely to suffer hallucinations. The association between marijuana use and psychotic symptoms remained true after the researchers analysed 228 sibling pairs separately.
Though the above findings confirm previous smaller studies that have suggested that smoking ganja may be linked to mental illness, more research is needed to determine conclusively whether or not smoking it causes mental illness.
To explore the association between use of ganja and psychosis-related outcomes, researchers studied 3,801 people born in Brisbane between 1981 and 1984, who were followed up at age 5, 14 and 21 years. When they were 20 years old on average, researchers asked them about marijuana use and assessed their mental health.
About 18 percent of the group said they smoked marijuana for three or fewer years, 16 percent admitted smoking it for four to five years and 14 percent for six or more years. A total of 65 participants had been formally diagnosed with a psychotic disorder such as schizophrenia, and 233 had hallucinated at least once.
Compared with those who had never used marijuana, those who first smoked marijuana when they were 15 or younger were twice as likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia or other psychotic illness, four times more likely to suffer delusions, and nearly three times more likely to suffer hallucinations. The association between marijuana use and psychotic symptoms remained true after the researchers analysed 228 sibling pairs separately.
Though the above findings confirm previous smaller studies that have suggested that smoking ganja may be linked to mental illness, more research is needed to determine conclusively whether or not smoking it causes mental illness.
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